Archives

Susan Thomas: Wit


August 11, 2024

The content of this play was different than any other play we have read. We are a group of elderly people many of whom were attached to a University before retirement and the content of this book was certainly something that we could relate to, both for it’s characters and the fear of how we would handle cancer if it happened. I think for the most part, it was enjoyable.

Jerri Price: You Can’t Take It With You

February 5, 2022

 I like this play, it is funny and smart and still 88 years later, relevant. I am so grateful to be part of a play group that gets together to read out loud these Pulitzer Prize winning plays. It is a good thing to do with people you like and enjoy spending time with. This play is about what is important in life and I can think of no better time to read a play regarding that very subject. It makes you think and laugh at the same time time. Thank you Cold Reads for your access to these wonderful plays.

Chuff Afflerbach: The Skin of Our Teeth

January 29, 2022

This play by Thornton Wilder was the perfect choice for our Potluck Players Revival. Our merry band has been reading plays together once a month for more than three decades. The pandemic curtailed our potluck gatherings, but we soldiered on for a year of on-line readings until Zoom fatigue set in. Now, after a long hiatus, we’re back!

“The Skin of Our Teeth” (like our own amateur troupe) seems to get better with age. One of the characters aptly describes this play she appears in: “It’s all about the troubles the human race has gone through, there’s a subject for you!” Indeed, “Skin” has a little of everything: comedy, satire, drama, dinosaurs, Freudian psychology, and a pinch of hope for good measure. Just what actors and audiences need in these (and all) troubled times.

Fitting three acts into an hour of reading required considerable editing of the script. We stitched together the opening and close of Act One, did the same with the Act Three, and skipped right over Act Two. The result was a fast-paced play that kept the ten of us engaged and entertained during our Zoom performance.

Many thanks to Cold Reads/International for supplying this play! This website is a great find for us and will be a valuable resource for our upcoming readings. We hope to be back again soon with another review.

Steve Eisdorfer: Blithe Spirit

Nov 26, 2021

 Play read online online under auspices of local public library as part of a regular series of online playreadings. As written, the play is long and baggy. Edited down by about a third, it was read enthusiastically. We took advantage of Zoom features to have the ghosts all appear in grayscale, conforming to Coward’s script. The play is harmless fun, a good break from weightier fare.

Marisa King: Abe Lincoln in Illinois

June 7, 2021

Our group was divided on this script. Some people really liked it and others thought it was much too wordy and boring. However, we did all agree that there were some extremely strong monologues (apart from the historical speeches). Also, our group once again commented on how little politics has changed in 80 years.

Marisa King: Idiot’s Delight

May 8, 2021

This was a very well-written and thought provoking script with characters of various nationalities layering their perspectives onto the action. There were some extremely dark monologues which caught us by surprise but made sense given that the Great War still loomed large in the public consciousness and tensions were already building up to another world war. The postscript written by the playwright is especially poignant and we recommend reading it first to give context to the play’s setting and action.