Williamstown Theatre Festival Announces Fridays @ 3 Reading Series, Beg. 7/13

Williamstown Theatre Festival Artistic Director Jenny Gersten announced today the plays and artists participating in the annual Fridays @ 3 Reading Series, beginning July 13 at the Paresky Center on the Williams Campus. Every week, WTF presents a reading of a new play featuring Festival performers, written and directed by some of the most exciting theatre artists working today.

One of the readings, The Body of An American by Dan O’Brien, won the 2011 L. Arnold Weissberger Award for Playwriting, awarded by WTF to recognize excellence in playwriting. Two of last year’s readings, The Blue Deep by Lucy Boyle and WHADDABLOODCLOT!!! by Katori Hall are being presented on the Nikos Stage as part of the 2012 WTF Season.

Admission to Fridays @ 3 is free with a $5 suggested donation. Reservations can be made now at the Williamstown Theatre Festival Box Office.

FRIDAYS @ 3 SCHEDULE

JULY 13

The Few
By Samuel D. Hunter
Directed by Adam Rapp

Four years ago Bryan abandoned his labor of love, a newspaper for truckers. Now he's returned--with no word of where he's been--and things have changed. His former lover is filled with rage, his new coworker is filled with incessant adoration, and his paper is filled with personal ads. As he considers giving up for good, Bryan searches for what he couldn't find on the road: a way to keep faith in humanity. 2011 Fellowship Play writer Samuel D. Hunter shares his gripping new play about the rediscovery of hope and determination.

JULY 20

The Body of An American
2011 Weissberger Award Winner
By Dan O’Brien
Directed by Davis McCallum

Autobiography and documentary collide in this incredible journey from Africa to the Arctic. In 1993, while famously photographing the desecration of an American soldier in the streets of Mogadishu, Paul Watson heard the dead man speak to him: “If you do this, I will own you forever.” Dan O’Brien’s 2011 L. Arnold Weissberger Award-winning play searches for the meaning of this haunting refrain through the story of a playwright named Dan and a war reporter named Paul as they confront their own demons in pursuit of the truth behind the facts.

JULY 27

A Hatful of Rain
By Michael V. Gazzo
Directed by Greg Naughton

WTF veteran artist Greg Naughton directs a fresh look at the play that inspired the classic film, starring Don Murray and Eva Marie Saint. World War II Veteran Johnny Pope has fought to keep his desperate addiction to morphine secret, even from his pregnant wife and father. Only Johnny’s brother Polo knows the truth, and when their many lies and loans can’t keep a vicious pusher nicknamed “mother” at bay, Johnny’s whole world—and life—are threatened: will he confess and reach out for help, or will he lose everything at the hands of those who feed his debilitating habit?

AUGUST 3

Abundant Acreage Available
By Angus MacLachlan
Directed by Gordon Edelstein

Set in November in a tobacco field in East Bend, North Carolina, a brother and sister confront the change their aged father’s death brings to their lives and ask themselves: if we cannot hold on to anything around us, what else is there when we let go? Angus MacLachlan’s tale of one woman’s transition into the unknown begins as Jesse and Tracy find three elderly brothers sleeping in their field one dawn. But when a long forgotten promise surfaces, all five are forced to discover what it truly means to finally know their past, family, hopes, and most of all, love.

AUGUST 10

The Thing About Air Travel
By Max Posner
Directed by Kerry Whigham

A quirky, poignant look at the mechanics of language and loss, Max Posner’s play follows twenty-something Marie, who is on the longest flight of her life — returning home from Kenya for her brother’s funeral. Miles up in the air, she must contort and confront her frustrating parents, her abandoned lover, and her recently departed brother. Come take a peak behind the seats into a world where brothers bark like dogs, seatmates make improbable pals, and no one is ever allowed to pee.

AUGUST 17

One Day When We’re Young
By Nick Payne
Directed by Kate Whoriskey

It’s 1942 in the city of Bath. Violet and Leonard share an unforgettable night together before the war rips them apart, for what seems to be forever. But as the years pass on, and their memories have faded like whispers over the fields of Bedfordshire, Violet and Leonard must revisit their long-forgotten feelings on that fateful day—one day when they were young. Nick Payne’s achingly beautiful play depicts love’s unbreakable bonds in the wake of a world at odds.

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As previously announced, the complete 2012 Williamstown Theatre Festival season runs from June 26 – August 19, 2012 and includes Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, a Preview Production of the new musical Far From Heaven, and a new translation of Ivan Turgenev’s A Month in the Country on the Main Stage, with Lucy Boyle’s The Blue Deep, Neil Simon’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Bernard Pomerance’s The Elephant Man, and Katori Hall’s WHADDABLOODCLOT!!! on the Nikos Stage. The season also included a special workshop production of David Byrne’s Here Lies Love, which played at nearby MASS MoCA.

Since 1955, the Williamstown Theatre Festival has brought America's finest actors, directors, designers, and playwrights to the Berkshires, engaging a loyal audience of both residents and summer visitors. Each WTF season is designed to present unique opportunities for artists and audience alike, revisiting classic plays with innovative productions, developing and nurturing bold new plays and musicals, and offering a rich array of accompanying cultural events including Free Theatre, Late-Night Cabarets, readings, workshops, and educational programs. While best known for our acclaimed productions, WTF is also home to one of the nation’s top training and professional development programs for new generations of aspiring theatre artists and administrators. Now under the leadership of Artistic Director Jenny Gersten, WTF was honored with the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 2002 and The Commonwealth Award for Achievement in 2011.

Tickets to the Williamstown Theatre Festival may be purchased online (www.wtfestival.org), by phone at 413-597-3400, or in person at the '62 Center for Theatre and Dance Box Office at 1000 Main St (Route 2), Williamstown, Mass.