UMS Concert Program, September 12, 2017 - September 17, 2017 - Every Brilliant Thing

Every Brilliant Thing A production of
Paines Plough and Pentabus Theatre Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe
Writers George Perrin
Director Tuesday Evening, September 12, 2017 at 7:30 Wednesday Evening, September 13, 2017 at 7:30
Thursday Evening, September 14, 2017 at 7:30
Friday Evening, September 15, 2017 at 8:00 Saturday Evening, September 16, 2017 at 5:00
Saturday Evening, September 16, 2017 at 8:00 Sunday Afternoon, September 17, 2017 at 2:00 Arthur Miller Theatre
Ann Arbor Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Performances 
of the 139th Annual Season
Theater Series This weekÕs performances are funded in part by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Endowment Fund. Special thanks to John Greden, Stephanie Salazar, Lizelle Salazar, and the University of Michigan Depression Center for their participation in events surrounding this weekÕs performances. In consideration of the artists and the audience, please refrain from the use of electronic devices during the performance. The photography, sound recording, or videotaping of this performance is prohibited. CREATIVE TEAM Writers / Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe Director / George Perrin CAST Jonny Donahoe Every Brilliant Thing is approximately 60 minutes in duration and is performed without intermission. Following this performance, please feel free to remain in your seats to participate in a post-performance dialogue with members of the U-M Depression Center network. For more information, please refer to page 9. PROVOCATIVE THEATER. COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS. SAFE SPACES. The UMS 2017-18 season will include a three-week look at stage work that embraces the long theatrical legacy of intervening in social issues and drawing diverse voices 
into focused conversation. Through artistic presentation on stage, and an equal helping of discussion and inquiry off the stage, UMS will create a community platform for important dialogue Ñ an invocation to move beyond our personal comfort zones and to lean in to the complexities of living in a polarized and supercharged multicultural, global society. From slavery to terrorism to transgender identity to radical wellness and healing, these theater pieces will force us to confront our own opinions and biases, with an eye toward better resilience, and a better understanding to face the world we currently live in. Join us for provocative theater and courageous conversations, all presented in the safe space of the theater. Underground Railroad Game Theater Ars Nova By Jennifer Kidwell and 
Scott Sheppard, with 
Lightning Rod Special Directed by Taibi Magar Wed-Sun, Jan 17-21 Arthur Miller Theatre ÒA riveting, whip-smart performance pieceÉas daringly unexpurgated as anything youÕll encounter onstage today. ItÕs an effort to reset the table for the complicated conversation about race that America eternally attempts to start, and always ends up recoiling from in guilt and insecurity and anger.Ó (Washington Post) Us/Them Bronks/Richard Jordan Productions Written and directed by Carly Wijs Featuring Gytha Parmentier and Roman Van Houtven Wed-Sun, Jan 24-28 Arthur Miller Theatre BelgiumÕs Bronks theater company presents a compelling work about the shocking event in the Caucasus in 2004, when 1,200 schoolchildren and their parents were held hostage on the first day of school by a group of armed terrorists in the small town of Beslan.ÊTwo characters look back on those three days, when the whole world was shocked that children would be pawns in an adult conflict. They, Themself and Schmerm Written and performed by 
Becca Blackwell Directed by and developed 
with Ellie Heyman Wed, Jan 31-Sat, Feb 3 Arthur Miller Theatre Becca BlackwellÕs disturbingly hilarious personal tale engages in loving confrontation with the audience, detailing the tragic-comic transitions in life, family, sex, and gender while asking what it truly means to be authentic.
