DETROIT—The Midwest premiere of Adam Seidel’s Williston will be Thursday, May 30 at 8:30 pm at the Detroit Repertory Theatre. Williston will run Thursdays through Sundays until June 30, 2019.

Opening Nights at the Rep are always full of camaraderie and celebration. Guests are invited to join in a Champagne toast in the elegant lobby gallery of the theater after the show with the cast and crew.

Williston is a darkly funny and scintillating exploration of how business corrupts people and the fine line between commerce and conscience. Three leasing reps travel to Williston, North Dakota to get mineral rights to the last big piece of undeveloped land. Leasing reps negotiate with land owners on behalf of oil companies about obtaining a lease to develop the land and typically operate on commissions which are a percentage of the leasing price. Leasing reps are also referred to as “landmen”. Absorbing, funny, riveting and with highly relevant themes of environmental issues, Native American land, protest, and patriarchy, this play has a strong message and contains strong language.

Williston is directed by resident company member Casaundra Freeman. This will be her directorial debut at the Rep, but her acting work is familiar to audiences across southeast Michigan. She last appeared on the Rep stage in Countdown to the Happy Day, for which she won numerous awards. Her cast features Harold Uriah Hogan, Kelly Pino, and David Wolber.

Adam Seidel is a New York-based playwright and a 2017 O’Neill semi-finalist. His play Catch the Butcher received its world premiere at the Long Beach Playhouse in Long Beach, CA, its off broadway premiere at Cherry Lane Theatre where the production was labeled a critic’s pick by The New York Times, and recently received its European premiere at Ilisia Volonakis in Athens, Greece.

Tickets are still the lowest prices for professional theatre in the region at $17 advance or $20 day of performance, and may be purchased online at detroitreptheatre.com or by calling (313) 868-1347.