Theatre production "Gruesome Playground Injuries" by Rajiv Joseph (Miami '96) opens Nov. 20

The department of theatre presents “Gruesome Playground Injuries” by Rajiv Joseph (Miami ’96) at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 20-23 and at 2 p.m. Nov. 23-24 in Studio 88 Theatre, Center for Performing Arts.

The SecondStage production is directed by Robert Stimmel, senior theatre major.

Award-winning playwright Joseph was a 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist for his play  “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.” He is the book writer and co-lyricist for the new musical “Fly,” an adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan.  He is the co-screenwriter of the upcoming football film “Draft Day,” and he was a writer on the Showtime series “Nurse Jackie.”

Joseph recently received the prestigious 2013 Steinberg Playwright Award, given every other year to playwrights in the early and middle stages of their careers and whose current bodies of work exhibit exceptional talent, artistic excellence and continued potential for powerful contributions to the American theater.

"Gruesome Playground Injuries," opens Nov. 20. The cast includes theatre majors Ryan Knapper and Meka Clifford (photo by Jennifer Studnicki)

“Gruesome Playground Injuries” follows the characters of Kayleen and Doug who meet as eight-year-olds in a school nurse's office, beginning a lifelong intimacy revealed through the physical and emotional injuries they sustain over 30 years.

Stimmel explained, “not only is this play about a relationship that can withstand the test of time, it's about hurt, loss, joy, scars, laughter, fear and a kind of love that is somewhat unconventional. It's an intimate piece that will keep your attention from beginning to end and will have you crying and laughing all along the way."  (read more about Stimmel in the Miami University Report on Undergraduate Research, Summer 2013).

Tickets, $7 for students/youth, $8 for seniors and $10 for adults, are available at the Miami University Box Office.