Artemisia Holds Staged Reading of Dramedy REAP THE GROVE

Caity-Shea Violette's heartbreakingly funny new play is a riveting story about a family of women struggling to reconnect as they react to an unexpected end-of-life decision. This new dramedy was the winner of Artemisia's 2017 Fall Festival of new plays, earning it this staged reading. Artemisia's Founding Artistic Director Julie Proudfoot will direct the reading, to be performed at The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee, on Friday, March 15 at 7:30 pm.

In REAP THE GROVE, Sandra and Nan have a loving marriage, estranged daughters and a very special problem. Sandra has decided to end her life on her own terms following a terminal diagnosis. She summons her two daughters, Judith and Beckah, home to spend her final days with them. REAP THE GROVE examines this family of women authentically, fearlessly and with a big dose of smart humor.

Proudfoot's cast for the reading includes Denise Hoelfich (Compass Theatre's WHAT WE'RE UP AGAINST) as Sandra; Justine Serino (of productions with The Gift, Silk Road Rising and many others) as Nan; Tina El Gamal (I CALL MY BROTHERS with Interrobang) as Beckah; and Elisabeth Del Toro (SHE KILLS MONSTERS with The Cuckoo's Theater Project) as Judith.

Playwright Caity-Shea Violette is a Chicago native currently pursuing her MFA in playwriting at Boston University. She will return to Chicago for this one-night-only reading and participate in a post-reading discussion led by director Julie Proudfoot. Violette has been working closely on the script with Proudfoot, who is a story analyst for HBO Films and Fremantle Media in addition to her work as a stage director and actress. Violette says, "Artemisia will be a powerful home to nurture this story and further empower me to push my artistic bravery to new heights to discover and honor each layer of these four women."

REAP THE GROVE is another example of Artemisia's mission to find and develop dynamic and empowering new plays with compelling female characters who have agency, independence, and are the focal point of their own narratives. The company's development process includes its annual Fall Festival, in which new scripts each year are given public readings; a close collaboration between Artistic Director Proudfoot and the playwright on a developmental workshop of each festival's winner with audience discussion the following year; and a culminating fully-staged production of that play with a multi-week run the year after that. Artemisia will stage the Midwest Premiere of SWEET TEXAS RECKONING by Traci Godfrey, winner of Fall Festival 2016, from June 7-30, 2019 at The Den.

Tickets for REAP THE GROVE are $15 and are now on sale at www.artemisiatheatre.org.