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2020-2021

AUGUST 28, 2020

Abraham and God Play Ping Pong

by Erin Gruodis-Gimbel

In the wake of the biggest betrayal of his life, Abraham’s faith in God is shaken forever. In the wake of a delicious snack, God’s faith in himself may not be what it seems. In an exploration of faith, the stages of grief, and the rules of cards, the story of Abraham and his infallible God takes a left turn from the Torah and veers into territory that no one ever thought to chart.

Watch the Reading on YouTube
Content Warning: Adult Language

PRESS:Drew Student’s Play to Get a Virtual Staged Reading

CAST & CREW

Abraham, played by Sam Repshas
God, played by Becca Gibson
Understudy, Stephanie Hanson
Director, Craig Lewis
Stage Directions, Katie Stanton
Playwright headshot, Erin Gruodis-Gimbel

Erin Gruodis-Gimbel is a playwright, actor, and dramaturg currently pursuing her BA in Theatre Arts at Drew University. She has recently worked with GlimmerGlobe Theatre, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (where she just finished her tenure as an acting apprentice), Alliance Theatre, Everyman Theatre, and the Virtual Theatre Collaboration. She would like to offer her most sincere thanks to WSRT for this amazing opportunity!

Play Updates:
God and Abraham Play Ping Pong (Name changed) premiered at the Pittsburgh Virtual Fringe Festival in May 2021.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

Closing Argument

by John Scavone

The Woodwards’ adopted daughter, Elizabeth, is missing; Paula has hidden her away. The girl’s original family wants her back, and a court hearing has been ordered to decide the issue, but Paula isn’t taking the slightest chance that she could lose the case, and thus, her daughter. As an attorney for the State, Alan is deeply devoted to his job and the letter of the law, but now finds he must choose between that devotion and his family. Legal arguments and procedure mesh with a domestic battle, in which morality, the law and their marriage are put on trial.

Watch the Reading on YouTube
Content Warning: Adult Language

CAST & CREW

Paula Woodward, played by Jean Goto
Alan Woodward, played by Sam Repshas
Director, Amy Benson
Stage Directions, Stephanie Hanson
Playwright headshot, John Scavone
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John Scavone was born in New York, grew up in New Jersey and came of age in Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters. Following a thirty year career as a stage manager, technical director, prop master and carpenter, he is now living and writing in Wisconsin. Other plays include Unto Dust, Nor Iron Bars a Cage, An Imperfect Storm, The Weed Garden, Fortune’s Fools. They can be found at The New Play Exchange.

OCTOBER 30, 2020

The Girl Who Lived

by David Meyers

Anna Larsen is a 25-year old ballet dancer who refuses to give up on her dreams of career, love, and a fairy-tale ending. But when she becomes paralyzed in a car accident, Anna is forced to consider whether those dreams are still possible – or if they were ever possible to begin with.
As she learns how to adjust to the physical realities of her new life, Anna is also forced to re-examine the relationships with those closest to her – and herself. A play about independence, resilience, and Harry Potter.

Watch the Reading on YouTube
Content Warning: Adult Language, Sexual Content

CAST & CREW

Anna, played by Rebecca Ross Bailey
Nancy, played by Rosanna Magarelli
Stacey, played by Katie Takats
Male Understudy, Sam Repshas
Female Understudy, Becca Gibson
Director, Sam Repshas
Stage Directions, Cristen Stephansky
Meghan, played by Amy Benson
Josh, played by Tim Norman
Playwright headshot, David Meyers


David Meyers’
 plays have been produced regionally across the country, and his pilots have been pitched at Netflix and Paramount. As an actor, he’s worked with FOX, BET, Lifetime, Danny DeVito, and more.
www.Bloomywood.com

NOVEMBER 20, 2020

Deer Island

by Brian David Walker

Six lives converge over the future of a stretch of highway that may have a unique and highly intelligent deer population living within its borders. A dark play about friendships, identity and the encroachment of the little bit of land that our wildlife have left.

