Cape Cod Theatre Project Will Stream Summer Season Of New Plays

Artistic Director Hal Brooks has announced that the 2020 Season of the Cape Cod Theatre Project will feature staged readings of new work by Zora Howard, Michele Lowe, Edith Freni and Kevin Artigue. Each play will have two live-streamed readings utilizing a Zoom-style format. According to Brooks, "We need theatre and art more than ever. So many theatres are closed. We wanted to find a way to bring this much needed creativity and some normalcy to our audiences and to our artists. Fortunately, live-streaming our play readings is a viable way we can carry on with our mission. And now we can reach beyond Cape Cod. With livestreaming, we will attempt to bring the spirit of the Cape Cod experience to the whole American Theater community."

Founding Artistic Director Andrew Polk (Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Billions, The Band's Visit) returns to the Cape this season to work on Michele Lowe's piece Moses. Narrated by a mysterious stranger, Moses tells the story of an Orthodox man who suffers a profound loss, leaves his community, and seeks redemption. Polk founded the institution in 1995, and this is his first time returning since he handed the reigns over to Brooks. Michele Lowe made her Broadway debut with The Smell of the Kill which generated hundreds of productions around the world. She coaches rabbis across the country on their writing and preaching. Moses is directed by Rattlestick Theater Artistic Director Daniella Topol. Performances are on July 3 & 5 at 7pm.

Edith Freni comes to the Cape Cod Theatre Project to develop The Hystericals, a bittersweet comedy about a support group for women with auto-immune diseases. When a mysterious newcomer shows up unannounced during a power struggle with the hope of becoming a member, each woman must decide for herself whether to stay or go. A member of EST's Youngblood, Freni who holds her MFA from NYU has been produced and developed nationally including Steppenwolf Theatre Company and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. The Hystericals was a finalist for the 2019 O'Neill Playwrights Conference. The staged readings of The Hystericals will be directed by Jessica Holt (Magic Theater, Cal Shakes, YSD) are on July 9 and 11 at 7pm.

Zora Howard, a Harlem-bred writer and performer, recently had her New York premiere STEW, produced by Page 73 Productions. An MFA in Acting from UCSD, Howard's feature film Premature, which she co-wrote and starred in, had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and was released by IFC Films in 2020. Howard comes to the Cape Cod Theatre Project with her brand new play BUST - an Afro-Currentist Play. A couple are enjoying their usual evening on the porch when their longtime neighbor is pulled over by the police. Everything goes as you might expect until the unexpected happens. When the incident is posted online, it's not only hell that breaks loose. Staged readings of Bust are July 16 & 18 at 7pm.

Kevin Artigue's I, My Ruination closes the season with his exploration of Elia Kazan's decision to name names. Three months after appearing before the House Un-American Activities Committee and refusing to call out communists, Kazan is summoned back to Washington. On the eve of his testimony, he is visited by Arthur Miller, who persuades Kazan to face his accusers and call them out on the truth. Kazan and his wife Molly must decide between confronting his accusers or betraying his ideals. An alum of Interstate 73 and The Public Theater's Emerging Writers Group, Artigue's plays have been performed and developed with South Coast Rep, Page 73, The Public Theater, NYTW, Long Wharf Theatre and the Playwrights' Center. Artistic Director Hal Brooks directs the stage readings of I, My Ruination which will be presented on July 23 & 25 at 7pm.

Two 2020 artists-in-residence will also be announced later. Previous artists-in-residence include Tony Nominee Heidi Schreck (What the Constitution Means to Me), Pulitzer Winner Jackie Sibblies Drury (Fairview..., Soho Rep), Pulitzer Finalist Sarah DeLappe, Sarah Einspanier, Sharr White, Halley Feiffer, Academy Award© Nominee Lucy Alibar (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Hillary Bettis, Sarah Burgess, Mona Mansour and Stella Fawn Ragsdale.

All presentations of staged readings are at 7:00 p.m. Each play will be lived-streamed on the day of the performance only and will not be available on-demand. All Access Passes are currently available for donations above $100. Individual Tickets for Students and Adults may be purchased online at www.capecodtheatreproject.org after June 10.

For the past 25 years, The Cape Cod Theatre Project has brought top theater artists together to present staged readings to help develop the best new American plays and playwrights in the country. Of the 89 plays developed, 69 have gone on to Broadway, off-Broadway, to the country's finest regional theaters and to other theaters around the world. Plays developed at The Cape Cod Theatre Project have later been produced at The Manhattan Theater Club, Playwrights Horizons, The Roundabout Theater, The Daryl Roth Theater, The Rattlestick Theater, The Public Theater, The La Jolla Playhouse, Rep Theater of St. Louis, Dallas Theater Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville and many, many others.

The Cape Cod Theatre Project consistently hosts topflight theater artists, including Sam Waterston, Maura Tierney, Heidi Schreck (Tony Nominee, Pulitzer Finalist), Omar Metwally, Bill Pullman, Anna Paquin (Academy Award winner), Amy Ryan (Academy Award nominee), Lanford Wilson (Pulitzer Prize winner), Lucas Hnath (Broadway's Hillary & Clinton), Bess Wohl, Frank Wood (Tony Award winner), Rip Torn, Lois Smith, Jimmy Breslin (Pulitzer Prize winner), Didi O'Connell (Obie winner), Johanna Day (Tony Award nominee), Josh Hamilton, Christopher Ashley, Pam MacKinnon, Moritz von Stuelpnagel, Leigh Silverman, Marshall Mason (five-time Tony nominee, Obie Award winner), Adam Rapp (Pulitzer Prize runner up in 2006), Annie Baker (Pulitzer Winner), Sharr White and many others.

For more information, visit www.capecodtheatreproject.org.

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