A finalist for the prestigious American Theatre Critics Association Steinberg New Play Award, Across the Way, by Jeff Daniels, is a story about loss and love that transcends time. 

This World Premiere production, directed by Guy Sanville, tells the story of a woman searching for peace. On her journey, she receives help from people out of her present... and her past. While delivering meals to a lonely old man, she discovers that the secrets of his heart mirror the emotions that lie deep within her soul.

Directed by Guy Sanville

Featuring:
Sandra Birch
David Daoust
Bryan McElroy
Michelle Mountain
Inga R. Wilson
Will David Young

Stage Manager: Amy Hickman
Set Designer: Andrew Gorney
Properties Designer: Danna Segrest
Costume Designer: Colleen Ryan Peters
Lighting Designer: Reid G. Johnson
Sound Designer: Quintessa Gallinat

Critic's Quotes

"... Daniels’ new play is a departure; a pleasingly lyrical and complex exploration of the effects of bereavement.

It’s an emotionally resonant, intriguing play dealing with weighty themes in fluid fashion. The writing feels smart, lyrical and complex. Its evocation of mourning has integrity and wisdom and there’s an interesting understanding of pain and memory."

Chris Jones
Variety

"...the play is not only full of humor, it’s surprisingly uplifting. With the aid of lighting designer Reid Johnson, director Guy Sanville crafts another of his signature landscapes, creating a sense of place on-stage with well-tuned performances and minimal staging... (Sandra) Birch, in her meatiest role in some time, mixes great comic timing with hard-edged intensity, creating a strong sparring partner for the emotionally flailing Ellie."

John Sousanis
The Oakland Press

"Director Guy Sanville keeps balance between what is comic and what is less so; emotions boil over infrequently, and when they do, it’s justified. (Michelle) Mountain is wistful and magnetic... (Sandra) Birch is superb; if her character were any brassier they would have to hand out sunglasses."

Martin F. Kohn
Detroit Free Press

"... this miraculous play bears the power, wisdom and soul to profoundly affect anyone lucky enough to see it... It's about hope, bless its spell-spinning soul! Sans a hint of preaching, Daniels asserts that there may be a reason for life's awful capriciousness, that there may be an end to pain and anguish, that each of us matters more than we know, that forgiveness is the most divine of human acts. As a drama, Across The Way is a surreal, lyrical masterpiece. As an answer to the lost, the cynical, the despairing of heart, it's salvation itself."

Christopher Potter
The Ann Arbor News

"... astonishingly beautiful, poignant, and completely comprehensible, in a right-side-of-the-brain sort of way ... Daniels' characters glow with joy, wit, and tenderness, delighting in finding meaning and connection in Ellie's mind that their linear, chronological lives couldn't reveal to any of them in life."

Sonia Kovacs
Ann Arbor Observer

"The power of Daniels' writing comes from several facets: the brilliant weaving of the individual characters and their lives; the deftly interspersed humor; the high quality acting of the Purple Rose Theatre members. Among the thespians, Will David Young stands out. He embodies the Old Man rather than merely portraying him. Seated in an armchair, he anchors the stage, while every gesture and turn of his head focuses the viewers eyes on a great performance where time seems to stop... While the play hit nerves (the snuffles in the dark told me), it left me stirred, not shaken, but experiencing the play yourself is the only way you'll know for sure."

Pat Rice
Current Magazine

"The title Across The Way only hints at the complex depths of the story. Those who think they have a sense of Jeff Daniels, the actor known most widely for the movie Dumb and Dumber and more narrowly as the playwright who wrote Escanaba in da Moonlight, will be startled and moved by the labyrinth of a story... The play's weaving of three separate events in time and the experiences of loss by three set of characters are a little bit like 3-D chess. What's more amazing is that this idea works, that we as an audience `get it.' Act I of this play alone is breathtaking and received its own hearty round of applause. There are moments when one feels tears coming to one's eyes, and yet one is not quite sure actually what is evoking them."

Tom Helma
Lansing City Pulse

"Scenes meld seamlessly into one another and the pace of the show is fast over its 1 hour 45-minute running time, yet under Guy Sanville's direction the ensemble presents the challenging material smoothly. Michelle Mountain's Ellie is earnest and endearing..."

Kathleen Lavey
Lansing State Journal

"Across They Way is a fascinating meditation on love and time and loss, which sounds artsy and boring, but isn't at all in Daniels' hands. There are many moments when the irrepressible Daniels wit crackles to the surface... Guy Sanville directs in his usual classy style."

Terry Pow
Jackson Citizen Patroit