WHAT’S NEXT: Plays in Progress Spring Reading Series (What’s this?) in the Nextstage

Discover hot new plays and meet the writers! Get a look behind the scenes at how plays are created with 3 fresh new works in script-in-hand performances in the Nextstage! Tickets are free, but reservations are strongly recommended. Reserve tickets online.

March 24 at 7pm

100 Planes
By Lila Rose Kaplan
Directed by Meredith McDonough

Kay might just have the makings of an ace fighter pilot if only she could focus on flying. But there’s a reporter who wants to make a story out of her, the major who wants to make Kay her protégé, and her fellow pilots who would rather see her on the ground. What does it take to keep a dream aloft?

March 26 at 7pm

Waking Matilda
By Mimi Kennedy
Directed by Wendy Dann

Matilda Joslyn Gage, along with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was a founding member of the National Woman Suffrage Association. This one-woman show reveals her lively wit and boundless energy as one of the torchbearers for women’s rights. Written by native Rochesterian and film/TV star Mimi Kennedy.

March 28 at 3pm

The Morini Strad
By Willy Holtzman
Directed by Casey Childs

Erica Morini was a world-renowned violinist before she even turned 14. Now as her death is drawing near, she must decide what to do with her priceless Stradivarius. She hires a gifted violin maker to repair and sell the instrument for her … but as the two develop a friendship, events take a dark and sinister turn. Based on a true story.

WHAT’S NEXT: Regional Writers Showcase (What’s this?)
Check out Rochester’s writing talent in script-in-hand performances of works by area playwrights. Tickets are free, but reservations are strongly recommended. Reserve tickets online.

April 12 at 6:00pm in the Nextstage:

The Wind, the Plough and the Sink by Kelly Yoho
Survival of the Season by Carolyn Kourosfsky
My Anatomically Correct Artificial Life Form by Len Messineo

April 26 at 6:00pm in the Nextstage:

Mystic Castle by Lori Marra

WHAT’S NEXT: Young Writers Showcase (What’s this?)
Check out Rochester’s youngest, freshest talent in script-in-hand performances of plays by area teen writers. Tickets are free, but reservations are strongly recommended. Reserve tickets online.

May 1 at 2:00pm in the Nextstage:

A celebration of Rochester teen writers with short plays by
Marguerite Frarey, Jahmal B. Golden, Elizabeth Gombert, Gus Gregory, Nick Magnanti, and Charlie Mueller

What does a play reading look like? And just what is “play development?”

Did you know that producing new plays and musicals is part of our mission at Geva Theatre Center? It’s the “R&D” branch of what we do – scouting for exciting new writers and innovative storytelling that speaks to who we are today.

When a writer is working on a new script, the best way to discover whether an audience will like it is to take it out for a test drive. That’s when we present a reading – a script-in-hand performance – of the work.

When you join us for a play reading, you are participating in an intimate, bare-bones theatre experience. We give playwrights valuable resources to work on their scripts – actors, an audience, and rehearsal time – at a point when they’re still able to make sweeping changes and radical shifts in the script.

Actors will perform the play with scripts in-hand; because they are not memorizing lines, the writer is free to experiment and revise the script throughout the short rehearsal period. Actors may be seated at music stands or they may incorporate some simple staging, depending on the playwright’s goals and requests for the rehearsal process. New play projects can receive between 2 and 20 hours of rehearsal time; many of our new play readings include just 5 hours of rehearsal and then perform that same evening! For this reason, fans of acting virtuosity enjoy play readings as much as fans of the writing process – it’s a great venue to appreciate the work of fearless and creative artists. Readings also invite you to stage your own minds-eye production, as you imagine for yourself how you think the play should look with full scenery and costumes.

The final element of a work-in-progress? It’s you – the audience! Playwrights learn a great deal from hearing their work performed, but they also learn from the audience’s response. By participating in the storytelling – as you fall silent, lean in, or laugh out loud – you show writers what they have created and how it strikes you. Geva’s new play readings are always followed by a conversation with the writer; it’s a great chance for you to get to know the writer and for the writer to hear about your experience of the play.

Have you become a fan of play readings?

Geva’s newest series, The Hornets’ Nest, uses readings of contemporary plays as catalyst for discussion and debate about challenging social and ethical issues. Learn more here.

Geva Theatre Center celebrates “August Wilson’s American Century” by presenting a production and staged reading every year, exploring Wilson’s entire decade-by decade 10-play cycle in sequence. The 2009-10 Mainstage production of Two Trains Running will be accompanied by a staged reading of Jitney. Learn more here.

Click here to send us an email if you wish to join our What's Next: New Theatre mailing list. Please include your name, address, phone number, email address, and let us know what type of programs interest you.

Explore other Free Geva programs here.