Manhattan Theatre Club has announced its 2022 Ted Snowdon Reading Series, which begins March 14. Readings will be held each Monday through the end of the month at New York City Center - Stage I. All readings are free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required.
First in the series is This Much I Know by Jonathan Spector, a play that brings together the stories of a psychology professor searching for his missing wife, Stalin's daughter's defecting to America, and the son of a white supremacist reexamining his family's beliefs to explore what it means to decide and how we do it. The reading will be directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Hand to God) and will be presented March 14 at 4 PM.
Next will be Vivian J. O. Barnes' Let It Use You March 21 at 4 PM. Set in 2006 Virginia, it follows a group of teenage girls stuck together at summer bible school. Hannah wants to connect more with her religion, Cece wants out, Ruth is battling her own demons, and Denise is just happy to be there. What follows and what these girls tap into together along the way may be something else entirely. Directing is Taylor Reynolds (Tambo & Bones).
Then at 11 AM March 28, Ife Olujobi's Color Girls will be an investigation into media, technology and race. Color Girls spans decades, beginning in 1950s California with the invention of color television and the white women used to standardize skin tones in media to today in an investigation of the effects of those White-based standards. This reading will also be directed by Reynolds. The work was commissioned by MTC through the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
READ: Behind Tambo & Bones and Upcoming Man Cave with Director Taylor Reynolds
Lastly, March 28 at 4 PM will be Declaration of Conscience by Sharyn Rothstein. Following Margaret Chase Smith, a moderate Republican and the only woman in the United States Senate in 1948, this play takes a look at the choice Smith faced: confronting star of the Republican party Joseph McCarthy to honor her values or staying silent to keep her political career. Commissioned by MTC with support from the Laurents/Hatcher Foundation, this final reading in the series will be directed by Jo Bonney (Mlima's Tale).
The reading series supports the development of new work and provides playwrights with a week to rehearse the reading with directors and actors. This year will be the series' 24th, and previous years have been the origin point of well-known plays such as Tony Award and Pulitzer Price-winning Proof by David Auburn and The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess. Ted Snowdon, producer of many shows including The Elephant Man, Spring Awakening, and The Great Society, continues to support the development of new works in this collaboration with MTC.
For more information and to RSVP, visit ManhattanTheatreClub.com.
