Mid-Michigan’s award-winning professional theater company, Williamston Theatre, located at 122 S. Putnam Street in downtown Williamston, continuesd its 2023-2024 Season Dark Nights in Billtown Series with a staged reading of the new play Phosphates and Fistfights by Dionne O’Dell. The reading was at the Williamston Theatre on Monday, February 19, 2024, at 7pm.

Phosphates and Fistfights is a retelling of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s acclaimed short story The Yellow Wallpaper. Part One of the play confronts Jane’s psychological unravelling brought on by post-partum depression, restrictive gender roles, and isolation. It is dramatized through the framework of the suffrage movement in the 1890s, which Gilman was herself involved in. Part Two fast forwards to 1920, months prior to ratification, and highlights a family that is now living in a time of prohibition, the Comstock Laws/Suppression of Vice, and opposition to a woman’s right to choose. The narrative highlights how the characters persevere through fearlessness, resilience, science, and the hope for a better future.

Dionne O’Dell is faculty for the Department of Theatre at Michigan State University, where she specializes in writing and directing plays for youth and community. Previously, Dionne was the Associate Director of Education at Lincoln Center Theater in New York City. Although primarily interested in writing plays with a social justice focus, in February 2010, her short film script, Dreadful Sorry (a ghost story) was awarded a $100,000 grant by the SC Film Commission and played to short film festivals around the US. A proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, she has also worked as a performer in regional theatre productions, in industrial films, and television commercials. Currently, Dionne is also the Artistic Director of the MSU Sense-Ability Ensemble- a group of MSU Theatre students that create innovative, multi-sensory, interactive theatrical performances for audiences that are neurodiverse. The Ensemble’s most recent production, What if Wilhelmina, is a musical adaptation of the children’s book by the same title, by Joseph Belisle. What if Wilhelmina will be on the MSU main stage March 8-17, 2024. Having taken time away from creative work while her children were small, Dionne is thrilled to jump back into writing and performing and excited to be partnering with Williamston Theatre.

Dark Nights in Billtown is the Williamston Theatre’s second-stage program that provides an opportunity to explore interesting plays, topics, and conversation with audience members. These scaled down evenings allow the Williamston Theatre to bring more theatrical experiences to the Greater Lansing region. The final Dark Nights in Billtown of Season 17 will be held on April 29, 2024.

The Williamston Theatre is a not-for-profit, professional live theatre company, dedicated to producing plays that excite, engage, and entertain our audiences. The theatre opened its doors in 2006, is the winner of a 2014 National Theatre Company Grant from The American Theatre Wing and has received many regional awards including the 2008 Robert Busby Award for extraordinary overall contribution to theatre in the Greater Lansing Area.

Williamston Theatre patrons will find ample parking on the street and in several municipal lots throughout the city. The theatre is located in downtown Williamston (exit 117 off I-96) just south of Grand River Avenue. Additional information about the company and the 2023-2024 Season is available online at www.williamstontheatre.org or by calling (517) 655-SHOW (7469).