Watch the Reading on YouTube
Content Warning: Adult Language, Sexual Content, Infant Loss

CAST & CREW

Joe, played by Craig Lewis
Timothy, played by Dan Shaked
Carla, played by Syhaya Aviel
Female Understudy, Amy Benson
Male Understudy, Jason Michael Miller
Director, Becca Gibson
Stage Directions, Katie Takats
Toni, played by Rosanna Magarelli
Josh, played by Sam Repshas
Lynne, played by Alma Muniz
Playwright headshot, Brian David Walker

Brian David Walker’s plays include Deer Island, American Coot (2018 O’Neil
semi-finalist, 2018 Roots of the Bluegrass New Play Award), High Tide (2017 O’Neil semi-finalist, Orlando Shakespeare’s PlayFest semi-finalist and PlayPenn finalist), POST, dirty sexy derby play, Great American Sex Play, Shot Me Down and The Kings.  Brian’s plays have been seen in theatres across America and Australia.  His play DOG was the winner of the 2013 Roots of the Bluegrass New Play Award and his play CPR on the Lost Continent was the winner of the 2015 award.  His ten minute play Hero Worship was a finalist for the 2014 Heideman Award at Actors Theatre of Louisville, his play Gamers4Life was a finalist for the 2015 prize.  Brian was a member of Nashville Repertory Theatre’s 2012-2013 Ingram New Works Lab residency with mentor Theresa Rebeck and his full length play The Friend Factory was part of their New Works Festival in May 2013.  He has also had plays developed at Cincinnati Lab Theatre (2020), Actors Workshop Louisville (2016), Theatre [502] (2014/2015), UP Theatre Company (2014), Capital Stage’s Playwrights Revolution (2014), Last Frontier Theatre Festival (2012) and Great Plains Playwrights Conference (2009).  He was awarded the Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship Emerging Artist Award for playwriting by the Kentucky Arts Council in July 2010.  He is a member of The Dramatists Guild and is the founder and co-director of Derby City Playwrights, a new play development lab for Louisville playwrights.  He currently serves as the Kentucky Regional Rep for the Dramatists Guild. 
www.derbycityplaywrights.org

Play Updates:
2021 Bay Area Playwrights Festival Semifinalist

DECEMBER 18, 2020

Die, Mr. Darcy, Die!

by John Morogiello

A young woman gives up on men because they can never live up to the hero of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, particularly his embodiment by Colin Firth.


CAST & CREW

Laura, played by Anna Jackson
Woman 2, played by Becca Gibson
Woman 3, played by Jean Goto
Woman 4, played by Larissa Laurel
Woman 5, played by Cristen Stphansky
Man 1, played by Sam Repshas
Man 2, played by Matt Melenas
Man 3, played by Dan Shaked
Man 4, played by Jason Michael Miller
Female Understudy, Amy Benson
Male Understudy, Craig Lewis
Director, Amy Benson
Stage Directions, Stephanie Hanson
Playwright headshot, John Morogiello

John Morogiello is the artistic director of Best Medicine Rep in Gaithersburg, Maryland.  His plays include Engaging Shaw (Old Globe, American Players, Vienna’s English Theatre, Abingdon Theatre Company off-Broadway, et al), Blame It On Beckett (Abingdon, Colony Theatre in Burbank, et al), Men and Parts (Actors Theatre of Louisville, et al), Play Date (Oldcastle Theatre Company, Best Medicine Rep), and The Consul, The Tramp, and America’s Sweetheart (Oldcastle, Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills, Jerusalem Khan Theatre, et al). 
www.johnmorogiello.com

Play Updates: Die, Mr. Darcy, Die! is being staged by Best Medicine Rep during their 2022 season! Additional information can be found on their website.

JANUARY 29, 2021

Atlas, the Lonely Gibbon

by Deborah Yarchun

A dark comedic thriller set in the future. Irene, a former journalist, struggles to find autonomy in a now mindless job editing AI-generated articles, an increasingly challenging marriage, and in an apartment potentially being targeted by hacker.


