DETROIT PUBLIC THEATRE ANNOUNCES CAST FOR SOFT TARGET

Directed by Jaki Bradley, Emily Kaczmarek’s world premiere play explores a school shooting through the eyes of a 9-year old girl, and closes DPT’s 10th Anniversary Season.

Performances Begin Wednesday, April 30 and Run Through Sunday, June 8

Official Press Opening on Sunday, May 4

Detroit Public Theatre (DPT) is thrilled to announce the cast for SOFT TARGET, a world premiere play written by Emily Kaczmarek, and directed by Jaki Bradley, who comes to DPT fresh from directing the Off Broadway hit All Nighter. Soft Target is a new work about childhood, guns, and all the wounds we cannot see. Told from the perspective of a young girl and the toys that love her, this story is deeply imaginative and brimming with humanity, humor and hope while delving into one of the most urgent issues of our time.

Performances begin with two Pick Your Price Previews on Wednesday, April 30 and Thursday, May 1 and run through Sunday, June 8. The production officially opens on Sunday, May 4 at 6pm. Facilitated post-show dialogues follow every performance.

“When the script of SOFT TARGET came to us at Detroit Public Theatre, we were floored, says Sarah Clare Corporandy, one of the founding Producing Artistic Directors of DPT. Sarah is also cast in the production.

“The piece is challenging, healing, moving, and invites us into the belly of a tough and terrifying issue through a profoundly human and non-polarizing lens. It asks us to look directly at the impacts of gun violence on individuals, families and communities and it asks us to seek a path forward as a society - a path that always keeps those impacts at the forefront.” 

“We are inviting our community to come see Soft Target at Detroit Public Theatre and to have brave and exciting conversations, to come together, and to sit with this beautiful play and what it tells us about our current reality”, she continues. “Soft Target asks us to find ways to care for one another, so we can find a way to move forward and stop this, for all of us.” 

The cast of SOFT TARGET includes Sarah Clare Corporandy, David Johnson III, Emma Kikue, Nya Mackenzie, Alexander Pobutsky, Cora Steiger, and Ashley Wickett.

The production will include scenic design by Frank Oliva, props design by Pegi Marshall, lighting design by Mextly Couzins, audio design by Kate Hopgood, costume design by Phuong Nguyen, Make-up and wig design by Cornell Jermaine, and Joe Wright as the Intimacy, Movement and Fight Director. Nancy Uffner is the production stage manager. Ryanne Tracey and Badriyyah Wazeerud-Din are the Assistant Stage Managers. 

The production is being presented in association with Soto Productions.

DPT’s 10th Season began with James Ijames’ Pulitzer Prize winning, FAT HAM, followed by the joyful, surprising, irreverent, and moving DPT Holiday Cabaret for the 2nd year in a row. CONFEDERATES kicked off the second half of the season before community performances of Dominique Morisseau’s Detroit ‘67 toured the area in March. SOFT TARGET by Emily Kaczmarek, marks the 2nd world premiere in DPT history.  

BIOS:

EMILY KACZMAREK (Playwright)  is a writer for theatre, TV, and film. Her work has been produced and developed at theatres across the country, including 5th Avenue, Second Stage, American Conservatory, WP, and others. Emily is the book writer of the original musicals AFTERWORDS and AFLOAT, and won a Jonathan Larson Award in 2018. She has been in residence at New York Stage and Film, SPACE on Ryder Farm, the O'Neill, the Hermitage, Goodspeed, and more. Emily’s TV credits include MONSTERLAND (Hulu), THE STAIRCASE (HBO Max, nominated for a 2022 Writers Guild Award), and others, and she is currently a Co-Executive Producer on a forthcoming Netflix show, alongside developing her own show for Peacock. Emily is a proud member of the Writers Guild of America. This play is for all survivors of trauma, especially children.

JAKI BRADLEY (Director) is a director for theater and film. She is currently directing All Nighter at MCC in NYC, running through May 18. She has previously directed at Berkeley Repertory, NYTW, Ars Nova, NYSAF, CTG, Denver Center and Arena Stage, among others. In film, she has written for Netflix, Paramount, AGBO and FX, directed music videos and the short films Spa Day, The Big Ask, and Chow, and is preparing her feature directorial debut, The One. Jaki is a Fulbright Scholar and a proud member of SDC and WGA.