(I Could Go On Singing) 
Over the Rainbow FK Alexander Fri, Jan 26-Sat, Feb 3 Stamps Gallery FK Alexander is a performance artist whose work is concerned with issues of wounds, recovery, aggressive healing, radical wellness, industrialization, and noise music, an Òoutsider musicÓ that still exists on the fringe.ÊShe takes your hand, fixes your gaze, and sings to you alongside a distorted recording of Judy GarlandÕs final recording of ÒOver the Rainbow,Ó played through a wall of noise by the abrasive Glasgow-based noise band Okishima Island Tourist Association. .ums.org/nosafetynet ARTISTS Paines Plough is the United KingdomÕs national theater of new plays. Paines Plough commissions and produces the best playwrights and tours their plays far and wide. Paines Plough was formed in 1974 over a pint of Paines bitter in the Plough pub. Since then it has produced more than 130 new productions by world- renowned playwrights like Stephen Jeffreys, Abi Morgan, Sarah Kane, Mark Ravenhill, Dennis Kelly, and Mike Bartlett, and toured those plays to hundreds of places from Manchester to Moscow to Maidenhead. Paines PloughÕs 2015 season saw 12 productions by the nationÕs finest writers tour to 84 places from Cornwall to the Orkney Islands; in village halls and Off-Broadway, at music festivals and student unions, online and on radio, and in its own pop-up theater, Roundabout. In its 2016 season, it continued to tour the length and breadth of the UK from clubs and pubs to lakeside escapes and housing estates. Roundabout hosted its most ambitious Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme ever, and brought mini-festivals to each stop on its autumn tour. Paines Plough extends its digital reach by live streaming shows and its launching of the free ÒCome To Where IÕm FromÓ app, featuring over 100 audio plays. Pentabus Theatre is the United Kingdom's rural theater company. Its mission is to develop and produce quality new theater about the contemporary rural world. To tour the country with plays that have local impact and national resonance. To turn up in peopleÕs village halls, theaters, and digital backyards, connecting audiences nationwide. Over four decades, Pentabus has produced 150 new plays, supported 100 playwrights, reached over half a million audience members, won awards, pioneered live-streaming, and developed a ground-breaking initiative to nurture young writers from rural backgrounds. Over the next four decades they will tour further than ever before, work with new and established playwrights, extend its young writersÕ program, and continue to push at the boundaries of what theater can be. Pentabus is a registered charity, and relies on the generosity of its donors, small and large, to help make brilliant new theater. Duncan MacmillanÕs (writer) plays include: People, Places, and Things (National Theatre/Headlong/West End); 1984, co-adapted from George OrwellÕs novel and co-directed with Robert Icke (Headlong/Nottingham Playhouse, Almeida Theatre, West End, UK and international tours); Every Brilliant Thing (Paines Plough/Pentabus/Barrow Street/international tours); Lungs (Studio Theatre Washington, DC/Paines Plough & Sheffield Theatres, various productions worldwide); 2071, co-written with Chris Rapley (Royal Court/Hamburg Schauspielhaus); Atmen (SchaubŸhne Berlin); The Forbidden Zone (Salzburg Festival/SchaubŸhne Berlin/Barbican); Reise Durch Die Nacht, adapted from Friederike Mayršcker, created with Katie Mitchell and Lyndsey Turner (Schauspielhaus Kšln/Theatertreffen Berlin/Festival dÕAvignon); Wunschloses UnglŸck, adapted from Peter Handke (Burgtheater Vienna); 
and Monster (Royal Exchange). Jonny Donahoe (co-writer and performer) is an actor, comedian, and writer, best known as the front man of comedy-band Jonny & the Baptists. As a comedian he has toured across the UK, Ireland, and Europe. Credits include: The Now Show, Sketchorama, The Comedy Club, and Infinite Monkey Cage (Radio 4). TV credits include: Fresh From The Fringe (BBC TV) and The Gadget Show (Channel 5). Theater credits include: Marcus BrigstockeÕs Early Edition (Latitude Festival and Edinburgh Festival 2012) and 9 Lessons and Carols For Godless People (Bloomsbury Theatre). He was a finalist inÊNew Act of the Year, Musical Comedy Awards, and BBC's New Talent. George Perrin (director) is joint artistic director of Paines Plough and was formerly joint artistic director of nabokov. Directing credits for