Out Of The Box Theatrics & Weathervane Theatre to Present Staged Readings of Three New Plays This Fall

This fall, Out of the Box Theatrics (2022 Drama Desk nominee for Baby) and Jennifer Campos Productions in association with Weathervane Theatre will present staged readings of three new plays by three exciting new emerging playwrights. Each reading will be available to watch live or streaming. The schedule is as follows:

September 11 at 6 PM:

SECRETOS by Alex Carrera.

In SECRETOS, Beatrice has a deadbeat husband, a dead-end janitorial job, a disabled son, an angsty teenage daughter... and a secret that binds this Mexican-American family together.

Presented at Weathervane Theatre in Whitefield, NH (389 Lancaster Road, Whitefield, NH 03598). Tickets are $10 for in person seating or $12 for livestream access at www.weathervanenh.org.

October 17 at 7:15 PM:

CALL ME ABIGAIL by Shelli Pentimall Bookler.

CALL ME ABIGAIL is a comedic drama about a father and daughter conflict based in politics and the adult entertainment industry. Though focusing on family conflict, obscenity is challenged in light of other scandals highlighted, giving a unique perspective of art and censorship.

Presented at TheaterLab (357 W 36th St. 3rd floor, New York, NY 10018). Tickets are $10 (or $17 for both CALL ME ABIGAIL and LET'S TALK ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE) for in person seating or $12.50 (or $20 for both readings) for live-streaming access at www.ootbtheatrics.com.

December 12 at 7:15 PM:

LET'S TALK ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE by Anthony Anello.

LET'S TALK ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE is a horror-comedy about a group of queer twenty-something-year old women that escape to the Berkshires together for the first time since their friend's passing, where they are haunted by their grief. Anthony states, "I wrote this play a few months after the unexpected death of my father, using it not only to mourn, but to purge the feelings I was harboring of guilt, isolation, and confusion as I tried to comprehend the incomprehensible. Through this outpour, this first draft came into the world as suddenly and abruptly as my father left it."

Presented at Theatre 71 (152 West 71st Street New York, NY 10023). Tickets are $10 (or $17 for both CALL ME ABIGAIL and LET'S TALK ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE) for in person seating or $12.50 (or $20 for both readings) for live-streaming access at www.ootbtheatrics.com.

CALL ME ABIGAIL and LET'S TALK ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE are presented as part of Out of the Box Theatrics's Building the Box program. The objectives of the program are twofold: 1. To ensure authentic representation in all aspects of programming, and 2. To provide artists fair and competitive pay. Through Building the Box and OOTB's new works residency, OOTB endeavors to address community needs and be an integral part in changing the landscape of New York theatre. Since the power of representation is one of the strongest tools available in the arts, both initiatives focus on lifting the voices of marginalized communities and giving opportunities to these communities to tell their stories. OOTB was founded by Liz Flemming, a legally blind artist, to ensure that artists in underrepresented communities are given the same opportunities as the rest of the industry, and also as important, that these communities see themselves represented on stage and beyond. These programs also provide artists with the time and space needed to go through the vulnerable process of developing new works, and competitive compensation. OOTB is taking proactive steps to help provide the resources needed for a career in the arts, and support voices that have been historically oppressed.

Anthony Anello is a graduate of NYU Tisch's Dramatic Writing program where he was awarded the John Golden Playwriting Prize and served as a co-founder/president of the Broke People Play Festival. His full-length works include let's talk about anything else (Loading Dock/ the Tank), A Dog Dies (Goldberg Prize, runner-up), The Carter Play (Dixon Place), and GAY ST./MONTAUK (developed with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater). He has worked with Out of the Box Theatrics on series such as Off-the-Couch and A New York Holiday Minute (in collaboration with Weathervane Theatre), and most recently served as a Writing Advisor for the company's Off-Broadway revival of Baby. He is also an inaugural member of PlaygroundNY 2021-2022 Writer's Pool.

Shelli Pentimall Bookler holds an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Temple University, an M.A. in Theatre Arts from Eastern Michigan University and studied directing at The Actor's Studio at the New School. As a playwright several of her original plays have been produced including her original musical Snyder v Phelps which premiered at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Other plays produced include Addicted, Honeydew, All the Dead Biddles, and Bird in the Window. She was a finalist for the New American Voices Playwriting Series at Landing Theatre in Houston (Pieces of the Pie), a semi-finalist for the American Association of Community Theatre (Bird in the Window and Pieces of the Pie), a finalist for Dayton Playhouse's Futurefest 2019 (On the Horizon) a finalist for the Midwest Dramatist Center's Playwriting Conference in Kansas City (The Interview), and a finalist for the City Theatre National Short Playwriting contest in Miami (The Shame Play). She is an Associate Professor of communication and theatre at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pennsylvania. She is a member of The Dramatist Guild, and the Witherspoon Circle, as well as an actor, director, and choreographer in Philadelphia.

Alex Carrera is a Latinx actor and writer with cerebral palsy originally from southern California, and graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a B.A in Theatre in 2020. The writing residency with Out of the Box Theatrics/ Weathervane Theatre is his first professional job since graduating and is excited to be part of this community of theatre and art makers.

Out of the Box Theatrics (OOTB) is an Off-Broadway Non-For-Profit committed to lifting the voices of marginalized communities through the stories they tell. OOTB challenges audiences to experience work outside of their expectations and strives to diversify American theater by providing an inclusive and accessible platform for artists and patrons. OOTB was founded in 2015 by Elizabeth Flemming. Past productions include the Drama League nominated The Last Five Years, The Pink Unicorn, Baby (Drama Desk Outstanding Revival nominee, Off-Broadway Alliance Best Revival nominee), "Master Harold" ...and the Boys, Songs for a New World, Shoes & Baggage, ...Charlie Brown, Nocturne, and Into the Woods. In addition to mainstage programming, OOTB offers the new works initiative Building the Box. FB, IG, Twitter @ootbtheatrics www.ootbtheatrics.com

Jennifer Campos Productions was founded to promote diverse and inclusive theatrical productions across the country. For over 15 years, Ms. Campos has worked with several off-Broadway theater companies including The New Group and Primary Stages in various capacities. Most recently, Ms. Campos' producing credits include Jane Anger starring Michael Urie; The New Group Off Stage production of Waiting for Godot with Ethan Hawke, John Leguizamo, and Wallace Shawn; and Out of the Box Theatrics' production of Baby.

The Weathervane Theatre was founded in 1965 by Gibbs Murray and the late Tom Haas and is under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Ethan Paulini. For over half a century, it has presented high quality professional productions of plays and musicals. One of the few remaining alternating rep companies in the United States, the Weathervane is recognized as a historical institution nationwide, boasting among its alumni 2021 Tony nominee Elizabeth Stanley, Tally Sessions, four-time Tony nominee Judy Kuhn and recent Tony Award Winner Ari'el Stachel.

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