Bringing the undead to life in a world premiere adaptation.
Bringing the undead to life in a world premiere adaptation.
This summer, playwright Arlitia Jones visited the Playhouse with Associate Artist Michael Evan Haney for a weeklong workshop of her play SUMMERLAND, which will have its world premiere in the Thompson Shelterhouse in February 2017.
In April 1869, when William H. Mumler entered a New York City courtroom charged with two counts of felony fraud for asserting that he could provide his clients with images of their ghostly loved ones — a story that takes center stage in Arlitia Jones’ world premiere play SUMMERLAND — it wasn’t just his controversial spirit photography business at stake.
Whitney Maris Brown makes her Playhouse debut this season as Mrs. Mumler in SUMMERLAND. She has traveled all across America throughout her regional career, and with SUMMERLAND she's able to check Cincinnati off her list.
Michael Rothhaar returns to the Playhouse, where he most recently appeared in the 2006 production of WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION. He now takes the stage as William H. Mumler in the world premiere production of SUMMERLAND.
Billy Finn, who appeared in last season's MAD RIVER RISING, returns to Cincinnati to portray Joseph Tooker in the world premiere production of Arlitia Jones' SUMMERLAND.
In the mid-19th century, spirit photographer William H. Mumler was the subject of widespread national and even international attention, pitting believers against skeptics in judging whether Mumler’s haunting images were the stuff of miracle or deception.
In today’s world of digital photography, we’ve become so accustomed to modifications that we’re often more surprised to see unaltered images. With this cynical perspective, it can be difficult to imagine the world illuminated in Arlitia Jones’ world premiere SUMMERLAND and the fierce debate William H. Mumler’s spirit
ALL THE ROADS HOME playwright Jen Silverman took time before the show went into rehearsal to talk about her inspiration for the story, the script’s unique structure and when she knew she’d be a writer.