U-M Theatre Department’s season features international, classic, new plays

ANN ARBOR—With the opening night of the season’s first play a month away, anticipation is building for another season of compelling dramas, including works by internationally renowned playwrights and a season-ending play by a University of Michigan student.

“When we choose plays, we take a long view and consider how this year’s selections fit with what students have presented in the recent past,” said Gregory Poggi, chair of the U-M Department of Theatre & Drama. “Effectively, over four years, students are exposed to a wide variety of dramatic experiences.”

So, too, are audiences.

This upcoming season builds on last years critically acclaimed products of a work by Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw. This year’s season includes:

? “Madmen & Specialists” by Wole Soyinka, directed by Mbala Nkanga

Written by the 1986 Nobel laureate, the play is a tragic satire of humankind immersed in war.

Oct. 9-19 at the Arthur Miller Theatre

? “Pride & Prejudice,” an adaptation by James Maxwell from the novel by Jane

Austen, directed by Timothy Douglas

With five daughters of marriageable age, the Bennetts are thrilled when an eligible bachelor and his friends move into the neighborhood. In the rarified and socially strict atmosphere of Regency England, the lack of dowry and lower social standing may be a detriment to the girls’ success.

Dec. 4-7 at the Power Center

? “The Show-Off” by George Kelly, directed by Philip Kerr

A perennial self-deluding, yet endearing show-off bends the truth to make a good impression.

Feb. 12-15, 2009, at the Mendelssohn Theatre

? “Jonesin'” by Seth Moore, directed by Malcolm Tulip

A drug dealer and his girlfriend hit the big time with an alluring new product guaranteed to eliminate all your addictions without the pain of withdrawal. But the prospect of starting clean comes at a cost?a harrowing and terrifying two-day hallucinogenic journey of psychological turmoil.

Apr. 2-5 & Apr. 9-12, 2009, at the Arthur Miller Theatre

“Jonesin'” won the 2008 Hopwood Award for Undergraduate Drama. The play will be presented at an international theatre festival in Prague, Czechoslovakia.