This June, theater is bustin’ out all over. A bona fide theater town, Ann Arbor has provided the fertile artistic soil for no fewer than four brand new companies* to take root, just in the last year: The New Theatre Project, Penny Seats Theatre, Shakespeare West, and now the newest comer, The Carriage House Theatre.

The Carriage House Theatre is a group of young artists who have converted (you guessed it) a carriage house on the Old West Side. It is located at 541 Third, an easy stroll from downtown, and around the corner from Washtenaw Dairy. According to their Facebook page, intermissions are long enough to grab a donut, ice cream cone, or your favorite snack—and still make it back in time for act two!

Theater listings for the week of June 20- June 26

Show: “Soccer Moms and Reapers” by Joe York, through June 25
Company: PTD Productions
Type of Company: Pre-professional
Recommended ages: Adult
Description: DC and Habib are awesome video gamers, enlisted by the Air Force to remotely operate drone bombers, or "Reapers" in the Middle East. Every morning they go off to war in the greater Las Vegas area, and in the evening they come home to suburbia. That is, until one of their missions becomes front-page news, when it is discovered they bombed the wrong people. In his thought-provoking World Premiere, an Ann Arbor playwright takes a look at what goes on "behind the scenes" in our thoroughly modern military.
Preview article from AnnArbor.com
Fun fact: Drones are in the news! Read about drones (including Reaper drones) in this New York Times article.
For tickets and information: ptdproductions.com

Show: “The Tempest” by William Shakespeare, through June 25
Company: The Blackbird Theatre
Type of Company: Professional Non-Equity
Recommended ages: 13+
Description: Four actors play 18 roles in Shakespeare’s final masterpiece. Set on a remote island, Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place on the throne. Using his special brand of magic, he conjures up a tempest to shipwreck his usurping brother Antonio, Alonso, King of Naples, and others of their court, with the help of his spritely assistant Ariel, and slave beast Caliban. Romance, magic, mayhem and some of the Bard’s greatest poetry ensues.
Preview article from AnnArbor.com
Fun fact: Outdoor Shakespeare is pet-friendly. The company’s upcoming production of Twelfth Night features dogs and a boa constrictor. Audiences are allowed to bring pets and children to any Shakespeare West event.
For tickets and information: 734-332 3848, www.blackbirdtheatre.org

Show: “The Winter's Tale” by William Shakespeare, through June 26
Company: Shakespeare in the Arb
Type of Company: Pre-professional
Recommended ages: 10+
Description: One of Shakespeare's late romances, The Winter's Tale concerns the jealousy of King Leontes, and how the actions he has taken are reversed by the passing of time. The first acts are dramatic and the next are comic and romantic, leading to a hopeful ending. This production features English court and country dancing and Elizabethan period music.
Review from AnnArbor.com
Fun fact: This play has one of the most famous stage directions in all of theater- “exit pursued by a bear." No news yet of the Dexter bear making a guest appearance at this outdoor performance, but perhaps for Equity wages…
For tickets and information: Tickets are only sold the evening of the performance - at 5 pm for members of Nichols Arboretum and at 5:30 for others.

Show: “Uncle Vanya” by Anton Chekhov, through July 2
Company: Carriage House Theatre
Type of Company: Pre-professional
Recommended ages: 12+
Description: On a rundown and remote farm Uncle Vanya and niece Sonya have worked for years to maintain the declining estate. When Professor Serebryakov and his wife Yelena come to visit, chaos and disruption comes with them, and the resulting disarray spawns three love affairs, each destined to wither on the vine. In this climate of thwarted hopes, the Professor announces a shocking plan.
Fun fact: A beautiful antique building on Ann Arbor's Old West Side located at 541 Third St., the Carriage House Theatre was built around the turn of the century, within a decade of Uncle Vanya's 1899 Moscow premiere under Stanislavski.
For tickets and information: www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=195441910502329

Show: “Next Fall” by Geoffrey Nauffts, through July 10
Company: Performance Network Theatre
Type of Company: Equity SPT
Recommended ages: 17 +
Description: Do opposites attract? Adam and Luke certainly do. Luke is a young, Southern Christian, and Adam is an aging, neurotic atheist. When they meet at a mutual friend's party, sparks fly—in more ways than one. When a serious accident lands Luke in the hospital, Adam must decide what their complicated life together adds up to, and whether their love truly can conquer all.
Story from the Detroit Free Press
Fun fact: The artists of “Next Fall” go way back! While at Wayne State in 1991, set designer Monika Essen and director Ray Schultz both worked on a production of “The Normal Heart” that featured PNT Artistic Director David Wolber. While touring the production on a fundraising junket for its trip to the Edinburgh festival, the production made a stop at Port Sanilac’s Barn Theatre (http://www.barntheatre.net/), which, at the time, was owned by Executive Director Carla Milarch’s father.
For tickets and information: 734-663-0696, www.performancenetwork.org/

Show: “Consider the Oyster” by David MacGregor, through September 3
Company: The Purple Rose Theatre Company
Type of Company: Professional Equity
Recommended ages: 16 +
Description: During the celebration of a Detroit Lions Super Bowl victory, Gene Walsh impulsively proposes marriage to the love of his life. When she joyously accepts, he tumbles over the coffee table. This chance fall begins a hilarious cascade of startling twists that turn the happy couples’ future upside down and inside out.
Preview article from AnnArbor.com
Fun fact: The only four teams who have never made it to the Super Bowl are the Cleveland Browns, The Houston Texans, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Detroit Lions.
For tickets and information: purplerosetheatre.org or 734.433.7673,

*Did you know that...?: Want to get in on the act of starting a theater company? The American Association of Community Theatre can tell you how, on it’s page “starting a community theatre company” (www.aact.org/start/index.html). Its list of start-up basics includes developing a mission statement, building a database and making decisions about union contracts.