Paines Plough include: Love, Lies, and Taxidermy by Alan Harris; Growth by Luke Norris; I Got Superpowers For My Birthday by Katie Douglas (Roundabout season 2016, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and national tour); Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe (national and international tour/Barrow Street Theater, New York); The Silver Drills by Robin French (BBCRadio4); Lungs by Duncan Macmillan; The Human Ear and The Initiate by Alexandra Wood; Our TeacherÕs a Troll by Dennis Kelly (Roundabout season 2014Ð15, Edinburgh Festival Fringe/national tour); Not the Worst Place by Sam Burns (Sherman Cymru/Theatr Clwyd); Sea Wall by Simon Stephens (Dublin Theatre Festival/National Theatre Shed); Good With People by David Harrower (59East59Theatres New York/Traverse/ñran M—r); London by Simon Stephens (national tour); Sixty Five Miles by Matt Hartley (Hull Truck); The 8th by Che Walker and Paul Heaton (Latitude Festival/Barbican/Manchester International Festival/national tour); DIG by Katie Douglas (ñran M—r/national tour); and Juicy Fruits by Leo Butler (ñran M—r/national tour). As trainee associate director of Paines Plough, directing credits include: House of Agnes by Levi David Addai; The Dirt Under the Carpet by Rona Munro; Crazy Love by Che Walker; My Little Heart Dropped in Coffee by Duncan Macmillan; and Babies by Katie Douglas. Directing credits for nabokov include: 2nd May 1997 by Jack Thorne (Bush); Terre Haute by Edmund White (59East59 Theatres New York/West End/national tour/Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh Festival Fringe); Is Everyone OK? and Public Displays of Affection by Joel Horwood; and Camarilla by Van Badham (nabokov). UMS welcomes Paines Plough, Pentabus Theatre, and Jonny Donahoe as they make their UMS debuts this week. RESOURCES The mission of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Depression Center is to detect depression and bipolar disorders earlier, treat more effectively, prevent recurrences
and progression, counteract 
stigma, and improve public policy. For further information, please visit depressioncenter.org or call 734.936.4400.
For alternatives available for 
treating depression, bipolar
disorder, or anxiety disorders, including the many proven steps individuals can take to promote wellness, please visit depressiontoolkit.org. After each performance of Every Brilliant Thing, members of the U-M Depression Center network will host a post-performance dialogue with the audience. These include clinicians and researchers dedicated to finding better ways to understand, detect, treat, and prevent the progression of depression, bipolar disorder, and related conditions. Note that artists will not be present for these discussions. FACILITATORS 9/12     Adrienne Pisoni, LMSW; and Lizelle Salazar, MPH, outreach and         education coordinator for the U-M Depression Center 9/13    Cheryl King, PhD; and Stephanie Salazar, MPH, program             coordinator for the U-M Depression Center 9/14    Brendon Watson, MD, PhD, U-M assistant professor of                 psychiatry; and Victor Hong, MD, U-M director of psychiatric             emergency services 9/15    John Greden, MD, executive director and co-founder of U-M             Depression Center 9/16, 2 pm     David Fulkerson, LMSW; and Chasity Jensen, LMSW 9/16, 8 pm     Jim Abelson, MD; and Jamie Abelson, MSW 9/17     Anthony King, PhD; and John Kettley, LMSW, U-M clinical             director of psychiatric emergency services THIS WEEK'S VICTOR FOR UMS: Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Endowment Fund Supporter of this weekÕs performances of Every Brilliant Thing. MAY WE ALSO RECOMMEND... 10/13Ð14    ThŽ‰tre de la Ville: State of Siege 10/20    Ragamala Dance Company 11/6    Bassem Youssef Tickets available at www.ums.org. ON THE EDUCATION HORIZONÉ 9/19    Film Screening: New York Philharmonic     (U-M Museum of Art, 525 S. State Street, 7:30 pm) 9/22    Film Screening: Einstein on the Beach     (U-M Museum of Art, 525 S. State Street, 6:30 pm) 10/13    Post-Performance Q&A: ThŽ‰tre de la VilleÕs State of Siege     (Power Center, 121 Fletcher Street)     Must have a ticket to the 10/13 performance to attend. 10/20    Post-Performance Q&A: Ragamala Dance Company     (Power Center, 121 Fletcher Street)     Must have a ticket to the 10/20 performance to attend. Educational events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.