Theater By The Book, and Actors Playhouse readings
Play readings are among the most important building blocks in theater, where plays are spoken and in many cases acted for the first time. But they can also be showcases for existing works that might rarely, if ever, get the opportunity for full productions. Examples of both are coming up in the days ahead.
Both events are upcoming in south Miami-Dade, though readings are also integral parts of such regional theaters as the Florida Stage, Caldwell Theatre Company and New Theatre, which have effectively used their reading series as incubators for main stage premieres.
Sunday (June 1) finds a top-rank cast reading Mario Diament’s “The Book of Ruth” for the recently-founded Theater By The Book program, at the Alper JCC, 11115 SW 112th Ave., Miami. On June 7, The Actors’ Playhouse at The Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables will present readings of its recent From Page to Stage competition, new plays by Carbonell winning dramatist Michael McKeever – “Unreasonable Doubt” at 3 p.m. – and “When the Sun Shone Brighter” by Christopher Demos-Brown at 7 p.m.
Most readings are rehearsed, so although actors may be “on the book” referring to the script, performances are acted throughout to deliver the dramatic and emotional content of the story.
Theater By The Book
Theater By The Book was founded by former New Theatre founder-director Rafael de Acha earlier this season, and has shifted venues a bit in recent months while looking for a regular venue. The program’s mission is to present classic plays – contemporary or vintage – in de Acha’s engaging multicultural world view.
Diament’s “The Book of Ruth” was produced by de Acha before he retired from the New Theatre, and it remains perhaps his favorite. Sunday’s reading includes Carbonell Award-winners Barbara Sloan and Jessica Peterson, with Sally Levin, Ramon Gonzalez-Cuevas, Marta Velasco, Margerie Lowe, Jonathan Angress and Larry Jurrist.
Following Sunday’s performance at the Alper JCC, the next readings will be July 6 and 7. The 6th, at 2 and 6 p.m., will be an adaptation of Alfred de Musset's 1833 play "Lorenzaccio" at the Alliance Francaise de Miami, 618 SW 8th St., Miami. The 7th will be de Acha’s own English adaptation/translation of Pedro Calderon de la Barca’s “Life’s Dreaming” (La Vida es Sueno), at 2 and 6 p.m. at Centro Cultural Espanol de Miami, at 800 Douglas Road (Suite 170), also in the Gables.
For more information, visit the Theater By The Book website.
From Page to Stage
The Actors’ Playhouse got funding from the Funding Arts Network to help sponsor its recent From Page to Stage playwriting competition. The readings announced this week for June 7 are envisioned as the first step in a possible “Second Stage” series of new works.
The Second Stage concept is not a certainty, but would fill an important void in the company’s legacy that’s been a persistent complaint among theater cognoscenti – TAP’s programming has been almost exclusively mainstream commercial throughout its two-decade history, a few award-winning high-profile musicals notwithstanding (such as “Violet” and “Floyd Collins”). A playreading series development toward fully-staged new works would join the important developmental work being carried out by the aforementioned and some other local houses.
TAP artistic director David Arisco will direct both June 7 reading presentations. There will be discussions with the audience led by a panel of theater pros after each reading, with enough time for a dinner break between at restaurants ranging from fast food to fine dining within walking distance.
For more information, check out the Actors’ Playhouse website or call 305-444-9293.
JACK ZINK, the Sun-Sentinel theater, music & cultural affairs writer, has spent 38 years on the Gold Coast...