The Seattle Playwrights’ Collective, an emerging Seattle theatre group dedicated to cultivating local playwrights by providing them with opportunities for workshops, readings, and productions, continues its First Look Reading Series this year with a dynamic line-up of plays read by professional actors. Free to the public, these readings are followed by a chat-back with the author in which audience members can give the playwright valuable feedback about the piece to help with the continued development of the play. First Look readings take place at The Phoenix Theatre in Edmonds.
For information about upcoming readings, go here.
March 2011
Slain
by. Craig Kenworthy
Directed by. Daniel Tarker
How far will a man of the cloth go to bring peace to the family of a murder victim? What trusts will he betray? When a pastor makes a deal with a condemned man to learn the fate of a little boy,will they each get what they bargained for? And for a guard who gets to walk of the prison everyday, will he decide the truth is less frightening than the consequences of not knowing it?
Featuring Jon Lee, Lincoln Grisner, Brittany Cox, Patricia Bonnell, and Daniel Tarker
March 2011
Bones: The Tale of Callie Archer
by. Sherry Narens
Directed by. Sherry Narens
Maybe it's the story of a woman who just flips out, or maybe it's a mythic tale about one of the Celtic Powers. Told by a Bard and by Callie Archer herself, the tale unfolds in narration, monologue and music.
Featuring Daniel Brockley and Lee Ann Hittenberger
Plus, as a bonus feature!
ACT Young Playwrights Winner
Mervin and the Pirates
by. Rachael Sherman
Directed by. Fox Matthews
Mervin wants some excitement in his life...and he's going to get more than he bargained for when he joins the crew of a pirate ship nin this whimsical ten-minute play.
Featuring Fox Matthews, Alysha Curry, Alyssa Kay, and Geb Brown
February 2011
El Monstro
by. Elena Naskova
Directed by. Daniel Tarker
A dark, suspenseful drama…Facing the prospect of losing their house, Lisa and Steve move into their basement and rent the upstairs of their house to Brad, a horror movie director with a secret past of his own that will turn their already troubled lives into an absolute nightmare.
Featuring Rebecca Olson, Daniel Brockley, Patricia Bonnell, Jon Lee, and Enrique Olguin
January 2011
Harry’s Halfway House
By John C. Davenport
Directed by Lindsay Byrne
The proprietor of a boardinghouse deals with his eccentric tenants while fending off a threat to their dysfunctional home. Featuring Jon Lee, Rob Hamm, Steve Gins, Emily Fairbrook, Gabriel Congdon, and Patricia Bonnell.
December 2010
The Fishbowl
By. Katherine Luck
Directed by. Daniel Tarker
What’s interesting about watching a reality TV veteran, a washed up movie star, a fast food cashier and an accountant sit around a seafood joint? What if it was a hostage situation shown live on the 10 o'clock news? Or maybe the world's deadliest reality show? Under the watchful eyes of the media and a lawyer-to-the-stars, a criminal stunt by formerly famous has-beens goes violently and comically awry. Featuring Fox Mathews, Sofia Rybin, Tom Fraser, Rob Hamm, and Patricia Bonnell.
October 2010
Snakes and Ladders
By. Daniel Tarker
Directed by. Daniel Tarker
A satirical comedy about the lengths people will go to make a profit at real estate. Adrian and Evelyn have made some seriously poor financial decisions which have led to their recent divorce. Now stuck living together in a house they can’t sell, they will do anything to get out from under their financial burden. A fast paced, bawdy, and topical comedy featuring a manipulative real estate agent, odd sexual fetishes, and an ominous pterodactyl dream. Featuring Rik Deskin*, Rebecca Olson, Zandi Carlson, and Daniel Brockley.
* Indicates a member of Actors Equity Association
September, 2010
The Far End of the Earth
by Keith McGregor
Directed by Keith McGregor
Does Christianity or any other knee-jerk, authoritarian religion serve humanity well? Does it give us meaningful answers to the questions and issues we face today? Would Wiccan philosophy, a far older belief system than Christianity, give us better guidance? On one level, THE FAR END OF THE EARTH is an intense, but at the same time intimate drama of reconciliation among three generations of the women of one northwest family. On a deeper level, it looks at the fragile nature of our environment, and the importance of intelligent and responsible actions in all phases of our existence on this planet. Featuring Sherry Narens*, Patricia Bonnell, and Brittany Cox.
