Readings

  • The Word at the Road

    As part of our mission to foster the development of new plays, The Road hosts readings on Mondays at 8pm that are open to the public and tickets are pay what you can. 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.
    We are on a hiatus until mid-September.  Please check back then.
    • Sept. 23rd

      Chickenheads

      Join us for a reading of Ruth Fowler’s Chickenheads on September 23rd, 2019 at 8 PM at The Road on Magnolia. This reading is open to the public and tickets are Pay What You Can at the door.

      Playwright: Ruth Fowler

      Director: Ryan McRee

      Featuring: Bart Tangredi, Ben Theobald, and Maliabeth Johnson.

      It’s just another day of shooting porn in the valley—except on this particular day, everything that can go wrong, does.

    • Oct. 14th

      Into the Gobpile

      Join us for a reading of Jennie Webb’s Into the Gobpile on October 11th, 2019 at 8 PM at The Road on Magnolia. This reading is open to the public and tickets are Pay What You Can at the door.

      Playwright: Jennie Webb

      Director: Laura Stribling

      Featuring: Kimberly Alexander, Jennifer Finch, Patricia Herd, Michelle Gillette, and June Carryl.

      Unsettled by the LA riots, a young woman goes “home” to heal in a place she’s never lived: a small town called Perseverance, in the heart of Southern Illinois Coal Country. Into the Gobpile is a play about lost connections and shifting landscapes.

    • Nov. 4th

      Road Down the Mountain

      Join us for a reading of Jack Canfora’s Road Down the Mountain on November 4th, 2019 at 8 PM at The Road on Magnolia. This reading is open to the public and tickets are Pay What You Can at the door.

      Playwright: Jack Canfora

      Director: Pavel Cerny

      Featuring: Allison Blaize, Chad Coe, Carlyle King, and Jeff LeBeau.

      Following a car accident that incapacitated her husband Adam, a legendary rockstar, Julie has spent the last two years as his caregiver on their secluded Wyoming estate, waiting to no avail for the world to lose interest and leave her and Adam alone. Finally, at the urging of her assistant Corey, Julie decides to tell their story to Tom, a journalist with whom she shares a past. Love triangles, secrets, and complex relationships fill this psychological drama by an important new voice in the American theatre.

  • Summer Playwrights Festival 10 | July 28th-August 4th

    Come celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Summer Playwrights Festival at The Road Theatre, July 28th through August 4th!

    Summer Playwrights Festival 10 Schedule

  • Summer Playwrights Festival Submission Info

    The Road Theatre’s annual Summer Playwrights Festival has been held every summer since its inception in 2010. This year marks our 10th anniversary and SPF10 will take place from July 28-August 4, 2019. SPF mounts 30-40 staged readings of new plays in 8 exciting days. The festival is now the largest staged reading festival in the nation with playwrights from around the country and around the world participating. Each reading is followed by a talk-back with the playwrights, directors and casts and a reception featuring food, drink and live music in our gallery space and cantina. Readings are held in both our Historic Lankershim Arts Center Theater and Gallery and in our 77-seat theater in the NoHo Senior Arts Colony. Although we receive hundreds of submissions for our festival, new and established playwrights are encouraged to submit.

    Past playwrights have included D.L. Coburn, Lisa Loomer, Sharr White, Marisa Wegrzyn, Craig Wright, Wendy Macleod, Lucy Thurber, Mo Gaffney, Keith Huff, Brett Neveu, Scooter Pietsch, Craig Pospisil, Julie Marie Myatt. Guest artists have included Bryan Cranston, Laurie Metcalf, Kathy Baker, Jennifer Tilly, Perry King, Rondi Reed, Tom Irwin, Nancy Travis, Gregory Harrison, Gale Harold, Robert Pine, Michael O’Neill, Harold Gould, and many, many others.

    Click here for SPF10 submission info.

  • Photo Credit: Alex Portenko

    Common Ground

    Started in 2018, Common Ground is a new performance series that showcases the talent of our diverse company as they perform original short stories on themes central to our mission. Common Ground is free to the public.