CAST & CREW

Irene, played by Amy Benson
David, played by Fariaz Rabbani
April, Aton, played by Becca Gibson
Male Understudy, Sam Repshas
Female Understudy, Jean Goto
Director, Katie Stanton
Stage Directions, Katie Takats
Man's Voice, played by Craig Lewis
Playwright headshot, Deborah Yarchun

Deborah Yarchun‘s plays have been developed with the Civilians, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The New Harmony Project, Jewish Plays Project’s OPEN Festival, The Great Plains Theater Conference, Jewish Ensemble Theater, Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, The Playwrights’ Center, Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, TheatreSquared’s Arkansas New Play Festival, the William Inge Center for the Arts, WordBRIDGE, and Workhouse Theater Company, and produced at places including Amphibian Stage Productions, Fusion Theatre, Theater Master’s National MFA Playwrights Festival, EstroGenius Festival, the Minnesota Fringe, the Philadelphia Fringe, The Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival, Playwrights Horizons’ Peter Jay Sharp Theater by Young Playwrights Inc., and Williams Street Repertory Theatre. Deborah’s honors include two Jerome Fellowships at The Playwrights’ Center, a Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship, an EST/Sloan Commission, Dartmouth’s 2020 Neukom Literary Arts Award for Playwriting, The Kennedy Center’s Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award, the Kernodle New Play Award, the Richard Maibaum Playwriting Award, and Women in the Arts & Media Coalition’s 2019 Collaboration Award. Her play GREAT WHITE was an Honorable Mention for the Relentless Award. She was recently a playwright-in-residence at the William Inge Center for the Arts and a member of the Civilians’ R&D Group. Deborah earned her M.F.A. from the University of Iowa where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow. You can learn more about her work at DeborahYarchun.com

Play Updates:
2022 World premiere at Spreckels Performing Arts Center
2021 Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference Finalist
2021 Seven Devils Playwrights Conference Finalist

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

Dorm #5

by Amy Dellagiarino

A nihilistic look at college life, Dorm #5 follows the misadventures of a group of college students after the sudden death of one of their own. Did one of them do it? Or, more importantly… does anyone even care? A dark comedy about grief, loss, and ghosts.

Watch the Reading on YouTube!
Content Warning: Adult language

CAST & CREW

Maddy, played by Jean Goto
Joyce, played by Becca Gibson
Carol, played by Sarah Furniss
Sam, played by Andres Paul Ramacho
Wayne, played by Craig Lewis
Lloyd, played by Dan Shaked
Male Understudy, Sam Repshas
Female Understudy, Amy Benson
Director, Amy Benson
Stage Directions, Katie Takats
Playwright headshot, Amy Dellagiarino

Amy Dellagiarino is an award winning playwright and screenwriter whose work has been produced in LA, New York, Chicago, and her home state of Virginia. Her play The Value of Moscow was nominated for a 2019 Stage Raw Award for Best Playwriting and was published through Steele Spring Stage Rights. Her comedy feature film Freelancers Anonymous won the 2018 NCGLFF Audience Award for Best Women’s Feature, was a recipient of the Frameline Completion Fund Award, and earned the Reframe Stamp for gender balanced media along with such films as The FavouriteCan You Ever Forgive Me, and Crazy Rich Asians. Her short play The Misfit Mantra won Best Comedy at 2Cents Theatre’s 2018 INK Fest. She has participated in developmental readings of several of her plays with noted LA theatre companies such as Sacred Fools, Theatre of Note, Rogue Machine, and The Blank Theatre Company, and has currently developed her seventh full-length play, Hello, My Name Is… with Moving Arts Theatre as part of their MADLab Play Development Series. She is the resident playwright with Dark Horse Theatre Company in Virginia. She earned her BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Visit www.amydell.com for more information.

