Archives

Andrew Karthage: The Mousetrap

January 10, 2021

I recommend reading this longest-ever-running play, which opened in the 1950s and only closed in 2020 due to theater lockdowns related to COVID-19. All of the roles are fun and lively to read, and if you all read it cold, part of the fun will be figuring out which one of the plural “you” did it, while it may well be the singular YOU! If you enjoyed reading Christie’s novels as a child or adult, you’ll enjoy the conversations about her larger body of work that this play will provoke.

Jois Brownstein: Both Your Houses

January 10, 2021

We were blown away that a play written almost 90 years ago was so relevant today, including a character named Trumper!!! So many parallels with the current government. The theme was how difficult it is to be honest in politics. It was a strong message that gave the audience lots to talk about after it was over.

Stephen Eisdorfer: Lost in Yonkers

January 17, 2021

This is the fifth monthly online community playreading I have organized for the Highland Park Minyan in Highland Park NJ. (I have also organized three for the Highland Park Public Library.) It was very successful, culminating in a consensus that we should do another one next month. By way of thanks, I am uploading a script Thornton’s Wilder’s The Matchmaker. This script is still under copyright.

Jois Brownstein: street scene

Sept 13, 2020

This is a story that sticks with you long after you’ve finished. It’s a very simplistic plot with only one setting and it takes place in less than 24 hours. Even with these basic elements, the story grabs the audience and encourages conversation. If I had to name a theme it would be: gossip is deadly.

A group of neighbors gather on the stoop of a tenement in New York on VERY hot afternoon. Talk turns to speculation about one of the residents having an affair with. There is no evidence that this is fact, but the neighbors aren’t concerned with evidence. You’ll have to read to find out what happens.

This is the last Pulitzer of the 1920’s. It was produced 90 years ago and is still relevant today.

Marla Koch: Street Scene

Four friends and I shared a delightful summer afternoon socially distanced in a backyard. It’s the first we’ve physically been together since the pandemic began. Zoom is great in a pinch, but being together made for a spectacular reading.

We continue to be shocked how the Pulitzer winners from the 1920’s seem perfectly contemporary today. This play had themes of antisemitism, being wary of immigrants, and law and order. I was sobered at how little progress we’ve made in almost 100 years.

This is the 20th play our group has read. None of us have acting experience, yet with experience we are getting more and more into our characters. This play made it easy with the varied accents being written into the dialect. The play had heavy themes, yet we had a marvelous time. Thanks for making the script available George.

Andrew Karthage: The Heidi Chronicles

We had an excellent virtual reading (via Microsoft Teams) of Wendy Wasserstein’s Heidi Chronicles. We cast four readers as Heidi, Susan, Peter, and Scoop, and then four more readers served as: 1) Jill/Debbie/Lisa, 2) Fran/Molly/Besty, 3) Becky, Clara, Densie, and 4) April + reading stage directions aloud. We all felt transported back to the time periods of the play.

For me, the scene on the day of a John Lennon vigil in Central Park really took me into a time and place where I’ve never been (1980, as an adult, in NYC, feeling the emotions of the day, and the sadness at his life cut short). I was Peter, so not even in that scene, just hearing the women talk about it was enough. Peter’s scene in the hospital talking about the AIDS epidemic with Heidi in 1987 felt raw and real.

I recommend reading this play for some insight into the changing roles of women and men in society from the 60s to the 80s. Cold reading is an excellent exercise in active empathy.