STRONGER ARTS FOR STRONGER REGION

BOX OFFICE: 513-421-3888

OH, KY, IN TOLL-FREE: 800-582-3208

PATRONS WHO ARE DEAF, HARD-OF-HEARING, DEAF BLIND OR SPEECH DISABLED: dial 711 to connect to the Box Office via Ohio Relay Services

STAY CONNECTED!

WEBSITE: cincyplay.com

State and federal dollars through the Ohio Arts Council supported your arts experience today.

WHERE WILL THE ARTS TAKE YOU NEXT ? VISIT ARTSINOHIO.COM

WELCOME, FRIENDS!

Whether you’re sitting in the new Moe and Jack’s Place – The Rouse Theatre or in the historic Rosenthal Shelterhouse Theatre, I hope you’re making yourself at home here. It is your Playhouse.

It’s hard to believe our 2022-23 season is coming to a close with our final two productions. Yet I can’t help feeling that we’re ending in a way that leaves us excited for the future. Shane, by Karen Zacarías, and Origin Story, by Nathan Alan Davis, are world premieres from beloved voices in American theatre. These stories are bold and entertaining in their own remarkable ways, and we’re so proud to be the first to produce them. We look forward to seeing them performed on stages across the country.

With Shane, Karen brings one of the most celebrated Westerns to life in the Rouse Theatre. She honors the cultural authenticity of the Wild West, where a diverse population of cowboys, frontiersmen and homesteaders lived and thrived. This fresh adaptation pays homage to the Western genre as we know it — and at the same time, it gives it new life by pulling from rich historical details and including Black, Brown and Indigenous perspectives. A fascinating character study lies at the story’s center, and it’s enriched by themes of family and principles, and deepened by an examination of American masculinity.

Across the lobby, Nathan brings us a modern-day story about identity and belonging. Origin Story introduces Margaret, a young woman with many existential questions on her mind — the kind that emerge when we’re yearning to understand who we are. She leads an ensemble of truly memorable characters who are searching for purpose in their own ways. I loved this script the first time I read it, partly for its profound and unexpected turns and partly for its endearing characters, who stayed with me long after I met them on the page. Under the direction of our own Joanie Schultz, Associate Artistic Director, I’m sure Origin Story will elicit a similar experience for you, too.

What a remarkable season we’ve had together! I hope you’ll join us again for even more stories that will inspire, entertain and lift up our shared humanity. Read about the productions heading to our stages for the 2023-24 season and consider subscribing at cincyplay.com!

Many thanks,

Blake Robison Osborn Family Producing Artistic Director