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<<Back to the Ministries Home Page
 Our
Tradition . . .
The tradition of theatre excellence continues
at the Repertory Theatre of Hope, Inc. in Southfield. Located
at Hope United
Methodist Church, we give you the best of urban contemporary
drama with themes, plots, and music relevant to today’s
urban and suburban audiences. You’ve heard about us,
now come and see for yourself. The Repertory Theatre of Hope
has professional quality plays, at affordable prices, with
language acceptable to all. It is a theatre movement whose
time has come.
The Repertory Theatre of Hope provides its audience with
theater that is compelling, artistically exciting, and that
touches the lives of all of our community. We present a broad,
and original body of work in an inventive, audience-engaging
style. We seek to create an experience that is rewarding
for those who already love the theatre, and inviting for
those attending for the first time.
 Our Community . . .
The Repertory Theatre of Hope is firmly
rooted in and dedicated to the life of its
community. Developed to provide a cultural service to
Southfield and the Greater
Metropolitan Detroit Community, we believe theatre is a
suitable medium for
entertaining, educating, informing, inspiring, and uplifting
its audiences. Our productions always present positive
over negative attitudes, are suitable for families, appropriately
portray African-American life and culture, positively promote
spirituality and Christian growth, and, are of the highest
quality. The Repertory Theatre of Hope is perfect for exposing
youths to African-American culture, or as special outings
for friends and families. Through our principal aesthetic
of great stories, well told, the Repertory Theatre of Hope
creates theatre that represents all that is the human experience.
 Our Talent . . .
Our talent represents the seasoned veterans
of the stage in southeast Michigan, and the first time actor
who aspires
to share his/her gifts and talents on the stage. Theatre
is a collaborative art, and the greatest theatre is created
by artists who establish deep and permanent working relationships
with one another. We give artists a chance to live a life
in the theatre, rooted in a community, assured of continuity,
in a fellowship of artists. We teach the basic fundamentals
of acting and theatre realizing that professionalism begins
with knowing and executing the basics of our discipline.
Our Resident Playwright/Artistic Director
Playwright/Director
Robert L. Douglas is the artistic director of the Repertory
Theatre of Hope, Inc. An accomplished actor,
Douglas is a graduate of Tennessee State University in Nashville,
Tennessee, with a degree in Communication and Theatre. At
TSU, he studied under the late W. Dury Cox, and the late
Dr. Thomas E. Poag, America’s first black Ph.D. in
drama. His experiences include performing with Bobby Jones
and New Life on the Nashville Gospel Show, the movie Sister,
Sister by Maya Angelou for NBC-TN, an extra in the movie
Nashville, directed by Robert Altman, and Wilma, for NBC-TV.
Some of the plays and roles Douglas has performed on stage
include:
- Luke in The Amen Corner
- Grandpa Baker in Family Love
- Singer/Dancer in Purlie
- Randle P. McMurphy in One Flew
Over the Cuckoo’s
Nest
- The Earl of Kent in King Lear
- Ramsey Eyes in The Last
Meeting of the Knights of the White Magnolias
- Mr. Jenkins
in Ceremonies in Dark Old Men
- The Narrator in The Zeitgiest:
The Tragedy of Martin Luther King Jr. (with Oprah Winfrey)
- Father
Kelleher in Catch Me If You Can
 Douglas’ original play Family Love played
at the Detroit Music Hall in 1997, and his original plays Gettin’ Up
Outta Here, I Want My Forty Acres and a Mule! With
Interest!,
Bringin’ The Word: The Legacy of Black Preachers
in Detroit, Pressure Points: Teenage Trials & Triumphs,
Young Soul Rising: The Other Side of the Street,
and Grandma
Rogers’ Neighborhood for the Hope Repertory Theatre.
Along with directing his own plays, he also directed The
Amen Corner, Purlie Victorious, and A Raisin
in the Sun.
