Reading Festival of New Work
at the Victory Theatre Center
May 6-9, 2010

The Playwrights Union invites you to our first Reading Festival of New Work. All of the plays were first drafted during our February Writing Challenge, and have been finished or re-written in the weeks leading up to the Festival. Please come hear some of this brand new work by nine of our current members and join our booze-n-snack receptions with the evening's playwrights!

The Victory Theatre Center in Burbank is our amazing host, offering two spaces during the weekend for simultaneous readings:

Thursday, May 6
6:30pm The Nether by Jennifer Haley In a not-so-distant future, a detective interrogates a successful businessman for crimes against children. But are these crimes real, or committed only in the thought space of the Nether? Directed by Sarah Gurfield.	8:30pm Puzzler by Padraic Duffy His job was to piece together the lives destroyed by the East German Stasi police. Little did he know, the first one he'd unearth would be his own. Directed by Jaime Robledo.
8:00pm Reception

Friday, May 7
6:30pm Like a Fact by Aaron Henne The mother dies, as we all do. The husband wraps her body in plaster and cuddles close. The son eats his dead mother's heart. A story about the ways love can live in silence. Directed by the playwright.	8:30pm Large as Life And Twice as Natural by Dorothy Fortenberry Annabel has one boyfriend, two dinner guests, and - most importantly - 534 friends on Facebook. Aided by her pal Keyboard Cat, Annabel falls deep into the on-line wormhole. Directed by Becca Wolff.
8:00pm Reception

Saturday, May 8
6:30pm Chambers by Lisa Kenner After the death of her husband in a terrorist incident, Mari shocks those around her with unorthodox behavior. Is she refusing to move on, or proving that all of us need to grieve in our own way? Directed by Jennifer Bloom.	6:30pm The City She Wants Me by Deron Bos Durn wants to become a Lego superstar, Jack has been called by God, Faye is proposing to rebuild 1930's L.A. in an unmarked warehouse, and Claudia Turnkey is going to die ... soon. Directed by Paul Willis.
8:00pm Reception	8:30pm Frank and Monica by Steve Serpas May 1998. Beverly Hills. A singing icon of yesteryear meets a pretty young intern embroiled in a presidential sex scandal. And so begins a romp about fame, faith, and the end of the 20th century. Directed by Jessica Hanna.

Sunday, May 9
6:30pm Anticipating Leftovers by Jennie Webb An absurdist look at family ties, the weight of shared memories, and obligations-at-large, particularly the ones that come with marriage. At least for some women. Who may or may not be safely married. Directed by Casey Stangl.	6:30pm The Price by Jeremy Soule After nine years, a 9/11 widow still refuses restitution money. Is it her guilt, her pride, the pills, or is she buying her husband's memory? What is the price of the fallen, and what is the cost of moving on? Directed by Claudia Weill.
8:00pm Reception

The Playwrights Union
A network of Los Angeles theater artists writing for stage, tv and film.