Neo-noir thriller inspired by the Flint water crisis pairs performances with talkbacks featuring journalists and Michigan water organizers
DETROIT, Oct. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Poisoner comes to Michigan this October for the final two stops of its seven-city national tour. Select performances will be followed talkbacks connecting the play to the water, press, and environmental justice work happening in Michigan communities.
“We know this isn’t real. These are actors. That’s not whatever that office is. You all know that.
And five minutes into The Poisoner, you are the reporter and you are the father of the child. And you are in the nursing home.
The friend of somebody who actually did fight.”
– Michael Moore, Filmmaker & Activist
The Poisoner follows a determined journalist who returns to his hometown to uncover a devastating cover-up of water contamination — and the powerful forces determined to keep the truth buried. A neo-noir thriller about deception, institutional failure, and the fight for accountability, the play asks the question at the heart of every community’s struggle for justice: are we ever safe?
Written by first-time playwright and Michigan native M.M. Haney and directed by two-time Obie Award-winning director Lee Sunday Evans, The Poisoner asks who is accountable when the systems meant to protect us fail, and what it takes for communities to take back control of the resources they depend on.
KALAMAZOO
October 22-24, 7:30 PM
Judy K. Jolliffe Theatre at 359 South Kalamazoo Mall, Kalamazoo, MI
Tickets: https://the-poisoner-kalamazoo.eventbrite.com
- Thursday, October 22: Talkback with Matt Schuster of Public Media Network and freelance journalist Kristen Aguirre, who covered the Flint crisis impact the Spanish speaking and undocumented community, to discuss the importance of independent and investigative journalism.
- Friday, October 23: Talkback with Sandy Wynn of the Great Lakes PFAS Action Network on keeping PFAS out of drinking water.
DETROIT
October 29 & 31, 7:30 PM
October 30, 7:00 PM
Marygrove Theater | 8425 West McNichols Road, Detroit, MI
Tickets: https://the-poisoner-detroit.eventbrite.com/
- Thursday, October 29 and Friday, October 30: Talkbacks with Melissa Mays and Nayyirah Shariff from Flint Rising and Sylvia Orduño with the Detroit People’s Water Board Coalition, two groups at the center of Michigan’s fight for clean, affordable, publicly controlled water.
“There are parallels across the Midwest with communities wrestling with their own questions about data centers, water, accountability, and who has the power to be part of democratic decision-making processes. This is proof the questions in The Poisoner aren’t Flint’s questions alone, but ours collectively,” said director Lee Sunday Evans.
In Michigan, the questions it raises about lead, PFAS, shutoffs, and public trust are still being lived and fought over across the state today.
ABOUT THE POISONER
The Poisoner is a universal tale — an unraveling of the deception, abuse of power, and utter negligence of early 2000s Midwestern water politics. In a neo-noir thriller driven by a determined journalist who returns to his hometown and uncovers more than he bargained for, The Poisoner invites audiences to question: are we ever safe?
Presented by Citizen56 and Uncommon Productions, the production is a fictional work inspired by the Flint water crisis of 2014, aiming to engage audiences and amplify awareness about the persistent challenges faced in Flint, Jackson, Newark, Pittsburgh, and other communities grappling with aging infrastructure, water contamination, and the fight for corporate and government accountability.
The Poisoner is currently on a 7-city national tour running September 17 through October 31, 2026. Tour cities include Bethlehem, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; Kenosha, WI; Madison, WI; De Pere, WI; Kalamazoo, MI; and Detroit, MI. In each city, the production will engage directly with local communities and connect with organizers, advocates, and residents fighting for clean air, safe water, and community control of the resources that corporations have long sought to exploit. The show originally premiered at New York’s acclaimed La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in 2024 on the 10-year anniversary of the Flint water crisis.
More info: uncommonproductions.com/the-poisoner
ABOUT UNCOMMON PRODUCTIONS
Uncommon Productions was founded in 2000 by Tim Disney and Bill Haney. Uncommon Productions tells stories that inspire, enlighten, and engage. Learn more at uncommonproductions.com.
ABOUT CITIZEN56
Citizen56 is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that provides educational information about history, democracy, science, social institutions and the environment via online service platforms and applications, films, books and other forms of relevant media. Learn more at citizen56.org.
EPK
@the_poisoner_play | uncommonproductions.com
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SOURCE Citizen56
