CRANFORD, NJ — The Theater Project and the Cranford Library continue the autumn 2024 New Play Readings series on Saturday, Oct. 19, at 2 p.m., at Cranford Community Center’s 110-seat theater, 220 Walnut Ave. This month’s play is “Listen,” by Brigid Amos: when a brilliant but unstable artist brings his Bob Ross-inspired landscape painting to a Brooklyn Gallery, he finds himself pulled between the friends, family and colleagues who want to exploit his reputation as a cutting-edge abstract artist or preserve it.
Admission is free, with no registration required. Readings give playwrights the opportunity to field-test new scripts and receive feedback from a live audience.
Amos is the winner of the 2022 Goshen Peace Play Contest, the 2024 Tiger’s Heart Players Literary Competition and has been a finalist in many well-known competitions. Her plays have been produced, read, or podcast in 10 states and the United Kingdom. She makes her home in Rahway. Said Amos, “What I want to do in ‘Listen’ is explore the creative spirit and what it means to make art your own.”
The cast of the reading includes André DeSandies as the artist in question, with Scott Cagney, Serena Marie Smith and Kayla Stewart. It is directed by Gary Glor.
“It’s like listening in on a rehearsal,” said Theater Project artistic director Mark Spina. “Actors are on their feet, carrying scripts, entering and exiting, to give audiences a look at what happens before opening night.” After each reading, members of the audience will have the opportunity to offer their feedback to the playwrights, who are members of The Theater Project’s script development workshop.
The Friends of the Cranford Library host the series, which is made possible in part through a Union County Local Arts Grant. Large-print programs and scripts will be available with advance request.
Founded in 1994 and based in Union, The Theater Project introduces New Jersey audiences to new plays and supports rising playwrights and theater artists. It develops new audiences for theater by service to the community, providing programs for children, and using theater as a forum to address current issues.
For information, call 908-809-8865, or visit www.TheTheaterProject.org.