Restoration Comedy by the
First Female Professional Playwright

When?
6:30 PM Monday, June 9.

Where?
At the home of Joanna Gerdy, 3729 Oakwood Ave.

Click here to sign up.

More to come on Aphra Behn…

As time goes by I’ll use these posts for more than title, date, time and place (that’s all in the sidebar). Background on the author, context of the play, production history, blah blah blah. Too much else to do for now (and it’s all on Wiki anyway), so:

Thursday, May 15 it’s Moliere’s Misanthrope at Julia’s. Reading starts at 10:00 AM sharp and ends at noon. Come early (or stay late) to socialize.

Monday at 6:30 at John Xenakis’ home, 4009-A Kingsgate Place, off Providence, before Sardis. We’ll read Christopher Durang’s Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike.

A small but enthusiastic group of nine met yesterday morning and decided:

1. to continue meeting Thursday mornings at Julia’s, for the early birds;
2. to launch an evening read on Mondays, starting May 19. for the night owls (location TBA), and
3. to post all reads as Events on the Cold Reads FaceBook page. To participate, just sign up (join) and show up.

The first play in the new era will be announced on Sunday.

This is how we start.

We may also gather on weekends, other evenings, afternoons—when and wherever there’s interest and space. We’ll post and monitor events. If nobody signs up, we cancel.

We can share scripts!

Where?

Priority One: Monday, May 19.

Would someone like to host us at their home?

Who can suggest (and contact) a quiet coffee house (or a park, a library, a church) that would accommodate a little culture?

Bear in mind that we don’t have to meet at the same place all the time (although it would be nice to have a home). As long as each event is scheduled independently, we can enjoy a variety of venues.

What if once a month a different theatre gave us a dark night of their choosing (anybody have connections?)

Question

Do we finish a play in one read (three-plus hours) or two (two hours each)? The latter allows for more discussion, but you have to be there twice.

Answer

For now, let’s do Thursdays as we always have: start reading at 10:00, stop at noon, no matter where we are in the script. Come early (or stay late) to socialize.

And let’s make evenings a one-read event (into the morning…)

Comments?

What to Expect

If anyone has a particular favorite, prepared or otherwise, they’d like to read, they go first. Otherwise:

1. All readers take one monologue each from the top of the stack and take a moment to look them over.
2. One by one, in order, readers “speak the speech.”
3. Between each speech, the group responds, explores the character.
4. Readers may read the speech again, “with feeling.”
5. When everyone has read, we pick again from the top of the pile.

And may a good time be had by all!  Continue reading Spoon River Readings →