Rafael Moreno's FOTOS to Close 2018 Playreading Series at Billie Holiday Theatre

A staged reading of Rafael Moreno's family drama Fotos, which played to packed houses and critical acclaim last summer at The Producers Club, will close the 2017 -2018 season of the prestigious Frank Silvera Writers Workshop at the Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn on Monday June 18.

The reading will take place at 7pm with a Caribbean Cuisine Cocktail Reception courtesy of Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery and Grill beginning from 6pm.

The reading will be directed by Audelco Award winning helmer Lawrence Floyd (Flambeaux) who also directed the production of the play at the Producers Club.

Dramaturg is Janel C. Scarborough (Welcome to America- A Caribbean Musical).

Fotos tells the story of a latino immigrant family of men lead by patriarch Don Alberto. Having fled the Dominican Republic to escape racial prejudice and injustice and to raise his family in America, he is stunned at the revelation of a shocking secret that could threaten the very future and existence of the family he has created.

The play explores the family's urgent attempt to face their truths and heal their wounds before it is too late.

The play was the winner of The Negro Ensemble Company's 2016 Emerging Playwrights Award and premiered at The Producers Club in the summer of 2017. It was later remounted earlier this year at the same location.

However Moreno, a past student of Stony Brook University and HB Studios, where he studied acting under actor- director Austin Pendleton- has rewritten parts of the script which he continues to view as "a work in progress."

"After our latest run a few months ago, I began to revisit the script to fine tune some aspects of the story and the relationships," Moreno reveals. "And then Garland Thompson Jr, the Director of the workshop, got hold of the script, liked it very much, and graciously invited us to have the play read as the final reading of the Frank Silvera series for this season. We are all thrilled at the honor and very grateful for the opportunity, since for me as the writer it's still very much a work in progress that can benefit immensely from the workshop process."

The Frank Silvera Writers' Workshop was founded in 1973 by playwright/director Garland Lee Thompson, along with Oscar winning actor Morgan Freeman, director/actress Billie Allen Henderson and journalist Clayton Riley, as a living memorial to the late actor, director, teacher and producer, Frank Silvera. The workshop has built a considerable reputation as an internationally recognized playwrights' development opportunity for both upcoming and established artists to hone their work. Among the writers whose plays have benefitted from the workshop series are Ruby Dee, Ntozake Shange, Vinnette Carroll, Charles Fuller, Laurence Holder and Richard Wesley.

Garland Thompson Jr has run the workshop since his father Garland Sr, passed away several years ago.

Following the reading of the play a moderator will conduct a critique and talkback with the playwright, actors and audience.

The Billie Holiday Theatre is located at Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton Street in Brooklyn, New York.

Admission to the event is free.

See also: - www.ConstructTheatre.com

PHOTO- Rafael Moreno

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