*Indicates a member of Actors Equity Association
May 2010
The Visitation
by Cheryl Carvajal
Directed by. Miryam Gordon
Jenny's marriage had estranged her from her father Clayton for nearly two decades. With his death, she revisits the loss of so long ago, fearing her pain will not be resolved. But ghosts have fears, too, and death brings realizations none of us can know. Who ever said that death ended the conversation?
Featuring Patricia Bonnell, John Davenport, and Griffith Kadiner*
April 2010
Casey and Drew
by Lyn Coffin
Directed by. Ellen Graham
Two women discover/lose/discover each other/themselves over the course of their lives. This play explores the difference between existing and surviving. A hymn becomes a love song, a mug becomes a chalice.
Featuring Gretchen Douma and Persephone Vandegrift
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Harry's Halfway House (Act One)
by John Davenport
Directed by. Susie Ross
The proprietor of a boardinghouse deals with his eccentric tenants while fending off a threat to their dysfunctional home.
Featuring Steve Gins, Griffith Kadiner, Fox Mathews, Gary Estrada, and Becky Chong
March 2010
Sunny
By. Kelly McAllister and Margaret Holub.
Directed by. Daniel Tarker
Sunny is an 18 year girl living on a faded commune in the San Juan Islands- surrounded by burnt out hippies, born again conservatives, and an environmentalist who likens himself to the Lorax. She is asking the age old question: what's so funny about peace, love, and understanding. Loosely based on Chekov's Uncle Vanya.
Featuring Alysha Curry, Gene Thorkidsen, Sherry Narens, Gary Estrada, Griffith Kadiner, Dolores Rodgers, and Richard Hawkins
February 2010
Frozen Masterpieces
by Elena Naksova
Directed by Miryam Gordon
Frozen Masterpieces’ is a story about our struggle for permanency against the destructive forces of time. Edward is an artist who has picked tattooing as his favorite art form, because of its permanency. He is deeply captivated by the idea of putting his artwork on a “living, bleeding, twitching canvas” and having it remain there for a lifetime. Valerie is a thirty-five year old woman who is diagnosed with breast cancer and is searching for a way to express her pain and grief. One evening Valerie visits Edward’s studio and she gets a tattoo on her left breast.
Featuring Ben Gonio, Patricia Bonnell, and Fox Mathews
January 2010
All I Ever Wanted
By Tracy Vicory-Rosenquest
Directed by Christy Denny
Eighteen-year-old Charlie is about to become a father. With the same set of choices his father faced when his Mom was pregnant, Charlie is driven to do it better. He will rewrite his future by unraveling his family’s past. All I Ever Wanted follows a boy through the lens of his video camera. With a bicycle, a newspaper and a prank call, this family breaks open a buried time capsule and must encounter the truth.
Tracy Vicory-Rosenquest has written and produced her plays in the Minnesota Fringe Festival and has recently received her MFA from Goddard College.
Featuring Pearl Klein, Fox Mathews, Daniel Tarker...
Antonio Vivaldi’s orchestral music was first performed by an orchestra of orphan girls. Who were they? How did they live, and what did they aspire to in a world in which young women had very few options?
Theresa Bassoon follows the impossible choices faced by a young bassoonist growing to maturity in the Ospedale della Pieta, an orphanage in early 18th Century Venice.
A full length drama in two acts, Theresa Bassoon has been a Fund For New American Plays Award Recipient, the winner of Santa Cruz Actors Theatre Full Length Play award and a Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation New American Play Award Semi-finalist.
Featuring Lorrie Fargo, Sarah Budge, Nicole Fierstein, Jade Justad, Dylan Chalfy, Patricia Bonnell, Dan Brockley, Christine Nelson, Shanna Ridenair, and Jeff Schwab.
