Sacred Fools Launches New Works Reading Series

The Sacred Fools Theater Company is kicking off its New Works Reading Series with presentations of four unproduced plays from emerging playwrights that embrace the theatrical form and speak to the diverse culture of contemporary society. The readings will take place on four Sundays at 5:00 pm in late January and February. These readings will be held in the Second Stage at the Broadwater Theater Complex and attendance is free to the public. A series reception will follow the first reading next door at The Broadwater Plunge.

The plays being presented are as follows:

January 20 - Monkey Love by Madhuri Shekar, directed by Reena Dutt

January 27 - Babel by Jacqueline Goldfinger, directed by Shaela Cook

February 10 - The Couches by David Jacobi, directed by Travis Snyder-Eaton

February 17 - U-R-U by Julia Lederer, directed by Jacob Sidney

"I'm really excited about launching this first-of-its-kind effort by Sacred Fools to share exciting new plays with our community at such an early stage," said Sacred Fools Literary Manager Jacob Sidney. "I can't think of four better playwrights to help us do it. They're talented, playful, and fearless writers, joined in an effort to discover and reveal the future of the form."

About the Plays and the Playwrights

MONKEY LOVE by Madhuri Shekar

Deep in the jungles of East India, two different couples (of the monkey and of the human persuasion) experience an eventful night of falling in, and out, and back into love. Finding your soulmate is tricky enough - the real challenge is holding on to them.

Directed by Reena Dutt, this reading will feature Kapil Talwalkar, Ulka Mohanty, Troy Blendell, Lauren Van Kurin and Jax Ball.

Playwright Madhuri Shekar was born in California and grew up in India. Her plays include House of Joy (upcoming world premiere at California Shakespeare Theater), Queen (Victory Gardens Theatre and others), In Love and Warcraft (winner of the Alliance Theater's Kendeda Graduate Playwriting contest and published by Samuel French), A Nice Indian Boy (East West Players and others), and Bucket of Blessings (winner of the Suzi Bass Award for Outstanding Original Work). Madhuri is a recipient of Audible's new commissioning program and has been commissioned by South Coast Rep, Victory Gardens, and the Alliance Theater. She holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from USC, and recently graduated from the playwriting program at Juilliard. She currently writes for the upcoming HBO show The Nevers.

BABEL by Jacqueline Goldfinger

A talking stork, lesbian moms, and the power to build your own baby... In this version of a near future society, prospective parents learn within the first weeks of conception which traits their child will have and what behaviors it is likely to exhibit. Based on these test results, they are either issued a PRE certification which legally guarantees the baby will be a "good" person or not. Without the certification, the child will be limited in what it is allowed to do.

Directed by Shaela Cook, this reading will feature Libby Baker, Joe Hernandez-Kolski, Lynn Adriana, Crystal Keith and Rowan Hall.

Playwright Jacqueline Goldfinger is a playwright and dramaturg. She co-Founded The Foundry @ PlayPenn. She is an Affiliated Artist at New Georges and The Lark Playwright's Center. She is a member of the writers' labs at The Barrow Group and Azuka Theatre. She won the Yale Drama Prize, Smith Prize, Brown Martin Award, Barrymore Award, and Philadelphia Critics Award. Her play Bottle Fly was a Finalist at the 2018 International Book Awards. Her plays have been developed and/or produced by theaters including: The National Theatre/London, Wilma Theatre, The Kennedy Center, La MaMa, Disquiet/Lisbon, Florida Studio Theatre, Orlando Shakespeare, Kansas City Rep, Perseverance Theatre, Capital Stage Company, The Seattle Public, Manhattan Theatre Works, and the NYC International Fringe Festival. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild and represented by Abrams Artists Agency. For more information: www.jacquelinegoldfinger.com

THE COUCHES by David Jacobi

Ethan Couch has lived in a bubble of pampered privilege for his entire life, so when he's convicted of killing four people while driving drunk, he and his mother Tonya flee to a resort in Mexico rather than face the consequences. In this self-imposed state of limbo, Ethan pays hotel clerk Daniel $1000 to be his friend and help maintain the facade of his prior life. But as the unlikely pair drink, sing, and stumble through the night, delusions of how the world works melt away as quickly as their cash flow.

This reading will be directed by Travis Snyder-Eaton and casting is underway.

Playwright David Jacobi's plays have been performed and developed throughout the U.S. and in China, including Sideshow Theatre, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Portland Center Stage's JAW Festival, RISK IS THIS, Great Plains Theatre Conference, Kennedy Center MFA Playwright's Workshop, SLC Playwrights Lab and PlayPenn. He is a winner of the Holland New Voices Award, Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences Award, a Relentless Award semifinalist, and has been nominated for the Weissburger. David was the 2015 Shank Fellow at Pig Iron Theatre Company and is currently commissioned by the Denver Center and South Coast Rep. He received a BFA in Dramatic Writing from Purchase College and an MFA from UC San Diego.

U-R-U by Julia Lederer

What happens when the powers of machines exceed those of nature? At what point will A.I. resemble humans enough to deserve human rights? Absurdly comic and existentially chilling, U-R-U examines the societal obsession with progress at all costs and the decreasing worth of humanity in this increasingly artificial world.

This reading will be directed by Jacob Sidney and casting is underway.

Playwright Julia Lederer is an internationally acclaimed writer from Toronto. Her work has been produced across North America and in the UK, in places including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Toronto, and Alaska. Recent productions include: With Love and a Major Organ (Boise Contemporary Theatre; Theatre @ Boston Court: 4 Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle Nominations, 7 Stage Raw Theatre Award Nominations), Reality Theatre (SummerWorks Performance Festival), and simultaneous workshop productions of U-R-U at Occidental College (LA) and Humber College (Toronto).

www.julialederer.ca

For more information about the New Works Program at Sacred Fools, visit http://www.sacredfools.org/misc/newworks/.

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