'23-'24 Season
From Autumn 2023 to Summer 2024, DPL will be presenting our first full season of live-action entertainment for your viewing pleasure. Kicking off with The From Above/From Below Ball on October 27th & 28th, the year will continue with a full lineup of theatrical entertainment, from comedy to tragedy to everything in between.
Theatrical Lineup
The Dionysian Public Library is delighted to present our first full season of live entertainment, consisting of...
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Samson Agonistes
This December, join us for a recitation of John Milton's closet drama Samson Agonistes, a retelling of the myth of Samson and Dalila. Composed in the mid-1600s, the piece presents the story of one of mythology's first superheroes in tragic verse, beginning with a blind Samson stumbling out onto the stage and culminating in an explosion of righteous violence. A meditation on sacrifice, power, and self-destruction, Samson Agonistes is an explosion of poetic rage shouted towards the heavens.
Interested in participating? Check out sign-up information here.
This will be a staged recitation of the text, presented along with musical accompaniment before and after the show from local musicians. Location and exact dates TBD.
Freud's Last Session
This coming spring, book a visit and step into the office for a presentation of Mark St. Germain's Freud's Last Session, a battle of wits and of mind as two intellectual rivals discuss the nature of sex, the mind, and the soul.
On the eve of the beginning of World War II, a young academic named C.S. Lewis is invited to the home of aging psychotherapeutic titan Sigmund Freud, bringing about a clash of ideology, a careful chess game of competing ideas, even as the world outside gears up to turn the conflict nuclear.
Performance dates, audition info, and location TBD.
Knock Knock, Boo-Hoo!:
A Stand-Up Tragedy Show
Comedy and Tragedy have long been lovers, complementary flavors that mediate between different emotional states. Next spring, come on down to Knock-Knock, Boo-Hoo! and laugh until you cry.
Come and spectate as eight stand-up comedians compete for audience sympathies to decide who can tell the saddest sob story while making it the funniest. Each comic will step up to the plate and tell their tale of woe, competing for the coveted title of Meister of Misery. At the end of the show, the audience will decide who most effectively garnered their sympathies, and the losers will never work in this town again.
Performance dates, location, and sign-up info TBD.
Much Ado About Nothing
Capping off the season, join us next summer for our first annual Shakespeare-in-the-park production, Much Ado About Nothing.
Mischief and mirth abound in the Bard's classic comedy, where enemies become lovers, lovers become enemies, bonds break and are built and clever insults fly like daggers. Two sets of lovers dip in and out of infatuation, the bastard brother of a prince schemes and scams, and the party never dies as a flurry of lies and love letters sends the players tumbling. Join Beatrice, Benedick, Hero, and Claudio as they fumble and fall—right into romance.
Performance dates, location, and audition information TDB.
The 1st Annual From Above/From Below Bâ’¶ll
We kicked off our '23-24 Season with the first annual From Above, From Below Ball, a two-night event of mind-bending magic and mystery to celebrate the release of our first annual horror anthology. Night I: From Below was held in Western Michigan University's Student Center in Kalamazoo on Fri. Oct 27th, with Night II: From Above occurring the next night at Books & Mortar in Grands Rapids on Sat. Oct. 28th.
Both events featured live music from Akron, Ohio-based indie rock musician Skeleton Drive, with localish folk punk hero Batshit Bill joining for the Night I show. We released both the print edition of x/y: a junk drawer of gender exploration issue #2: knowledge & mystery and Trans Rites: An Anthology of Genderfucked Horror, with drinks, party favors, and charcuterie provided. We were also joined for Night II by Lennox Rex and C. C. Rayne, who remotely read their stories "Birthday Suit" and "Dr. Frankenstein Dabbles in Self-Discovery" for the assembly.
