Detroit Theatre directors Patricia Ansuini and Lavinia Hart are combining their efforts to co-direct the Michigan premiere of The Kentucky Cycle Parts I and II at the Hilberry Theatre showing April 1 through May 15.

Lavinia Hart has an extensive background in professional as well as educational theatre. Hart has directed and acted at numerous local venues including Meadow Brook Theatre, The Performance Network and the Jewish Ensemble Theatre. A major contribution to Detroit theatre was the founding and artistic direction of the Attic Theatre from 1976-1994. At the Attic she produced, directed and/or acted in over 100 plays. Hart has also won many prestigious awards for her work, most notably the Governors' Arts Award for Excellence, the Lee Hills Career Achievement Award from the Detroit Free Press and the Michiganian of the Year from the Detroit News Magazine. She has taught at the University of Detroit Mercy, Oakland University, The College for Creative Studies in Detroit and currently serves as the head of the MFA Acting program at Wayne State University.

Patricia Ansuini has served as stage manager and director for many years at such venues as the Michigan Ensemble Theatre Co., the Jewish Ensemble Theatre, the Detroit Repertory Theatre, the Gem Theatre and the Attic Theatre. She is also the co-designer and current mentor for the MFA Stage Management program at Wayne State University.

Ansuini and Hart first collaborated at the Attic Theatre for Hart's productions of Dogman's Last Stand. Other joint projects include Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grille, Ten November, Frankie and Johnny in The Clair de Lune, Love and Anger, Sand Mountain, Hot Snow, Three Ways Home, Abundance, Antigone, Dancing at Lughnasa and Spunk. Ansuini received the Best Director award for Sand Mountain from the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News along with nominations for Best Director for Antigone and Spunk.

Ansuini and Hart's combined experience in theatre has led both women to the program at Wayne State University and a new production at the Hilberry Theatre. "We have the opportunity to not only work alongside each other but truly with each other as we weave our directing styles and production concepts in and out of this extraordinary play," says Ansuini.

The Kentucky Cycle is a two-part production consisting of nine scenes written by Robert Schenkkan about the development of families and their trials over 200 years of history. "This play is epic in its scope. We follow three family lines from the time land is bartered; through death plots against spouse, father, neighbors; the rise and fall of mining unions and a final search for hope in a land that is environmentally, socially and spiritually impoverished," explains Hart.

Ansuini and Hart will co-direct the piece drawing on their deep-rooted history and understanding of one another's artistic perspective. "The Kentucky Cycle demands the best collaborative directorial work from Patricia and myself. It is a once in a lifetime project and I'm grateful for the opportunity to be surrounded by this community of artists," says Hart. Both directors have spent many months researching the customs, culture and history of the Appalachian Mountains for this production.

The Kentucky Cycle Parts I and II are playing in rotating repertory April 1 until March 15. For ticket information call the Wayne State University Box Office at (313) 577-2972.