A ghost story for our times. Mlima is a magnificent African elephant killed by the underground ivory market for his tusks. As his soul accompanies his tusks on a path forged by greed and colonialism, Mlima takes us on a journey through the agonizing tradition of mining animals. This groundbreaking work by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright marries theatricality and social commentary in a play that will truly haunt you. “Those of you who don’t believe in ghosts are likely to think again after seeing Lynn Nottage’s beautiful, endlessly echoing portrait of a murder and its afterlife.” -NY Times.
Directed by Lynch Travis, “Mlima’s Tale” features Darius Franklin, David Moy, Marie Muhammad, and Mike Sandusky. The production and design team includes Paul Taylor (scenic design), Jeff Alder (lighting design), Kennikki Jones Jones (sound designer), and Briana O’Neal (stage manager).
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. On dates when masks are not required, we recommend patrons wear masks. This policy is subject to change anytime, 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 $22. In addition, Theatre NOVA continues to make theatre accessible by offering pay-what-you-can tickets for those who need them at all performances.
Tickets, memberships, flex passes, and subscriptions may be purchased 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 is dedicated to raising awareness of the value and excitement of new plays and new playwrights in a diverse and expanding audience; and providing resources and outlets for playwrights to develop their craft by importing, exporting, and developing new plays and playwrights.
Lynn Nottage (Playwright)
Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Ruined” has received an Obie, the Lucille Lortel Award, New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play (Manhattan Theatre Club, Goodman Theatre). Other plays include “Intimate Apparel” (New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play; Roundabout Theatre, CENTERSTAGE, South Coast Repertory); “Fabulation, or the Re-education of Undine” (Obie Award; Playwrights Horizons, London’s Tricycle Theatre); “Crumbs From the Table of Joy”; “Las Meninas”; “Mud, River, Stone”; “Por’knockers,” and “Poof!” Nottage is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2007 MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant,” the National Black Theatre Festival’s August Wilson Playwriting Award, the 2004 PEN/Laura Pels Award for Drama, and the 2005 Guggenheim Grant for Playwriting, as well as fellowships from the Lucille Lortel Foundation, Manhattan Theatre Club, New Dramatists, and New York Foundation for the Arts. She is a member of The Dramatists Guild, an alumna of New Dramatists, and a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama, where she is a visiting lecturer. www.lynnnottage.com
Lynch R. Travis is pleased to return to Theatre Nova, where he previously directed “The Devil’s Music: The Life and Times of Bessie Smith.” He has received theater honors from the Ann Arbor News, Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Oakland Press, EncoreMichigan, Lansing City Pulse, and the Detroit Theatre Examiner and Subscriber Awards at Performance Network and Detroit Repertory Theatres. Lynch is a Resident Artist at the Purple Rose Theatre and is the PRTC Chief Diversity Enrichment Officer. He also serves as Workshop Director for the Detroit Repertory Theater, is a member of the University of Michigan CRLT Applied Theatre Company, and was the Supervising Director for the 2023 Obsidian Theatre Festival, held in downtown Detroit this June. 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 Wayne State University and Oakland University.
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WHO:
MLIMA: Mike Sandusky
PLAYER 1: Darius Franklin
PLAYER 2: David Moy
PLAYER 3: Marie Muhammad
PRODUCTION TEAM:
Set design: Paul Taylor
Lighting design: Jeff Alder
Costume design:
Sound design: Kennikki Jones Jones
Stage Manager/Props: Briana O’Neal
WHAT:
“MLIMA’S TALE” by Lynn Nottage
Theatre NOVA, 410 W. Huron, Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Box office: 734-635-8450,
Tickets: $22 (Pay-what-you-can tickets available for every performance)
ON THE INTERNET:
www.TheatreNOVA.org
http://www.facebook.com/theatrenova
http://www.instagram.com/a2theatrenova/
https://twitter.com/TheatreNova
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
MLIMA’S TALE by Lynn Nottage
Sept. 1-24, 2023
Fri., Sept. 1, 8:00 p.m. Opening Night
Sat., Sept. 2, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 3, 2:00p.m.
Thurs., Sept. 7, 8:00 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 8, 8:00 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 9, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 10, 2:00 p.m.
Thurs., Sept. 14, 8:00 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 15, 8:00 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 16, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 17, 2:00 p.m.
Thurs., Sept. 21, 8:00 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 22, 8:00 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 23, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 24, 2:00 p.m.
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