Ready Or Not Reading

It looks like we will do a staged reading of my play, "Ready Or Not," on the afternoon of Sunday, March 5, at the Beverly Art Center in Chicago. It's a free event, although there will be a cash bar. We've got a director, Joe Collins, and he's casting now.

I'm quite excited.
All readers of this blog are invited.

In a staged reading, the actors have the scripts in their hands, but they move around the stage act out most of the action. Typically they are not in costume, and they don't have a full set or properties. And the actors haven't polished their interpretations of the characters. So to enjoy a staged reading takes less imagination than just reading a play, but it still takes more imagination that seeing a finished production. We're doing this staged reading to see how the play "plays" and also to see how an audience reacts. There will be a discussion after the reading so audience members who want to can say what's on their minds.

Here's a spoiler-lite summary of the play:

"Ready Or Not" is a full-length romantic comedy played on a single set – a suburban living room. The cast features two women and three men.

The play explores loyalty and betrayal, in business and in love, and the particular difficulty of finding your bearings when your world goes into a spin. Ed, a thirty-something businessman, returns home after a year in a Mexican jail, on charges of bribing a public official. Ed looks forward to a warm welcome from his wife and his company. Accompanying him on the trip back is a younger Mexican woman with an agenda of her own. He finds, to his shock, that his wife means to leave him for one of his co-workers who has introduced her to the pleasures of opera. On top of that, Ed’s boss has no intention of letting Ed return to work. But Ed has a secret, and once it comes out a cascade of confrontation and revelation follow.

Characters:
Ed, earnest and glad to be out of jail
Susan, his wife, not so glad to see him
Kyle, his coworker and not-so-good friend
Norma, a young woman from Mexico
Mr. Thompson, a boss who is all business