COCAINE by Pendleton King Kicks off Metropolitan Virtual Playhouse Fall Programs

Following an August break, Obie Award winner Metropolitan Playhouse picks up its hit run of a free "screened" readings with COCAINE, a one-act play by Pendleton King via live stream video, with talkback to follow, on

Stepember 12th, 2020 at 8 PM, EST.
Running Time: 30 minutes
Talkback to follow with Jeffery Kennedy, including audience questions via chat

Watch at www.metropolitanplayhouse.org

Schedule and information:
www.metropolitanplayhouse.org/virtualplayhouse

Nora and Joe have hit bottom. A failing prostitute and a washed-up prize fighter, living in a one-room attic off The Bowery, and hopelessly in love, they are out of money, out of food, and out of the "stuff" they're addicted to. Their landlady has offered Joe a way out, but Nora has another, more final proposal.

Discussion following the reading, including audience participation, will be led by Jeffery Kennedy, Professor of Arts and Cultural Studies at Arizona State University and author of the forthcoming Staging America: The Artistic Legacy of The Provincetown Players.

The reading will be directed by Michael Hardart and features Erin Beirnard and James Ross. Backgrounds are painted by scenic artist Vincent Gunn.

PENDLETON KING (1889 -1919), the well-born scion of a Georgia railroad, banking, and political family, lived briefly in New York's Greenwich Village and fell in with The Provincetown Players, but left the city when he was drafted into service in WWI. He returned to Georgia in 1919, and died of pneumonia only a few weeks later, after attempting to rescue two women at risk of drowning in a family pond. While he performed with The Provincetown Players, the Washington Square Players, and the Morningside Players, 'Cocaine' is his only play, which appeared on a double bill with Susan Glaspell's 'The People' in first Provincetown Playhouse New York Season, 1916-1917.

UPCOMING READINGS
www.metropolitanplayhouse.org
Every Saturday night at 8 pm

September 19, 2020
EUGENICALLY SPEAKING, by Edward Goodman - An impetuous plan to defy 'natural order' and a lesson in practical prejudice

September 26, 2020
A WOMAN'S HONOR, by Susan Glaspell - An unwelcome sacrifice by another man hoping to tell a woman what she needs

October 2, 2020
THE CLOD, by Lewis Beach - An expedient choice made during the Civil War on the line between North and South

ARTISTS' RELIEF
The Playhouse's virtual readings serve to help us compensate performing artists, so particularly hurt during this long "pause."
Information about the theater's ARTISTS RELIEF FUND may be found at
www.metropolitanplayhouse.org/covidaid

The VIRTUAL PLAYHOUSE began on March 28, 2020, and has been simultaneously broadcast on New York's Pacifica Radio Station WBAI, 99.5 FM since April 11. Exploring the possibilities of "remote" ensemble, Metropolitan has pushed the envelope of Zoom broadcasts, with increasingly sophisticated virtual settings and sound design. Each reading is enhanced by conversation with the artists and a guest scholar for an hour-long live entertainment every Saturday night. Reaching an audience across the country and around the globe, the presentation of the forgotten one-act plays is an ideal way to pursue the theater's mission exploring America's diverse theatrical history.

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