Our Staged Readings are Free! RSVPs are requested but not required. Walk-ups are welcomed as long as there is room.
Urban Stages Theater opens 30 minutes before ShowTime.
Recent Staged Readings
Thurs, August 17 | 6:30pm
STONE DON’T LIE
By Daniel Walter Owens
Directed by Vincent Scott
Stone Don’t Lie is a two-act play about betrayal, revenge, and friendship. Two lifelong friends – Bobby and Jerome [both ex-addicts] are in a “Stone Carving” competition, the outcome of which could save the Cathedral’s bankrupt stone yard training program. The Cathedral’s stone yard is where they both found shelter, purpose, and learned their skills of cutting and carving stone.
Jerome returns to the Stone yard to exact punishment on Bobby for an act of betrayal which resulted in Jerome suffering a painful and crippling injury. Errol, the new Master Mason, is all that stands between a failed competition, the closure of the Stone yard and Bobby’s punishment at the hands of Jerome.
Mon, August 21 | 6:30pm
CLOSING TIMES
By Derek Murphy.
Directed by Patsy Moss
With Nick Hardin and Andrea Lynn Green.
The years haven't been kind to Eddie Rappini, and Eddie Rappini hasn't been kind to the years. Now on borrowed time, the past has come to collect. Molly, a young lost soul from out of nowhere, is the key to Eddie's salvation, but Molly seems bent on his destruction as she picks apart the ashes of his life.
Thurs, September 7 | 6:30 PM
SUSAN FORCE AND
THE SCHOOL FOR LADY BRIDE SNATCHERS
By Caroline Hewitt
Directed by Jessie Austrian
A dark comedy set in 1818 England, the story is inspired by the historical occurrence of heiress snatching: young women of means were abducted by nefarious wastrels and forced into marriage for money or sport or both. In order to avoid marrying a horrid Duke, Susan Force and her maid Netta make it look like she’s been kidnapped—the plan works and they decide to help other young women ‘self-snatch.’ Their clandestine school is wildly successful until Susan realizes that dismantling the patriarchy isn’t as straight-forward as she thought.
Mon, September 11 | 6:30pm
MR. LINCOLN GOES EAST
By Ellen Abrams and Kevin Baker
Directed by CB Murray
February, 1860. Abraham Lincoln has come to New York City and given the speech of his life. Later that evening, he meets three people who will challenge the way he looks at slavery and the coming conflict—an African American man and woman working on the Underground Railroad and a teenaged boy eager to go to war. Their debate about race and freedom still resonates in America today.
Mon, September 18 | 6:30pm
THE SILVERFISH
By Megan Loughran
Beth and Brandon are young and in love and they have no money. They're living in Brooklyn pursuing careers they are passionate about. Which is another way of saying they have no money. When they're suddenly thrown a Godawful, expensive curveball, they combine their desperation with their underutilized talents and come up with a plan. It might not be a plan that "good people" would go for, but when you're young and in love and desperate and poor, the word "good" can mean a lot of things.