MARCH 26, 2021

Finding the Girls

by Cris Eli Blak

Nia and Sierra are sisters. Sierra is a celebrity and Nia is her assistant. creating a clear rift between the two. When a family tragedy strikes, the two learn more about where they come from and more about each other. Meanwhile, in the past, their father must reckon with his decisions and the way in which he chose to live. This is a story about people having to decide whether they are good, and if it is too late to change. It is a story about family, about pain, about regret, about shame, about the people we are and the people we try to be. It is a story about then, and it is a story about now. It is a story about finding ourselves and what happens when we are lost..

Watch the Reading on YouTube!
Content Warning: Adult language, drug use, self harm, sexual violence, mental illness

CAST & CREW

Nia, played by Audra Jacobs
Sierra, played by Jean Goto
Eleanor, played by Amy Benson
Mason, played by Dan Shaked
Antonia, played by Victoria Turner
Male Understudy, Sam Repshas
Female Understudy, Becca Gibson
Director, Becca Gibson
Stage Directions, Stephanie Hanson
Playwright headshot, Cris Eli Blak

Cris Eli Blak is an award winning and internationally produced writer for the page, stage and screen. His work has garnered him a Bronze Remi from the Worldfest Houston International Film and Video Festival, the Christopher Hewitt Award in Fiction, a Pushcart Prize nomination and honors from Vectis Radio, Negro Ensemble Company, Clocktower Players and A is For. His work has been produced, performed and/or published around the world, from Off-Broadway (Urban Stages), Regional (Cleveland Public Theatre), Collegiate (Columbia University, Academy of Arts University and Wellesley College), London (The Quean’s Theatre), Australia (Melting Pot Theatre), and Ireland (Eva’s Echo). He continues to strive to create work that reflects the world that we live in, with all of its different and diverse colors, creeds and cultures.

Follow Cris on Instagram: @criseliblak

APRIL 30, 2021

Touch the Moon

by Arianna Rose

Spring Break, 1994, on an island far from teenage Miranda’s home.  Her mysterious disappearance lays bare a mess of secrets and lies.  Her mother Becca frantically searches for Miranda and the truth of what happened that night from the only people who might know – Miranda’s best friend Emily, and Stefan, a young man who is the last person to have seen her. Through an ever-widening circle of past, present and future vignettes, a fuller picture of Miranda emerges, showing a young girl on the cusp of womanhood, healing from a broken family dynamic and exploring the boundaries of her sexuality.  Stefan’s father Dirk wearily protects his son, and a guilt-ridden Emily is haunted by the thought it may be her fault. A play about the need to know, and of motherly love and determination in the face of the unthinkable.

Watch the Reading on YouTube!
Content Warning: Adult language, sexual violence

CAST & CREW

Miranda, played by Isabel Brown
Becca, played by Carol Cadby
Stefan, played by William Lerberg
Dirk, played by Steve Schroko
Emily, played by Danika Jackson
Male Understudy, Sam Repshas
Female Understudy, Amy Benson
Director, Amy Benson
Stage Directions, Becca Gibson
Playwright headshot, Arianna Rose

Arianna Rose is the recipient of the MAC Song of the Year Award, the York Theatre NEO Award, and various best play/playwright awards from Theatre Odyssey, Tree City Playhouse, Mixing It Up Productions, the Know Theatre, Studio 1 Theatre, South Baldwin Theatre and Clocktower Theatre Company. Her plays and musicals have been presented to date in twenty-three states and seven countries.  She is a four-time winner of Theatre Lab at FAU’s New Works Festival competition, a two-time winner of Theatre Three’s One- Act Play Festival, a 2020 finalist for the Edward Kleban Lyric Writing Award and one of three finalists for the 2020 Kenneth Branagh Award for New Drama Writing in the UK.

Arianna is an Adjunct Theatre Professor at Broward College. M.F.A., NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program; B.A. in Theatre from Bucknell University; BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Writing Workshop. A proud member of ASCAP, Musicians Local 802, SEIU, New Play Exchange, The South Florida Theatre League, and the Dramatists Guild of America, where she serves as a Regional Ambassador. She is the founder and moderator of the Plays on Purpose/Miami New Musicals weekly writers group.

www.AriannaRose.net

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