For many years we offered our Sunday Night Reading Series as a way for people expand their theatrical involvement. Everybody was welcome to participate, no acting experience necessary. Roles were given out on the spot -- most people reading the play for the first time. It was a fun way to discover plays and get a chance to try on a role for a couple of hours in a casual, supportive environment. We've carried on the spirit of this program through our current Story Swaps and Political Dialogues.
1999 Readings
December 5, 1999
In the Sherman Family Wax Museum (An Anatomy of America)
by Alexander Woo
An Asian-American exchange student moves in with a white Midwestern family, and is told "not to look in the closet." The result is a frenetic tale of aliens,
ovaltine, and talking porkchops. Discover the skeletons in the closet of a typical Milwaukee dynasty.
October 3, 1999
View of the Dome
by Theresa Rebeck
This play examines sexual harassment from all angles, asking who is the villain and who is the victim. The cast of characters in this tightly wound script includes an affable but clueless senator, a conniving chief of staff and a host of political gadflies. Discover the eerie similarities with our own recent presidential sexual scandal.
September 5, 1999
Halcyon Days
by Steven Dietz
Set during the 1983 United States invasion of Granada, this deviously dark comedy takes us behind the scenes. Come follow the misadventures of American spin doctors and islanders sifting through the rubble of their home.
August 1, 1999
Landscape of the Body by John Guare
It's a play about a porn actress, her son, a detective, a killer and a band of aimless teenagers. The author of Six Degrees of Separation crafts these materials into a surprisingly topical play about teen violence and the terror of adulthood.
July 4, 1999
Still Life by Emily Mann
The author of our upcoming production of Greensboro focuses this play on a Vietnam vet, his wife and his lover, as they cope with horrors perpetrated half a world away and within their own bedrooms. Based on actual interviews, it is a poignant meditation on our capcities for love and brutality. Round out your July 4th with a debate on the American character.
June 6, 1999
Sin by Wendy McLeod
Set in 1989 San Francisco just before and after the earthquake, Sin follows the structure of a medieval morality play, with characters representing Lust, Envy, and all of your other favorite deadly sins. Sin makes fun of the excesses of our culture as well as our ability to recognize sin in everyone but ourselves.
May 2, 1999
The Day Room by Don Delillo
Ever have one of those days where you feel like you're living in an asylum? Funny, isn't it? Welcome to The Day Room. Bestselling novelist Don Delillo's first play, which was a smash hit off Broadway, is as enjoyable to read as it is to see performed. His darkly comic take on modern life and pop-culture is as humorous as it is perception altering. Come, meet a whole cast of zany characters who will keep you
wondering, "who are the psychiatrists and who are the patients."
April 4, 1999
Fefu and Her Friends by Maria Irene Fornes
A weekend retreat leads to a violent denoument between two women. Fefu's seven female guests discuss life under patriarchy and become aware of demons which act in mysterious ways.
March 7, 1999
Talk Radio by Eric Bogosian
An ourtrageous talk show host insults his midnight callers on the eve of his nationwide syndication. Bogosian uses whiplash intensity and hard-edged cynicism to satirize the lost souls who are the late night listeners, while exploring the the dramatic effect that media can have upon them.
February 7, 1999
The Memorandum by Vaclav Havel
Have you ever been confused by your job? You’re not alone! This play follows a bewildered bureaucrat who not only can’t understand what his staff is doing, he can’t even understand what they’re saying. Memorandum comments on business, politics and dehumanization in the workplace.
January 3, 1999
Vinegar Tom by Caryl Churchill
Modern cabaret songs and scenes set in the seventeenth century uncover the sexual politics of the English witchhunts. Caryl Churchill describes it as "a play about witches with no witches in it...about poverty, humiliation and prejudice and how the women accused of witchcraft saw themselves."
December 6, 1998
The Good Times Are Killing Me by Lynda Barry
From the cartoonist that brought you Ernie Pook’s Comeek comes this story of the friendship of two young girls, one black and one white, in the tranforming years of the mid-sixties, complete with extensive muscial soundtrack. This sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and consistantly touching play examines race and human relationships through the eyes of a young protagonist.
November 1, 1998
Refuge of Lies by Ron Reed
A former Nazi collaborator changes his identity and emigrates to Canada where he lives a
"God-fearing" life until he is identified. The play examines the effects on him,
his wife, and their community. It explores moral and political dichotomies and questions
the possibility of redemption. Based loosely on actual historical events.
September 6, 1998
Greensboro by Emily Mann
Composed entirely of interviews with witnesses and former Klan members, the play explores
a 1979 massacre of anti-Klan protesters in Greensboro, North Carolina. A fascinating look
at events that the courts and the media swept under the carpet.
August 2, 1998
Foolin' Around with Infinty by Steven Dietz
From the author that brought you Lonely Planet comes a humorous but harrowing look at the
most bizarre of occupations, the men that await the order to "push the button"
that would deploy the most dreaded weapons of destruction.
July 5, 1998
Danton's Death by Georg Buchner
Buchner's first play is a mesmerizing portrait of a patriot awaiting his end during the Reign of Terror. The script questions where the balance should lie between responsibility to one's belief and one's survival instinct. Danton, Rogbespierre, and St. Just appear in this seminal work on revolution and despair.
June 7, 1998
About Face by Dario Fo
See what happens when Italy's amnesiac answer to Lee Iacocca is mistaken for one of his lowly factory workers. Wacky slapstick comedy meets biting social satire in this Nobel Prize winner's script about politics, terrorism, work and status.
