Play House during the 2019 Take Out Take Down. Photo by Sarah Nesbitt.

Play House/Play House Laboratories

Play House (12657 Moran St, Detroit, MI 48212) is a studio, rehearsal space, and small-scale performance venue bringing high-quality, experimental, and family-friendly programming to Banglatown, Detroit residents at little-to-no cost. Play House is a former derelict property situated just south of the Davison Freeway. In 2012-13, using funds from ArtPlace America, neighborhood nonprofit Power House Productions built a dynamic team to re-imagine and transform the residential space into an open-plan rehearsal and performance space for The Hinterlands. Now run by nonprofit organization Play House Laboratories (made up of the team from The Hinterlands and Thank You So Much for Coming), with additional programming by the Bangla School of Music, Play House is an eccentric venue for cultural gatherings large and small. Visit the Play House Labs site to learn more! And donate here to keep Play House programming running.

Check out upcoming events at Play House here.

 
 

A Laboratory for Experimental Performance and Exchange

A project of The Hinterlands at Play House to support the development of new and experimental performance in Southeast Michigan through small scale development residencies and international performance exchanges, funded with support from the Staging Change program by the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Below are details regarding upcoming improvements and residency and workshop opportunities.

 
 
 

  • Four Detroit-local performing artists selected through a nomination process in 2022 will be given weeklong residency access to Play House, technical support, video technology, an optional public showing at the conclusion of the residency, as well as a creation stipend.

  • Our bimonthly work-in-progress for performing artists returns in mid-2022, now in partnership with ANDY.

  • With updated and enhanced streaming technology, Play House is outfitted as a live/digital hub for performance, with the equipment to host remote workshops, performances, and collaborations. Check out upcoming digital collaborations here.

 

Play House programming and residencies have been supported through generous funding by the NEA ArtWorks program, the Warhol Foundation, the Peck Foundation, NEFA National Dance Project, and the Staging Change program of the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

 

Artists in residence at Play House

January 2023

The TETRA is the creative partnership of Detroit artists Sherina Rodriguez Sharpe & Chace Morris. Combining art, ritual, & Black/Indigenous spiritual technologies, The TETRA builds the Digital Underground Railroad: a multi-year journey of "stations" that decolonize body/mind/spirit, heal intergenerational patterns, and build bridges between radical freedom-dreaming & real-life manifestation. 


 

December 2022

bree gant. Photo by Heather Henricksen for Surf Point Foundation. 

bree gant (she/they/slim) is an artist and thinker from the westside of Detroit. Working across various forms, bree explores the relationship between interior and exterior worlds, citing the body as the bridge. They travel the country for workshops, residencies, and exhibitions, and is probably at a city park somewhere, dancing in the snow. https://www.gant.studio

 

November 2022

 

Celia Benvenutti

Celia Eleanor Benvenutti (b.1988) is an Afro-Latina dance artist, native Detroiter, Howard University alumna, and Certified Dunham Technique Instructor. Currently, her movement practice is inspired by African Spirituality, the Katherine Dunham Technique, Afro- Caribbean folklore, Afro- Caribbean contemporary styles, traditional African,  and African-Contemporary dance. She believes that self- examination, detachment, and discrimination, the three philosophies within the Katherine Dunham Technique, are key to evolution towards higher knowledge and forms.Her goals are to continue the work in  creating spaces for observation in Afro-Caribbean dance while using contemporary dance forms to further prompt the observer for more investigation and awareness in Afro-Caribbean folklore and spirituality. http://www.kresgeartsindetroit.org/celia-benvenutti