Additional Cast Members & Programming Revealed for REDISCOVERY READINGS at CSC

Classic Stage Company has revealed casting and future programming for The Rediscovery Readings series, featuring plays by female playwrights who shaped American theater.
 
Trifles and Other Plays: An Evening of Short Plays will feature Trifles by Susan Glaspell (CSC’s The Verge), Florence by Alice Childress (Wine in the Wilderness), and Soldadera by Josefina Niggli (Cry of Hidalgo). The evening will be directed by Cristina Angeles (¡GAìRGOLA!) and take place on Monday October 21 at 7pm.
 
The Rediscovery Readings series will continue with The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter) and directed by Francesca Sabel on Monday December 2 at 7pm.
 
All readings will be held in CSC’s Lynn F. Angelson Theater (136 East 13th Street). Tickets are $20, or $12.50 as a member, and are available now at https://www.classicstage.org/the-rediscovery-readings/. To learn more about CSC’s membership programs, please visit www.classicstage.org/members.
 
Two of the Evening of Short Plays, Florence and Soldadera, are directly from Hedgepig Ensemble Theatre's latest Expand the Canon list for 2024, which is focusing on short plays for the first time. The full list of 16 will be announced on October 21, at a brief celebratory event just before the reading, and is open to both ticket holders and the public. More information can be found below and at expandthecanon.com.
 
In honor of its 2024-25 season, CSC will shine a light on American women who were writing the classics of the early 20th century but whose legacies have been muted by time. Join us for four play readings that will take you from 1900 through the 1950s, all leading up to CSC’s much-anticipated production of Wine in the Wilderness by Alice Childress, in which the women of the 1960s have their say! The final reading and other casting information will be announced shortly. The first reading, held on September 23, was Miss Lulu Bett by Zona Gale (Faint Perfume).
 
Programming for the Rediscovery Readings series will now include:
 

TRIFLES AND OTHER PLAYS: AN EVENING OF SHORT PLAYS

Featuring Trifles by Susan Glaspell, Florence by Alice Childress, and Soldadera by Josefina Niggli
Directed by Cristina Angeles
Monday October 21 at 7pm
 
Trifles is a thrillingly taut mystery from the mind of Susan Glaspell (The Verge). First performed in 1916, the play brings us behind the scenes of a murder investigation, when the women waiting patiently in the kitchen may have better view of the truth than the men in charge. The short play form was particularly popular among writers and audiences in the early decades of the 20th century, and this evening will explore several titles from great female writers of the genre.
 
The cast of Trifles will include Lori Vega (“Pretty Little Liars”), Javier David (Witch), Luis Vega (Buena Vista Social Club), Jamie Ann Romero (CSC’s Dracula), and Camila Canó-Flaviá (Dance Nation).
 
Few blend politics and heart as well as Alice Childress. Through subtle language and unscrupulous assumptions, Florence paints a vivid picture of the white northern erasure of Black dreams, worth, and humanity. While Mama awaits the train to New York City, planning to bring her actress daughter back home, she runs into a white passenger with a jaded attitude on the entertainment industry. Though seeming to offer connections and help, it becomes clear that this white actress thinks nothing of Mama's daughter’s prospects – and Mama has to decide if she'll support or deny her daughter's dreams.
 
The cast of Florence will include Lori Vega (“Pretty Little Liars”), Ciara Monique (Flex), Jamie Ann Romero (CSC’s Dracula), and Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk Award winner Francis Benhamou (Prayer for the French Republic).
 
Soldadera is a war-time story about the choices women must make when fighting for their rights. The play follows a group of Mexican women revolutionaries as they navigate loss, honor, and loyalty. Expansive in its exploration of violent oppression and the trauma women experience during war, Niggli's isolated, single-location drama remains nonetheless focused on the relationships of the women and their communities. In our ever-tense political climate, this insight into the human and destructive sides of revolution feels as relevant today as in 1936.
 
The cast of Soldadera will include Lori Vega (“Pretty Little Liars”), Ciara Monique (Flex), Alma Cuervo (CSC’s A Man of No Importance), Javier David (Witch), Luis Vega (Buena Vista Social Club), Jamie Ann Romero (CSC’s Dracula), Camila Canó-Flaviá (Dance Nation), Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk Award winner Francis Benhamou (Prayer for the French Republic), and Obie Award winner Zuleyma Guevara (Quail).
 
Audiences are encouraged to begin their evening with Hedgepig Ensemble Theatre at Kingston Hall (149 2nd Avenue) when the company announces the Expand the Canon list for the 2024 season. Drinks and mingling will begin at 5:30pm, followed by an announcement of the 16 plays featured on this year’s list at 6:15pm. Kingston Hall is located a short 10-minute walk from CSC. To RSVP for this event, please visit: www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-expand-the-canon-list-drop-party-tickets-1020613240677?aff=oddtdtcreator.
 
 

THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING

Written by Carson McCullers
Directed by Francesca Sabel
Monday December 2 at 7pm
 
Can a person fall in love with a wedding? Frankie Adams just might be the first. In a small Southern town in 1945, 12-year-old Frankie has had little else to thrill her, mostly relying on a push-pull relationship with her kid cousin to keep herself entertained. As Frankie begins to yearn for something more, her closest companion, housekeeper Berenice, strives to give this friendless child an understanding of the reality of the world around her, and the larger challenges that face people outside her own front yard.
 
Adapted by McCullers from her own hit novel, The Member of the Wedding premiered on Broadway in 1950 and ran for over 500 performances. 
 
Casting details and the complete lineup for The Rediscovery Readings will be announced at a later date.

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