Readings

  • Under Construction 6: SLAMFEST

    The UC6 NEW PLAY SLAMFEST are plays still “under construction”. This is the result of the playwrights’ one-year commitment to our workshop. These readings are the next stage in their development and we hope you can join us!
    Reserve and choose your seat online or pay-what-you-like at the door.
    • February 17th, 7:30

      THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT

      Written by Talisa Friedman
      Directed by Carlyle King

      Featuring: Taylor Nichols, Erika Nadir, Clay Hollander, Ryan Ashton, Scottie Nevil and Sofia Vassilieva

      “Roland Rykard, a moderately successful painter, has died. When his family gathers in Albuquerque to mourn, they are forced to confront the childhood tragedy they’ve been outrunning for decades. Both magical and devastating, The Land of Enchantment explores what we owe our family, our art, and ourselves.”

    • February 24th, 7:30

      Just Beyond the Curtain

      Written by Ashlyn Frank
      Directed by Liz Herron
      Featuring:  Amy Tolsky, Julia Manis, Alexandra Tejada, Brian Graves, Emily Jerez and Shane Weikel
      The Fox Sisters commune with the dead, at least that’s what they tell their audience. The trio from Troy have taken the world by storm with their spiritualist act and are now well into their sold-out run in New York City. However, their fortune turns when Margaretta’s beau begins to question their abilities, and eventually the act begins to fall apart. At odds with both her sisters and her belief in her own power, it is only when Margaretta faces the ghosts of her past that she is able to discern what lies beyond the curtain.
    • March 3rd, 7:30

      The Empty Ocean

      Written by A.J.Ditty
      Directed by Jake Beckhard

      Featuring:  Noelle Mercer, Suraj Partha, Christian Prentice, Stephanie Michels and Julian Armaya

      Hey, what’s up subscribers??? Crazy what’s been going on with V’s channel, right? Like, his best friend and long-time collaborator David just left YouTube for good without, like, ANY warning. Something’s off there, fam, I know it. And now they’ve brought on this new girl, Dalia something???, who I hear used to write for The Experiment, yeah, that HBO show about the clones or the aliens or whatever. But now they’re talking about “a new era for the channel” where they’re gonna start making “art”? or something? and I’m just like: whatever happened to the glory days of V and David just, like, blowing up cars with bazookas? Why is David vague-posting about some shady stuff V got up to in the early days of the channel? Why do I feel this emptiness inside of me, this roiling, echoing churn of impossible loneliness that threatens to consume my every waking thought? haHA Don’t forget to smash that like button. Please. Please like me. Please somebody like me. Anybody please please please please pl01se pl10ase p0101ase p01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000 00100000 01101101 01100101.

    • March 9th 7.30

      The [Dream] Preferred

      Written by chandra thomas
      directed by Melanie Queponds

      Featuring:  Ashley Denise Robinson, Peter Pasco, Elena Campbell Martinez, Toccarra Cash and Jude Vincent

      It’s Christmas Day at a community-based resource center in Inglewood, CA where Sienna shows up to volunteer as she has since she was a kid. But her day quickly gets turned upside down when her ex, Tristan, unexpectedly shows up too. Now they have to step into their roles as Santa and Ms. Clauz (yes, with a ‘z’) to bring holiday cheer to visiting kids and families. But, along with the employees and other volunteers of The Dream Preferred Center, the pair find themselves wrestling with the inextricable interconnection of the “personal” and the “political”. So, of course, this is a real-time, sociopolitical, non-holiday, holiday play wrapped up in a romantic comedy.

    • March 10th 7:30

      Ana and Isi

      Written by Gabrielle Poisson
      Directed by Staci Mize
      Featuring: Jordan Moore, Emily Hope Turner, Olivia Gill, Christina Carlisi, Jeff LeBeau and Nick Apostolina
      It’s been 546 days since Ana and Isi’s brother Paul died in a tragic accident. After a series of lengthy legal battles, the sisters are left packing up their generational family home which is being seized by the bank — Isi is desperate to leave, but Ana thinks she might just stay. Ana and Isi is a dark, modern (and truly loose) adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone exploring grief, inherited trauma, what we owe the dead, and what the dead owe us back.
    • April 21st 7:30

      Becoming Birdie

      Written by Nate Hollander
      Directed by Mary Lou Belli
      Featuring Stephen Tobolowsky ,Krishna Smitha and Clay Hollander
      Beloved high school film teacher Herbert Whitlie believes he is turning into a bird. Monica is by his side, managing the minutiae of his failing health, when Theo arrives to help Mr. Whitlie finish his sprawling memoir. Over the course of an afternoon spent in an increasingly claustrophobic bathroom, Monica and Theo are faced with the uncomfortable realization that their mentor may be human after all.
    • May 18th, 7:30

      Double Walkers

      Written by Emily Yuko Walborn
      Directed by Jordan Wold
      Allison Wilson is running for mayor of her hometown. The only problem – she hasn’t been home in over ten years. Someone who looks and sounds exactly like her has taken over her life, campaigned for mayor, and treated everyone in town horribly, ruining her reputation. Can she confront her doppelganger and set things right? Or are there two sides to the story?

  • The Word

    As part of our mission to foster the development of new plays, The Road hosts readings on Mondays at 7:30pm. Readings are followed by a talkback with the playwright (if available). Check back often for new additions to the lineup and make sure to follow us for updates and reminders.
                                                   Reserve and choose your seat online or pay-what-you-like at the door.

    • February 23rd, 7:30

      OF LIFE AND TIMES

      Written by Janet Chamberlain
      Directed by Dana Schwartz
      FEATURING: Susan Diol, Laura Gardner, Judith Scarpone, Suzanne Spoke
       
      Joy reluctantly returns to her ancestral home to care for her estranged mother, who has had a stroke.  Things don’t go as planned, and mother and daughter are forced to confront their lifetime of differences, with a little help from their ancestors.  This is the story of two generations of mothers and daughters, past and present, and how their lives intertwine.  Is there anything to be learned from what came before us?  Can we change the course of our lives, and those that come after us?  A play of spirit, forgiveness and letting go.
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