What happens when The Beacon, a “New Age” educational organization, proposes to build a retreat center on the outskirts of the small, conservative town of Shady Oaks, Mississippi?
Keith McGregor is an award-winning playwright whose plays have been produced across the country. He grew up in Mississippi and is VERY familiar with the foibles and peculiarities, as well as the humor and the true charm of the characters about whom he writes. For more information about McGregor and his work, visit www.ravenwriters.com
The reading featured Richard Hawkins, Susie Ross, Yvette Zaepfel, Therese Diekens, Ellen McLain, and Raymond Burke.
A farcical retelling of the legend of Gilgamesh set in a trailer park complete with all the tabloid regulars - werewolves, space aliens, and even a cameo by Bigfoot himself. The reading featured local talent Alysha Curry, Fox Matthews, Aaron, Key, and Trish Loyd.
Shakespeare's darkest comedy is reinterprited through a modern lens in this dark drama about a female pastor who must wrestle with her rigid definitions of right and wrong to expose a lecherous district attorney. The reading featured Emmatrice Devan, Jesse Putnam, Alysha Curry, Aaron Key, Nicole Alouf, and Sherry Narens.
Sleep with Jesus by Katherine Luck: A young man who wants to become a monk must make a great sacrifice to save his eccentric family. The staged reading will feature local actors David Roby, Monica Wulzen, Enrique Olguin, Nicole Alouf.
Trigger Happy
by Ry Sherrell
A man's refusal to move on after a personal tragedy leads to a strange addiction and profoundly affects everyone around him. The staged reading will feature local actors Toby Dycus, David Roby, Sherry Narens, Cheryl Carvajal, and Katherine Luck.
New short pieces by Lyn Coffin, Sherry Narens, Katherine Luck, and John Davenport.
What if Desdemona did not die? What if Othello had taken his own life out of a mistaken belief that he had murdered his wife in a jealous rage? Would she ironically end up with Cassio as Iago had made Othello fear? For that matter, who is Desdemona in the first place? What was her life like before she met Othello, and what was her courtship like after meeting the heroic Moor of Venice? Playwright Cheryl Carvajal explores these and other questions in this fascinating play about one of Shakespeare’s most tragic heroines.
The reading featured local actors Trish Lloyd, Lisa Carswell, G'Tomas Jones, Ben Gonio, Richard Hawkins, and Lyn Coffin.
After a year struggling through the roller coaster ride of emotions following her husband’s death, Sarah Dunn suddenly finds herself thrust into a most bizarre love triangle with her former college sweetheart and the ghost of her deceased husband. From this central plot spins a web of three intersecting stories that mirror and counterpoint one another creating a fast paced, bawdy comedy that mixes the profound and profane to examine how the frenetic pace and mounting obligations of contemporary society can leave us all living in a virtual purgatory.
The cast will feature local actors Ben Gonio, Trish Lloyd, Laura Arnold, G To'mas Jones, Joel Korkowski, Rich Hawkins, and Alysha Curry.
A provocative drama about an interloper who infiltrates the therapy session of a group of suicidal patients playing games to figure out who gets the pills to finish themselves off. The reading featured local actors Simon Hamlin, Richard Hawkins, Jeff Schwab, Sherry Narens, and Kathy Okawa.
Imagine two quarreling brothers stuck in the backseat on a long family car trip. Now imagine those same brothers grown up and driving in the front seat, but they still don’t get along any better than when they were kids. Such is the case of Stephen and Jerry, driving back to their hometown for their mother’s funeral. The breakfast exercise of the play’s title brings up the subject of their estranged – possibly dead? – sister, and other issues that await them back home. Other characters include cousin Joanie, who’s been looking after their mother; Bradley, a friendly but somewhat gossipy delivery man; and Aunt Wy (short for Wyoming – she and her siblings were named for states), who’s losing her eyesight but can still pick a lock with the best of them.
A fascinating play that explores the collision of two worlds. In one world we're invited into the cubicle of two career minded computer computer programmers while in the other we meet a Hispanic family doing everything they can to care for an ailing child. It is a contrast of cultures, language, and values in this dynamic drama.
