Theatre NOVA presents “the ripple, the wave that carried me home” March 22 – April 14

ANN ARBOR: Theatre NOVA, Ann Arbor’s resident nonprofit professional theatre, is thrilled to announce the Michigan Premiere of “the ripple, the wave that carried me home” by Christina Anderson.

In 1960s Kansas, a Black family fights to integrate public swimming pools. When their youngest daughter, Janice, is pressured by her father to participate, she grows to resent him, eventually leaving to start a life elsewhere. Years later, she looks back on the past she tried to forget.
Directed by Lynch Travis, featuring Bryana Hall*, Yolanda Davis, Tayler Jones, and Jonathan Jones. The production team includes Paul Taylor (scenic design), Jeff Alder (lighting design), Micha Mallett (costume design), Briana O’Neal (stage manager/sound design/props). *The Actor appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Proud to produce the hottest new plays at affordable prices, Theatre NOVA offers a subscription program as the best way to see quality programs at a discounted price. Subscribers save on single ticket prices and guarantee their seats for the remaining four plays of the 2023-24 Season and admission to the Michigan Playwrights Festival. Subscribers get easy exchanges, no per-ticket fees, a pass to our Michigan Playwright’s Festival, and our eNewsletter, keeping them up to date on future events at the theatre. If patrons prefer to pick and choose which productions they’d like to see and when they would like to see them, our popular Flex Pass offers six tickets to use for any show and any date.

**Bryana Hall in “the ripple, the wave that carried me home” by Christina Anderson, directed by Lynch Travis at Theatre NOVA. Photograph by Sean Carter Photography.**

All Thursday performances will be mask-required to provide a safe space for our immunocompromised patrons and those who want a higher level of risk mitigation. This policy is subject to change, following fluctuating local, state, and federal guidelines. Please check our current COVID-19 policy before your scheduled performance date.

Theatre NOVA is located at 410 W Huron St, Ann Arbor, MI 48103. Performances are on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. General admission tickets for plays are $28. Theatre NOVA continues to make theatre accessible by offering pay-what-you-can tickets for those who need them. The general public may purchase tickets, memberships, flex passes, and subscriptions online at www.TheatreNOVA.org. Tickets may also be purchased in person one hour before each performance. Seating in the theatre will begin 30 minutes before each performance.

There is ample free parking and quick access to the city’s restaurants, bars, bakeries, and coffee shops. New patrons can find Theatre NOVA across Huron Street from Ann Arbor’s YMCA through a parking lot entrance on the north side of the street. For more information, visit www.TheatreNOVA.org.

Theatre NOVA’s mission is to raise awareness of the value and excitement of new plays and playwrights and to provide resources for playwrights to develop their craft by importing, exporting, and developing new work.

Christina Anderson (Playwright)
Christina Anderson is a 2022 Tony Award Nominee for Outstanding Book of the Broadway musical “Paradise Square.” She is a playwright, tv writer, screenwriter, educator, and creative. Her work has been produced by theaters such as the Goodman Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Kansas City Rep, Geva Theatre, and Yale Rep. Awards and honors include: 2022 Horton Foote Prize, 2022 Arthur Miller Legacy Award, 2021 Prince Prize, 2020 United States Artists Fellow, MacDowell Fellowship, Lily Awards Harper Lee Prize, Herb Alpert Award nomination, Barrymore Nomination, and New Dramatists Residency. She was a staff writer on Edie Falco’s CBS tv drama Tommy. She taught playwriting at the David Geffen School of Drama, Wesleyan University, Rutgers University, SUNY Purchase College, and served as the interim Head of Playwriting at Brown University. An avid photographer for nearly ten years, the Magnum award review described Christina’s work as “compelling” and “poignant.” (Some of her photos can be seen throughout her website: christinaandersonwriter.com) Since 2019, she has produced hip hop instrumentals under the moniker Purely Magenta.

Lynch R. Travis (Director)
Lynch R. Travis, has received directing and acting honors from the Ann Arbor News, Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Oakland Press, EncoreMichigan, Lansing City Pulse, Broadway World, the Detroit Theatre Examiner and earned Subscriber Awards from both Performance Network Theatre and Detroit Repertory Theatre. Lynch is a Resident Artist and Chief Diversity Enrichment Officer at the Purple Rose Theatre Company. He serves as Workshop Director for the Detroit Repertory Theatre, and is the Supervising Director for the downtown Detroit-based Obsidian Theatre Festival. He has taught Acting and Theater for Ann Arbor Public Schools, Michigan Actors Studio, Mosaic Youth of Detroit, Shakespeare in Detroit, the Vista Maria Residential Program for Girls and lectured at the University of Nevada-Reno, Oakland University and Wayne State University.

MAIN PHOTO: Jonathan Jones (L-R), Yolanda Davis, and Bryana Hall in “the ripple, the wave that carried me home” by Christina Anderson, directed by Lynch Travis at Theatre NOVA. Photograph by Sean Carter Photography.

FACT SHEET

WHO:
Janice: Bryana Hall*
Helen: Yolanda Davis
Gayle: Tayler Jones
Edwin: Jonathan Jones
* The Actor appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

PRODUCTION TEAM:
Director: Lynch Travis
Stage Manager: Briana O’Neal
Set design: Paul Taylor
Lighting design: Jeff Alder
Costume design: Micha Mallett
Sound/Props design: Briana O’Neal

WHAT:
“the ripple, the wave that carried me home” by Christina Anderson
Theatre NOVA, 410 W. Huron, Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Box office: 734-635-8450,
Tickets: $28 (Pay-what-you-can tickets available for every performance)

WHEN:
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
“the ripple, the wave that carried me home” by Christina Anderson
March 22 – April 14, 2024
Fri., Mar. 22, 8:00 p.m. Opening Night
Sat., Mar. 23, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Mar. 24, 2:00 p.m.
Thurs., Mar. 28, 8:00 p.m. – mask required
Fri., Mar. 29, 8:00 p.m.
Sat., Mar. 30, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Mar. 31, 2:00 p.m.
Thurs., Apr. 4, 8:00 p.m. – mask required
Fri., Apr. 5, 8:00 p.m.
Sat., Apr. 6, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Apr. 7, 2:00 p.m.
Thurs., Apr. 11, 8:00 p.m. – mask required
Fri., Apr. 12, 8:00 p.m.
Sat., Apr. 13, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Apr. 14, 2:00 p.m.