The Purple Rose Theatre Company, the Michigan troupe devoted to new works, stages the world premiere of Annie Martin's adult comedy, Completing Dahlia, July 20 following previews.

Carey Crim plays the title role of a young, attractive career woman who would like to settle down as a wife with kids, house and husband, but her lover, Ryan (played by Ryan Carlson), has a roving eye. She gets him to Dr. Kazooke (played by Leo McNamara), a relationship counselor whose practice consists of unconventional procedures. The comedy is intended for mature audiences.

Playwright Martin, a Kalamazoo College graduate, makes her professional playwriting debut with Completing Dahlia, directed by Anthony Caselli, the PRTC literary manager, resident stage manager and sometimes-director (The Harmony Codes, Marcus is Walking, The Big Slam). The Dahlia cast includes Janet Maylie as Dahlia's mother, and Jim Porterfield and Elizabeth Ann Townsend as two of the doctor's patients. Martin was a PRTC apprentice during the 1998-99 season.

Designers are Bartley H. Bauer (set), Reid Johnson (lighting), Eugenia Peterson (costume), Suzi Regan (sound), Danna Segrest (props).

Performances continue to Sept. 1 at Purple Rose's home in Chelsea, MI, at 137 Park Street. Previews began July 12. Tickets range $22.50-$32.50. For information, call (734) 433 ROSE. *

Purple Rose is the lauded Equity company founded by actor Jeff Daniels in his rural hometown, 50 miles west of Detroit. Lanford Wilson's Book of Days and The Rain Dance premiered at the theatre, and the company has also given emerging playwright Daniels a canvas for his offbeat comedies, some of which transferred commercially to the Gem Theatre in Detroit.

— By Kenneth Jones