SARAH CLARE CORPORANDY (Jen) An original founding member of DPT in 2015, Sarah Clare is a Michigan (Ypsilanti) native, and after moving about the country to find the best places and ways to create live theater, she found herself called back home to Detroit. After training in both theater and voice at Hope College, she transitioned to the administrative end of art-making and received an MFA in arts administration from Wayne State University’s Hilberry Theatre program. During that time, she worked with companies such as Breathe Art Theatre Project, Barrington Stage Co., and New York Stage and Film. Sarah Clare acted as Managing Director of Philadelphia’s Pig Iron Theatre Co. from 2008-2009, and for 13 years since she worked as Company Manager and Managing Director of Chautauqua Theatre Company. During her time there, she was the line producer for the Chautauqua Institution’s inter-arts collaborations The Romeo and Juliet Project and Go West!. From 2009-2021 she served on the faculty at Savannah College of Art and Design. She has also taught at University of Kentucky and Wayne State University. In the summer of 2020 she was the lead producer on the televised remounts of From Broadway to Obscurity (Eric Gutman) and No Child… (Nilaja Sun), in collaboration with PBS stations in Buffalo, NY, and Detroit, MI, and with Chautauqua Theater Co. In her role at DPT, she headed up the move to DPT’s new building, leads strategic planning for the company, and shares artistic leadership with Sarah, Courtney, and Dominique. She made a return to performing in DPT’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane in season 4.

DAVID JOHNSON III (Jonah) Making his Detroit Public Theatre debut, David Johnson III is an alumni of The University of North Carolina School of The Arts, BADA: Midsummer in Oxford, and Mosaic Youth Theater of Detroit. He would like to thank all his loved ones, teachers, and mentors who have supported him on this journey. He is grateful to be back working in the city where he fell in love with theater.

EMMA KIKUE (Molly) is thrilled to be making her DPT debut with such a beautiful play and wonderful group of people! TV/Film credits include: Blue Bloods, Love Life, The Sinner, Bull, Instinct, Elementary, Madam Secretary, The Code, BrainDead, The Adults, and Josie & Jack. She has originated roles in world premiere plays at Primary Stages, The Civillians, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Ma-Yi Theatre, Pan-Asian Rep, The Hearth, and Actors Theater of Louisville/The Humana Festival. You can hear her in the audio play Song of the Northwoods on Audible (also directed by Jaki Bradley!) and Symphony Space’s Selected Shorts, broadcast on NPR.

NYA MACKENZIE (Natalie) has been acting since joining Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit three years ago. Since then she has learned so much about her love for theatre, film; specifically acting and writing. Nya is really grateful to have Soft Target as her first industry acting job and is extremely excited for the opportunity.

ALEXANDER POBUTSKY (Bunny) is really excited to be back at DPT, especially for this particular piece. He can most recently be seen in the Oscar-winning American Fiction, Hulu/FX’s Justified: City Primeval (in which for five episodes he played an Albanian from Hamtramck, his hometown!), The Storied Life of AJ Fikry, and The Blacklist. Theater: Clyde’s (Detroit Public), Sweat (Detroit Repertory), Blue Man Group, Hir (Apollinaire), This Is Our Youth (The Hive). 

CORA STEIGER (Amanda) is thrilled to be making her DPT debut. She is a 7th grader at Oxford Middle School and loves being on stage. Her favorite past roles include Fun Home(Small Alison), Mary Poppins(Jane Banks), Beauty and the Beast(Chip), The Miracle Worker(Helen Keller), Matilda the Musical(Matilda), and A Christmas Story(The Encore Musical Theatre Company/Randy). Cora dreams of performing on stage in NY one day. She would like to thank her family and friends for always supporting her dreams. Her performance is dedicated to the victims and everyone affected by the Oxford High School shooting.

ASHLEY WICKETT (Di) Ashley is thrilled to make her DPT debut! Education: BFA Theatre Performance: The University of Evansville/MFA in Acting, The American Conservatory Theater. Credits: Meadowbrook, Purple Rose Theatre Company, American Conservatory Theatre, California Shakespeare Theatre, Livermore Shakespeare Festival, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Pioneer Theatre Company. Staged readings with The Shakespeare Project of Chicago, Barebones Theatre Productions, The New Harmony Project, Shakespeare in Detroit and ACT. Ashley is a teacher/director with Next Step Broadway and works as an audition coach with performers of all ages. 

The Company of Detroit Public Theatre's "Soft Target".

TICKET INFORMATION

DPT looks forward to its second decade, and remains committed to contributing meaningfully to the vibrant Detroit arts community – making theatre accessible to all, and engaging audiences with bold, relevant, thrilling, thought-provoking productions. Single tickets are $49. To ensure maximum accessibility, in addition to regularly scheduled pick-your-price performances with tickets as low as $5, a limited number of $25 “rush” tickets are available at the door two hours prior to each performance. All Thursday performances during Season 10 have a ticket price of $25.

Tickets are currently on sale and can be purchased at www.detroitpublictheatre.org or by calling 313-974-7918.

ABOUT DETROIT PUBLIC THEATRE

Detroit Public Theatre produces nationally recognized plays and programs with world-class writers, directors, actors and designers in the heart of Detroit’s cultural district. We create bold, relevant work that illuminates the thrills, joys and challenges of our shared humanity. For more information about Detroit Public Theatre and its productions and programs, or to purchase tickets visit www.detroitpublictheatre.org or call (313) 974-7918.