Susan Angelo realizes she is “one of them.”
Brought in from California to direct Paul Stroili’s world premiere play, “My Mother and the Michigan/Ohio War,” at the Purple Rose Theatre, Angelo fully understood the implications of where she was born. So the Ohio native figured why not have some fun with it – the play is a comedy after all.
“I came in for the first rehearsal and knew I had to do something,” Angelo says. “So under my sweater I had an Ohio State t-shirt on and about halfway through I took off the sweater which created quite the response. The second day though I wore a U-M shirt.”
Despite where she lives now and where her artistic journey has taken her, the Midwest has always felt like home for Angelo, who is thrilled to be back in Chelsea.
“This area is so close to where I grew up that it’s always felt like home,” she says. “There is a group of friends of mine from high school in Ohio who have never come to see me in a play because they have their lives and it wasn’t always easy to do. But a lot of them came to see me in the play I was in here two years ago and they enjoyed it very much.”
It was a play (A Jukebox for The Algonquin) her Ohio friends could relate to and a really good comedy to get lost in for an evening. The same could be said for the play Angelo is now directing – a play her friends also should be able to relate to, laugh along with and enjoy – even in “enemy” territory.
“Paul Stroili is a very funny playwright but he also writes the human side as well,” Angelo says. “There are these weird, inappropriate moments in this story that end up being funny. They are funny because it’s part of this family dynamic, and it’s how the mom sees her kids – does she see them as kids or as adults.”
Then there is the fact that the daughter is a U-M graduate and the son is an Ohio State graduate so there is that rivalry as well within the story. And the father was obsessed with the Michigan-Ohio War – or the Ohio-Michigan War – which only adds to the tale of the tape. It’s not Bo vs. Woody – it’s much deeper than that.
“The father was obsessed with the fight over the Toledo strip and he even created a board game,” said Angelo. “There is a very competitive nature within the family based around Ohio and Michigan, whether it’s with the football or the war, and how it’s formed this family. And now that the father has passed away, how do you renegotiate those relationships and move the chess pieces around.”
Angelo and Caitlin Cavannaugh, a Resident Artist and one of the stars of the play, has a lot in common including their love for playwright Paul Stroili, who not only wrote “My Mother and the Michigan/Ohio War” but also penned “A Jukebox for The Algonquin,” that Angelo starred in in 2023.
“He’s a really funny guy in real life and his writing reflects that,” Cavannaugh says. “He has you laughing hysterically one second and then you realize something is different and then you are back to laughing again. He writes very beautiful stories that just happen to be very funny. It’s funny because it’s human and sometimes it has to do with the family dynamic that we all know very well and don’t always love.
“We use humor to get through things. And this is a play about life and a family that is trying to find its new settling point. There are these beautiful moments as we go through it and it’s very, very funny.”
Angelo added that the play is told through the eyes of the mother and has a lot to do with how she is going to navigate through the rest of her life. “Her children are a big part of that, but those dynamics are now going to change,” she says. “I think this is going to bring this family closer.”
Stroili said he was talking with Purple Rose founder Jeff Daniels about what appeals to the local audiences and how they really like to see themselves on stage.
“My wife and I did some research on some unique and obscure Michigan history,” he said. “And I always wanted to write a play spoofing reenactments because people can get really serious doing those things. I came across this little story that I had never heard before that Michigan and Ohio actually went to war in 1836 over the Toledo Strip, a piece of land that was disputed when they were defining the lines for the states.”
Stroili took that as a jumping off point and jumped right into a story.
“It’s about a woman whose husband is kind of a militant reenactor and he passes away and it’s up to her to keep the dream alive,” he said.
As a playwright, Stroili’s play A Jukebox for The Algonquin enjoyed an acclaimed World Premiere at The Purple Rose last year and received a 2023 Wilde Award for Best New Play. “It was very successful and I am just so happy and proud of how it all turned out,” he said.
Directed by Angelo, the cast features Teri Clark Linden (Yellow Springs, Ohio), Cavannaugh (Manchester) and Dez Walker (Center Line). Set design is by Sam Transleau, properties design by Danna Segrest, costume design by Suzanne Young, lighting design by Matt Taylor, and sound design by Matt Tibbs. Ryan Carlson is the stage manager and Caridad Guy is the assistant stage manager.
Performances of “My Mother and the Michigan/Ohio War” at The Purple Rose Theatre runs through Sunday, May 25. Previews, with reduced-price tickets, are available through Thursday, April 10, with talkbacks April 3 to April 6. Performances are Wednesday – Sunday at The Purple Rose Theatre Company, 137 Park Street, Chelsea, Michigan 48118. The performance calendar can be found HERE. Ticket prices start at $30 with special discounts for seniors, patrons 30 years or younger, members of the military, teachers, and groups (12+). For more information or to make reservations call (734) 433-7673 or go to www.purplerosetheatre.org.
