BoarsHead Public Theatre of Michigan will host two free performances in October.

In cooperation with the Plowshares Theatre Company, a professional theatre by, for and about African-Americans, Boarshead will present a staged reading of Passages by Detroit playwright Debbie Patrick, on Oct. 23.

Passages was developed last summer during Plowshares’ New Voices ’96 Festival. At the Jessup family reunion, an age old skeleton jumps out of the closet, and the sense of family among the relatives is challenged. Through storytelling and flashback, a grandmother tries to pass on all of the family legacy to her granddaughter.

Lansing attending audiences will be able to “talk back” with the playwright following the performance. The Paul Robeson Theatre in Detroit will host the world premiere of Passages in March.

BoarsHead Theatre’s Second Company, composed of young theatre artists, will present the first of this season’s Dark Night series, Going to Extremes written by Second Company member Mike Garcia, on Oct. 28. The Dark Night series offers free plays on evenings when the theatre has no scheduled performances. Going to Extremes will explore the extreme ends of comedy and tragedy through scenes and monologues directed and acted by Second Company members.

Doors for the free performances open at 7:30, performances are at 8pm, at the Lansing Center for the Arts, 425 So. Grand Ave. For additional information call (517) 484-7805.

--By Blair Glaser