Mission to (dit)Mars to Kick Off 2014-15 Launch Pad Reading Series Next Month

Mission to (dit)Mars, a theatre arts collective serving Queens artists, is thrilled to announce The 2014-2015 Launch Pad Reading Series.

This year's lineup will include full length plays by Lisa Huberman, Kristine M. Reyes, and Tyler Rivenbark. All three playwrights are members of The Propulsion Lab, a bi-weekly Queens based writers group that meets at the Secret Theatre in Long Island City.

The Propulsion Lab is a bi-weekly writers group that develops and nurtures new plays by Queens based playwrights. The Launch Pad reading series is a natural progression in developing new work by giving selected playwrights a public reading of their full length play.

Misison to (dit)Mars co-founder Laura Pestronk discusses the common themes of each play "These plays all involve an absolutely major change in one or more characters' former way of living or lifestyle."

Don Nguyen, another co-founder, adds "What's especially exciting is how vastly different each play is in tone and premise, and yet each manages to intersect this common theme in such an emotional and immediate way."

Pestronk elaborates "Lily in Love deals with a woman who has never been in love with a woman before but now is committed to being with one for the rest of her life, The Hydra features Ajax, who finds himself completely changed and barely able to cope with life after serving in Iraq. Sex and Charitable Giving finds a couple pushing sexual boundaries way beyond anything they've done before."

The three full length plays for the 2014-2015 Launch Pad Reading Series are:

Sex and Charitable Giving

by Lisa Huberman

November 10, 2014

In a tiny Queens apartment, Natasha and Ankit embark on a BDSM journey together. When they decide to sponsor a little girl in Nepal to help out Natasha's roommate Marcy, the couple find themselves confronting uncomfortable truths and pushing boundaries that go beyond sexual role play.

Lily in Love

by Kristine M. Reyes

February 16, 2015

Lily is a good Catholic Filipina daughter who's always known exactly what to do with her life -- until she falls in love with a woman. Lily's life just got complicated.

The Hydra

by Tyler Rivenbark

March 30, 2015

Through an amalgamation of Greek and American folk tales, The Hydra finds Iraq War Veteran, Stephen Ajax, in a netherworld inhabited by Gods, Goddesses, and puppets forced to face the aftermath of his former life.

This free play reading series will be held at The Secret Theatre, located at 4402 23rd Street in Long Island City. For more information, visit missiontoditmars.com.