The Detroit Mercy Theatre Company opened its 55th season and christened the new Detroit Mercy Black Box Theatre on the McNichols campus with a brisk, Jazz Age adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.”
Appearing on “Live in the D,” Andrew Papa, chair of the University of Detroit Mercy’s Department of Performing Arts, traced the road to the state-of-the-art venue to “an anonymous alumni $2-million-dollar donation” that “snowballed into a number of other” gifts. “We are so grateful,” Papa said, adding the donor chose to remain unnamed.
Papa said the flexible layout of the theatre will help students gain experience performing in multiple configurations. “Detroit is a theatre town,” he said, citing the city’s storied stages. “A black box can be arranged in all kinds of different scenarios… It really is a great training ground for our students.”
The season-opening “Twelfth Night” has been trimmed to a 90-minute run time with a lively early 20th-century Jazz Age setting. “It really focuses on the story, the characters,” Papa said. “The language is there. It is Shakespeare’s words,” and the result is “very, very funny.”
During the segment on “Live in the D,” UDM junior, Gracie Sheets, performed Viola’s ring monologue, which unfolds after a shipwreck sets off mistaken identities and a love triangle involving Duke Orsino and Olivia. You can watch the segment by clicking the video above.
For tickets and information on “Twelfth Night,” visit detroitmercyarts.com.