The Baltimore Playwrights Festival Announces THE CHICK FILES Reading, 3/10

The Baltimore Playwrights Festival (www.baltplayfest.org) is announced that one of its alumni, Sharon Goldner, will receive an independent reading of her play The Chick Files at 7:00 pm, Saturday, March 10th, at The Strand Theater, 1823 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, (443) 874-4917, www.strand-theater.org, as part of their Second Saturday Reading Series. The event is free of charge, and open to the public. There will be a discussion with the playwright following the reading, at which audience members are encouraged to pass along their feedback.

Goldner’s The Chick Files originally received its first public reading as part of a BPF marathon last year. In that form it was a series of monologues exploring women’s lives and how they contend with everyday situations. “The reading I had last year was extremely helpful,” Ms. Goldner says. “I rewrote the script from top to bottom based on what a few of the audience members suggested. I was very grateful to get those other eyes and ears involved.” As a result, the characters of the play now interact more with each other in a group therapy setting, and the audience is allowed a glimpse into their lives. As noted on The Strand’s website, “Funny, cathartic, and absurd, The Chick Files touches on the little 'mental' in all of us.”

Born and bred in Baltimore, and earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Maryland, College Park, Sharon Goldner began her life's lunacy (writing!) at an early age. The people of Baltimore, both transplants & natives, are found all over her writing, and her colorful Baltimore stories have been published in literary journals across the country & in England. Her latest short story, Amy Having a Heart Attack, has been selected by Harper Collins Publishers for inclusion in their 2012 anthology of short stories. She is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee for writing. Since switching her focus from short stories to plays, her works have appeared in Run of the Mill Theater's Variations Series (2009 & 2010) and in their inaugural North Avenue Series (2010). She is a 2011 finalist in NYC's Downtown Urban Theater Festival and a 2010 finalist with Pittsburgh New Works.

The reading at the Strand will be directed by Miriam Bazensky, award-winning director and Vice Chair of the Baltimore Playwrights Festival. Having directed the original BPF reading of The Chick Files, Ms. Bazensky has become a great supporter of Ms. Goldner’s work. The two of them collaborated on a production of Goldner’s play Runneth Over as part of The NYC Short Play Lab festival at the Roy Arias Theater in New York, winning Most Popular Play.

The Baltimore Playwrights Festival has presented 273 scripts by 165 playwrights, produced by 25 different companies, over the past 30 Years. Our mission is to provide an environment that nurtures the talents of Maryland and DC playwrights through public readings, discussions, critiques and workshopping of new plays. Our summer season is devoted to the presentation of these newly developed works in cooperation with local area theaters. Further information can be found at www.baltplayfest.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.