May 3, 1998
Inquest by Donald Freed
Inquest recreates the infamous Rosenberg trial of the 1950's and the contagious
paranoia of that era's political climate. Letters, records, and transcripts provide much
of the dialogue for this sweeping documentary drama about a seemingly ordinary American
couple caught in the most remarkable of circumstances. (See feature article)
March 1, 1998
In the Native State by Tom Stoppard
A radio play taking place during the 1930's and today, in which Stoppard takes us on a
journey through the experiences of a father and son exploring the effects of British
Imperialism in India.
February 1, 1998
Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder
Come meet the indestructable Antrobus family as they muck their waythrough human history's
most memorable and mixed-up times. With hisPulitzer Prize winning play, The Skin Of Our
Teeth, Thornton Wilderdelivers a witty,spirited, and profoundly poetic masterpiece about
all of humanity'sclose shaves, and of five unlikely heroes who meet the challenges.
January 4, 1998
Life During Wartime by Keith Reddin
This is a satirical look at modern suburbia, through the eyes of adoor-to-door salesman.
In his vain attempts to sell alarm systems toparanoid families, he accidentally finds
love, conspiracy, and (of course) murder.
December 7, 1997
Indians by Arthur Kopit
To provide a little closure to your Thanksgiving celebrations, we offer a unique look at
the treatment of Native Americans in this country. This "hallucinatory mosaic"
is as hilarious as it is disturbing. (See feature article)
November 2, 1997
Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind
Repressed adolescent sexual desire leads to murder, in this fantastical19th century
"children's tragedy." Characters like ProfessorGutgrinder, Dr. Lemonade, and
Reverend Baldbelly provide a twistedfinish to your Halloween weekend!
October 5, 1997
One Flea Spare by Naomi Wallace
Set in 1665 London, this play explores the relationship of five peoplefrom vastly
different backgrounds, trapped together during the bubonicplague. It's a fascinating look
into the meaning of "survival of thefittest."
September 7, 1997
Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind by the Neo-Futurists
This Chicago based collective creates original short plays with such titles as The
Minute Activist, Uncle Vodka, and Pretzel Pretzel.We will attempt
reading in their performance style: reading thirty randomlychosen plays in sixty minutes.
This will be a very different reading. (See feature article)
July 6, 1997
The Lights by Howard Korder
This play follows the unexpected twists and turns of twenty-four hoursin the lives of
three young urbanites. Korder has created a depressingbut compelling world, and given
"first despair" the same attention thatmost authors reserve for "first
love."
June 1, 1997
Jacques and his Master by Milan Kundera
This deliciously witty and entertaining variation on Diderot's novel, Jacquesle
Fataliste, was written by Milan Kundera for his own private pleasure,in the aftermath
of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. (See feature article)
May 4, 1997
Pravda by Howard Brenton & David Hare
This Fleet Street comedy follows a Rupert Murdoch-like newspaper man throughhis audacious
takeover of the English Press. Pravda has been called"savagely bitchy and
often wildly funny." It's your chance to rake thetabloids over their own coals.
April 6, 1997
The Pool of Bethesda by Allan Cubitt
A surgeon is suffering from a brain tumor which brings on hallucinations,and his
fascination with a Hogarth painting infects his dreams. The playshifts between the 18th
and the 20th century as he tries to come to termswith his illness and the feelings of
betrayal, guilt, and fear that afflicthim and the three women in his life.
March 2, 1997
Taking Sides by Ronald Harwood
What can the artist do in a totalitarian society? Can art separate itselffrom politics?
Harwood's fierce moral debate, based on true events in 1946 Berlin, revolves around the
great composer Wilhelm Furtwangler, accused of serving the Nazi regime. Taking Sides
is currently playing on Broadway to rave reviews.
February 2, 1997
Adaptation & Hotline by Elaine May
From the author of the hit movie The Birdcage comes these two comedies exploring the
meanings of life and death. In Adaptation, life is a game show in which the
characters desperately search for the "Security Square." Hotline is the
story of a distraut woman who calls a suicide hotline to find comfort and to order a
hamburger.
Letters to a Student Revolutionary by Elizabeth Wong
Wong explores issues of individual freedom and identity through the coming of age of two
women across an ocean of difference. The play was inspiredby Wong's correspondence with a
young Chinese woman which ended abruptlywith the Tiananmen Square massacre. (See feature article)
12/1: From Morning to Midnight by Georg Kaiser
11/3: Seven Blowjobs by Mac Wellman
10/13: Skin by Naomi Iizuka
8/4: Why Things Burn by Marlane Meyer
7/7: Groping for Justice: The Bob Packwood Story by John Warren
6/9: The Condition by Lorin Wertheimer
5/5: Museum by Tina Howe
4/14: Getting Out by Marsha Norman
2/18: A Bright Room Called Day by Tony Kushner
1/28: And Baby Makes Seven by Paula Vogel
12/10: Artist Descending a Staircase by Tom Stoppard
11/5: Execution of Justice by Emily Mann
10/14: SubUrbia by Eric Bogosian
10/1: We Can't Pay? We Won't Pay! by Dario Fo
9/17: Machinal by Sophie Treadwell
8/20: Look Back in Anger by John Osborne
7/30: The Cryptogram by David Mamet
7/9: The American Dream by Edward Albee
6/18: Cloud Nine by Caryl Churchill
5/28: Blue Window by Craig Lucas
5/14: Dead Mother by David Greenspan
4/30: In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel by Tennessee Williams
3/19: Aunt Dan and Lemon by Wallace Shawn
3/5: Native Speech by Eric Overmyer
2/12: Miss Julie by August Strindberg
1/29: The Rooster by Jennifer Chan
1/15: On Baile's Strand by W.B. Yeats
12/18: The Ruffian on the Stair by Joe Orton
12/4: The Physicists by Friedrich Durrenmatt
11/3: Wenceslas Square by Larry Shue
10/30: The Lover by Harold Pinter