FST's Exciting Play Reading Series

Florida Studio Theatre

Announces Line-Up for Richard & Betty Burdick Play Reading Series 

As a part of its ongoing commitment to new play development, Florida Studio Theatre will present three staged readings of new works during the Richard & Betty Burdick Play Reading Series.                            

The series, which is named after the late Richard and Betty Burdick, is a part of the larger Sarasota Festival of New Plays. It is a celebration of three new works, which FST presents on Saturday afternoons during the months of May and June in the Keating Theatre. This year, the three plays are Embracing, written by Stan Denman; Paralyzed, by Etan Frankel; and Don't Blame Me I Voted for Helen Gahagan Douglas, by Wendy Kout and Michele Willens.  

Kicking off the series is Embracing. Playwright Stan Denman is a Texas-based director, actor, playwright and educator, who is gladly entrusting FST with the development of his new play.  As an actor, Denman most recently appeared Off-Broadway in The Traveling Lady, which earned a Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Revival of a Play in 2006. Denman holds a PhD in Theatre from the University of Pittsburgh, and has been a member of the faculty in Baylor University's Theatre Arts Department for sixteen years. His Embracing depicts the story of two best friends and college roommates, Traci and Ben. The two come to an ideological impasse when Ben strays from their Protestant teachings by admitting that he is gay. Can friendship and faith find common ground? It is a thoughtful, often funny play with no easy answers.  

Embracing will be performed on Saturday, May 26, at 1 p.m. in the Keating Theatre.

The Richard and Betty Burdick Play Reading Series continues with Paralyzed. Playwright Etan Frankel is a graduate of Duke University and The Julliard School's Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program, chaired by Marsha Norman and Christopher Durang. Paralyzed reveals the story of Leigh and Lee, two strangers who have little in common besides their names. But, the discovery of a mysterious suicide note in a hotel bathroom sets these two lives on unexpected paths that go anywhere but according to plan. Paralyzed is Frankel's most recent play and was read at Primary Stages, starring Cynthia Nixon. Other readings and workshops include New York Stage & Film, Cape Cod Theatre Project, Underwood Theater, Arts Nova, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Rattlestick and more. Frankel has twice been honored with Lincoln Center Theater's Lecomte du Nouy Award and also received the Dasha Epstein Playwriting Award.  

Paralyzed will be presented Saturday, June 2, at 1 p.m. in the Keating Theatre. 

Rounding out the series will be Don't Blame Me I Voted for Helen Gahagan Douglas, by Wendy Kout and Michele Willens. Both Kout and Willens have extensive writing and producing credits tied to prestigious newspapers, television programs, films, and theatres in New York City and nationwide. For the playwrights, creating this script has been a long-time dream. Willens met and interviewed Helen Gahagan Douglas in 1973. Willens and Kout tried for years to make a film about Ms. Douglas (Susan Sarandon attached at one time) and this year decided to take things into their own hands and develop it as a play. The play describes the celebrity's early success as a Broadway actress, marriage to actor Melvyn Douglas, and her eventual career as a United States Representative. Helen Gahagan Douglas was a New Deal supporter, fueled by her political ideals and determination to succeed. This funny new play explores the unlikely intersection of Douglas' career with Richard Nixon's, in one of history's most aggressive political campaigns.  

Catch Don't Blame Me I Voted for Helen Gahagan Douglas on Saturday, June 9, at 1 p.m. in the Keating Theatre. 

The Richard and Betty Burdick Play Reading Series is a part of the Sarasota Festival of New Plays, a month-long celebration of new plays.  However, new play development at FST extends beyond its festivals.  FST is continually developing new works through a series of commissions, closed-door readings, workshop productions and development roundtables that create new work on a year-round basis.  The Richard & Betty Burdick New Play Reading Series is often the culmination of years of work by FST staff.  

The Richard and Betty Burdick New Play Reading Series will be presented at 1:00 p.m. on May 26, June 2, and June 9.  All performances are at the Keating Theatre.  Subscriptions to see all three shows are $25 per person.  Subscriptions may be purchased from the FST Box Office in person or by calling (941) 366-9000.

Florida Studio Theatre

1241 N. Palm Avenue

Sarasota, FL  34236

Box Office 941-366-9000

www.fst2000.org

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