'Dividing the Estate' to open REPaloud play-reading series at Tennessee Rep

Horton Foote's Tony Award-nominated play, Dividing the Estate, is the first offering in Tennessee Repertory Theatre's REPaloud, a new play-reading series that will highlight contemporary theatre works. Dividing the Estate will be presented November 6 and 7 at W.O. Smith Community School.

"Last spring, we did a staged reading of a new play by our artist-in-residence, and our audience was delighted to find how much a play could be enjoyed in that format," said Rene Dunshee Copeland, artistic director of Tennessee Rep.

"Many patrons expressed how much they enjoyed hearing the script in that way, with a focus on the words and how good actors can bring the story to life. It was part of what prompted us to include a play-reading series in our programming for the first time this year.

Bringing together the rich characters and wry humor of celebrated Texas playwright Horton Foote (The Trip to Bountiful, The Young Man from Atlanta), Dividing the Estate "deftly combines the claustrophobia of the Southern families from Tennessee Williams, the physical and psychological dysfunctions of Eugene O'Neill's families, and the humor and pathos of small town Southern life portrayed by Flannery O'Connor," according to a press release from Tennessee Rep.

In Dividing the Estate, matriarch StElla Gordon is dead set against the parceling out of her clan's land despite the financial woes brought on by the oil bust of the 1980s. In the course of the play, the power of petty self-interest and long-held resentments makes even painful compromise an elusive goal.

The cast for the REPaloud staged reading will include Matt Carlton, Rona Carter, David Compton, Denice Hicks, Peter Vann and Martha Wilkinson.

"There are so many great scripts out there," Copeland said. "There is no way we would ever be able to produce every single play worth producing, so we figured it would be great fun to utilize the staged reading format to introduce our audiences to additional scripts that we think will be of interest to theatre lovers

"There is a great energy in sitting in a room with a group of talented actors and listening to reall good dialogue being read aloud. We are planning on keeping it pretty infomral, and there will be ample opportunity to discuss the play with the actors and the director, too. It will be a very enjoyable way to experience a play for everyone-audience and actors alike," Copeland concluded.

Also featured in the REPaloud series will be Douglas Carter Beane's The Little Dog Laughed (for which Julie White won the Tony Award for outstanding lead actress in a play), a nominee for the 2006 Tony Award for Best Play. That reading is set for January 15 and 16.

The REPaloud play-reading series is free to Tennessee Rep season subscribers, with a $5.00 donation for all others attending. To reserve seats, call (615) 244-4878. For more information about Tennessee Rep, which has been producing professional theatre in Nashville since 1985, visit the website at www.tennesseerep.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.