Theatre NOVA: Michigan Premiere of “Sanctuary City” Nov. 4-27

ANN ARBOR – Theatre NOVA, Ann Arbor’s resident nonprofit professional theatre, kicks off its 2022-23 season of in-person full-length productions with “Sanctuary City” by Martyna Majok, which runs November 4 through November 27, 2022.

B and G are DREAMers/Lovers/High school friends negotiating the broken promise of safety and the weight of responsibility in the so-called sanctuary city of Newark. When B learns that his mother will return to her country of origin, these two young people must fight like hell to establish a place for themselves and each other in America. “I have rarely seen a play that so effectively embodies the way external forces – in this case, immigration policies in the United States – distort the inner lives of actual humans. What love is, and can ever mean, is lost in the muddle between the heart and the law.” – New York Times.

Directed by Carla Milarch, “Sanctuary City” features Marie Muhammad, Jose Martinez-Chavarria, and Mike Sandusky. The production and design team includes Forrest Hejkal (scenic design), Marley Boone (costume design), Meme Resnick (sound design), and Briana O’Neal (stage manager/props).

For the health, safety, and well-being of our patrons, staff, and artists, COVID safety measures will be in place. All artists and staff participating in the season must be fully vaccinated, and patrons must bring proof of vaccination and wear a mask while in the building. Unvaccinated patrons will not be admitted. This policy is subject to change at any time in accordance with fluctuating local, state, and federal guidelines. Please check our website for our current policy before attending.

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.

Martyna Majok (Playwright) Martyna Majok was born in Bytom, Poland, and raised in Jersey and Chicago. She was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, “Cost of Living.” Other plays include “Sanctuary City,” “Queens,” and “Ironbound,” which have been produced across American and international stages. Awards include The Academy of Arts and Letters’ Benjamin Hadley Danks Award for Exceptional Playwriting, The Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding New Play, The Greenfield Prize, as the first female recipient in drama, The Champions of Change Award from the NYC Mayor’s Office, The Francesca Primus Prize, two Jane Chambers Playwriting Awards, The Lanford Wilson Prize, The Lilly Award’s Stacey Mindich Prize, Helen Merrill Emerging Playwright Award, Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding Original New Play from The Helen Hayes Awards, Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award, ANPF Women’s Invitational Prize, David Calicchio Prize, Global Age Project Prize, NYTW 2050 Fellowship, NNPN Smith Prize for Political Playwriting, and Merage Foundation Fellowship for The American Dream.

Martyna studied at Yale School of Drama, Juilliard, University of Chicago, and Jersey public schools. She was a 2012-2013 NNPN playwright-in-residence, the 2015-2016 PoNY Fellow at the Lark Play Development Center, and a 2018-2019 Hodder Fellow at Princeton University.

Martyna is currently writing a musical adaptation of “The Great Gatsby,” with music by Florence Welch and Thomas Bartlett, and developing TV and film for HBO, Plan B, and Pastel.

Carla Milarch (Director) is a former artistic director of Performance Network Theatre, whose passion for new plays led her to co-found Theatre NOVA. As a dramaturg and director, she has helped bring 25 brand new plays to fully-staged productions, as well as hundreds of plays to staged readings, including those at the Michigan Playwrights Festival, the Fireside New Play Festival, the NNPN National Showcase of New Plays (board member), and the Kennedy Center’s MFA playwrights’ workshop. She served as board president of the Michigan Equity Theatre Alliance. Some awards include “Best Overall Season/Artistic Direction” from the Oakland Press, “Outstanding Contributions to an Ensemble” from The Detroit Free Press, “Most Valuable Performer” from the Oakland Press, and the Between the Lines “Angel” award for outstanding contributions to the LGBT community. Carla’s love and experience for both sides of the stage have taken her from producing theatre at The Barn Theatre in Port Sanilac, Michigan, to co-founding a theatre in Amarillo, TX with her Purchase classmates, to producing theatre in a barn again – this time in the middle of a world-class city.

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