Theatre NOVA presents the Play of the Month: 4 GENRES by Ron Reikki
ANN ARBOR – Theatre NOVA, Ann Arbor’s professional theatre with an exclusive focus on new plays and playwrights, presents a new play written specifically for the Zoom format each month (January through April) with their PLAY OF THE MONTH series. “4 Genres” by Ron Riekki, the second offering in the series, will be performed live on Zoom on Wednesday, February 24th at 8pm and available ON DEMAND for Series Pass holders through May.
In “4 Genres,” four characters reveal what they’ve learned after being trapped within four respective film/theatre genres (musical theatre, documentary, slapstick, and horror.) A hilarious comedy exploring the role of art in life and society. “4 Genres” is directed by Theatre NOVA Founding Artistic Director, Carla Milarch and features Jennifer Graham (An Almost British Christmas), Nate John-Mark (A Hero of Our Time, 2020), Dan Johnson (Kill, Move, Paradise) and David Moan (I’m Streaming of an Alright Christmas).
Tickets are $10 each month, or $30 for a Series Pass, which includes admission to four plays for the price of three and the opportunity to view all four plays ON DEMAND if any of the live performances are missed. Purchase tickets online at www.TheatreNova.org. For more information, please email a2theatrenova@gmail.com. All proceeds benefit Theatre NOVA’s ongoing efforts to stay alive through the pandemic. This activity is supported in part by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Ron Riekki’s (Playwright) books include “My Ancestors are Reindeer Herders” and “I Am Melting in Extinction” (Apprentice House Press), “Posttraumatic” (Hoot ‘n’ Waddle), and “U.P.” (Ghost Road Press). Riekki co-edited “Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice” (Michigan State University Press) and “The Many Lives of The Evil Dead” (McFarland), and edited “The Many Lives of It” (McFarland), “And Here: 100 Years of Upper Peninsula Writing, 1917-2017” (MSU Press), “Here: Women Writing on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula” (MSU Press, Independent Publisher Book Award), and “The Way North: Collected Upper Peninsula New Works” (Wayne State University Press, Michigan Notable Book). Riekki wrote the short films “Thank You for Your Teeth!” (2020 Dracula Film Festival Vladutz Trophy) and “America” (2019 Red Rock Film Festival Audience Award; 2019 Très Court International Film Festival Audience Award and Grand Prix). Theatre NOVA previously performed his plays “Sáme” and “Atheist Comedy.”
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.