Douglas moved to Michigan in June of 1980 and worked as a
counselor and administrator at Oakland University in Rochester,
Michigan until 1988. He began writing plays at O. U. to meet
the cultural needs of African-American students enrolled
at the university. He worked as a counselor at the University
of Michigan from 1988 to 1995. Before coming to Hope United
Methodist Church as youth director and artistic director
of Community Theatre in 1997, he worked as a copywriter at
Don Coleman Advertising, Inc. (GlobalHue) in Southfield,
Michigan. He is a member of Hope United Methodist Church,
a life member
of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. He is married (Jacqueline),
with two sons (Kali and Omari Jones), and a dog (Cory).
 Our
History . . .
In the spring of 1992 Hope United Methodist
Church produced a youth play that was performed at both Southfield
High School
and Southfield-Lathrup High School. Following the play, Dr.
Stewart and Robert L. Douglas began to envision having a
theatre ministry and how it could serve the church and an
evangelism tool and the community as a cultural resource.
Over the following years various endeavors contributed to
the growth of the vision. A collaborative with Spaulding
Center for Children produced the one act play Bandele:
Following Me Home, which dealt with the adoption of adolescent boys.
Youth acting classes were later implemented and theatre became
a fixture at Hope.
The Hope Repertory Theatre was established in late 1998,
with our first play presented in February of 1999. Under
artistic director and resident playwright, Robert L. Douglas,
HRT was outreach ministry developed to provide a cultural
service to Southfield and the Greater Metropolitan Detroit
Community.
Since our opening season we have produced thirteen plays:
The Meeting, by Jeff Stetson; Gettin’ Up Outta Here,
by Robert L. Douglas; Wake Up and Face Reality, by Patricia
Grant, The Amen Corner, by James Baldwin; I
Want My Forty Acres and a Mule! With Interest!, by Robert L. Douglas, Purlie
Victorious, by Ossie Davis, Bringin’ The Word: The
Legacy of Black Preachers in Detroit by Robert L. Douglas
for Detroit 300, Checkmates by Ron Milner, Family
Love, Grandma
Rogers’ Neighborhood, Pressure Points: Teenage
Trials,
and Triumphs Young Soul Rising: The Other Side of the
Street by Robert L. Douglas, and A
Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine
Hansberry. In our brief history we have had the great fortune
to work with the highly accomplished Detroit director, Reuben
Yabuku who directed The Meeting and Wake Up
and Face Reality,
and the late nationally renowned playwright and director,
Ron Milner who directed his own Broadway play, Checkmates.
In the fall of 2004, the Hope Repertory Theatre ceased operations
as an official ministry of Hope United Methodist Church and
incorporated as the Repertory Theatre of Hope, Inc, a Michigan
Non Profit Corporation with its 501(c)(3) status pending.
A board of directors was established and a fundraising auxiliary
known as the Friends of the Repertory Theatre of Hope, Inc.
was created. The future offers great promise and growth.
Our Dinner Theatre Experience
The Repertory Theatre
of Hope, Inc. offers Metropolitan Detroit’s
finest dinner theatre experiences. Join us on a Sunday evening
for wonderful home cooking followed by an enjoyable play.
It’s a great date for couples, families and friends.
Our
Fundraisers Opportunities for You
The Repertory Theatre
of Hope, Inc. offers excellent fundraising opportunities
for organizations. Your organization can purchase
the entire house (160 tickets) at a 25% discount for our
dinner theatre performances and set your own ticket price
for your fundraiser. Your may also purchase from 150 to 200
tickets for all our other performances at the same 25% discount
rate and sell them at your own price. We will provide the
tickets with your fundraiser information included.
Our Friends
The Friends of the Repertory Theatre of Hope, Inc. are a
group of volunteers dedicated to raising operating funds
for our organization. Formed in the fall of 2004, their first
endeavor is an Opening Night Black Tie Gala Event for our
upcoming production of Gettin’ Up Outta Here. This
$100 per person affair will include a Taste Fest featuring
approximately 50 area restaurants, a Silent Auction, a drawing,
the sale of theatre merchandise, a souvenir book, as well
as the play. Other special fundraiser events will be scheduled
throughout the year. To be a participant with the friends
or contribute to their cause, please contact Carolyn Parnell
at 248-557-4672 or Tina Coleman at 248-352-7156.
Call Robert
L. Douglas at (248) 356-1020, ext. 116 for information
about all the above.
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