OPENING NIGHTS IN
THE AFTERNOON
Audiences Invited to Share Feedback
with Playwrights
in “New Plays/ Staged Readings”
Series from
The Theater Project and Cranford
Library
WHEN: September 21, 2 pm
WHERE: Cranford Community Center, 224 Walnut Ave, Cranford
ADMISSION: free,
with no registration required.
“It’s like watching a rehearsal,” says Theater Project
artistic director Mark Spina. “Actors are on their feet, carrying
scripts, entering and exiting, to give audiences a look at what happens
before opening night.” The playwrights are members of The Theater
Project’s script development workshop.
The first play is Lynn Aylward’s The Bishop of
California, based on the life of James Albert Pike, an Episcopal
bishop who hosted his own network-television program in the mid-1950s, The
Dean Pike Show. He took controversial positions for the time on
such issues as women’s rights, gay rights, and abortion. Regarded as a
heretic by conservative bishops, Pike left the Episcopal church in
1969. Later that year he fell to his death while climbing a canyon wall
in the Judean Desert.
Playwright Lynn Aylward (left) says, “Hearing your new work
read and discussed in front of an audience of theater
enthusiasts is priceless—you can't improve your play or become
a better writer without it. The Theater Project New Play Reading Series
provides this precious opportunity to New Jersey playwrights.”
After the reading of The Bishop of California, members
of the audience will have the opportunity to offer their feedback to
the playwright.
“Don’t save it for the car on the way home – that’s how we
encourage our audiences to participate frankly and respectfully,” said
Mark Spina. “It truly helps the playwright and gives all of us a chance
to practice giving and taking constructive feedback.”
The Friends of the Cranford Library will host the
series, which is made possible in part through a Union County Local
Arts Grant. Cranford Community Center is located at 220 Walnut Avenue.
Large-print programs and scripts will be available with advance request.
For further information, call Gary Glor, 908-809-8865,
or visit www.TheTheaterProject.org.
Founded in 1994 and based in Union, The
Theater Project introduces New Jersey audiences to new plays and
supports rising playwrights and theater artists. It develops new
audiences for theater by service to the community, providing programs
for children, and using theater as a forum to address current issues. | 
