Sci-Fi Play PILGRIMS Gets Reading as Part of Alley All New Series

Alley Theatre's Alley All New presents a reading of Claire Kiechel's Pilgrims Monday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Hubbard Theatre.

The special reading is a part of the new Alley All New Reading Series, an ongoing series featuring new work in various stages of the development process. The reading is directed by Alley Resident Assistant Director Brandon Weinbrenner and includes Alley Resident Company members Melissa Pritchett and Jay Sullivan as well as Houston actor Melissa Molano.

Advance reservations are recommended and can be made at alleytheatre.org or by calling the Box Office at 713-220-5700. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Pilgrims begins on a spacecraft on its way to colonize a newly discovered planet. A soldier and a teenage girl live together in one of the ship's cabins with only an outdated robot and each other for company. When they are quarantined in their close quarters due to a potential outbreak, they're forced to explore their own traumatic pasts in a dying society. A sly commentary on the American present set in the future, Pilgrims dramatizes how we never seem to change from the past.

Alley audiences will be among the first to hear a reading of the new play before it premieres in Chicago at The Gift Theatre in June.

"Pilgrims is a sci-fi play with heart. It pulls you in as you follow its two complex characters navigating a tense new relationship in space, then it makes you think as you realize their futuristic situation mirrors our own. Kiechel's work is catching the attention of theaters around the country and I look forward to introducing Houston audiences to her voice through the Alley All New Reading Series," said Director of New Work ElizaBeth Frankel.

The Pilgrims reading is a part of the Alley All New Reading Series, which is a component of Alley All New, a major new works initiative comprised of a variety of public and in-house programs designed to support playwrights and cater to the needs of new projects. The reading series, presented throughout the season, provides a key developmental step for playwrights while allowing Houston audiences to discover exciting new plays before they receive world premiere productions. Past reading series events include Evan Zes' Rent Control and Martin Zimmerman's On The Exhale.

Readings play a major role in the development of new work, enabling artists to hear their writing out loud in front of an audience. Following a limited rehearsal period, actors perform at music stands allowing the audience to hear the dialogue while imagining the production through spoken stage directions.

The reading of Pilgrims on March 13 has a run time of 90 minutes and will be followed by a post-performance conversation with Claire Kiechel, led by ElizaBeth Frankel. Recommended for mature audiences.

Claire Kiechel's plays include Pilgrims (upcoming production at The Gift Theatre, The Lark's Playwrights' Week 2016, and The Kilroys' The List 2016); Lulu Is Hungry with composer Avi Amon at Ars Nova's ANT Fest; and Some Dark Places of the Earth at The New School for Drama. She is a 2016 recipient of South Coast Repertory's Elizabeth George Emerging Writers Commission and a recipient of the 2017 Humana Festival Commission for The Actors Theatre of Louisville Professional Training Company.

The Alley Theatre, one of America's leading not-for-profit theatres, is a nationally recognized performing arts company led by Artistic Director Gregory Boyd and Managing Director Dean R. Gladden. The Alley produces up to 16 plays each year in its newly renovated theatre, ranging from the best current work, to re-invigorated classic plays, to new plays by contemporary writers. The Alley is home to a Resident Company of actors. In addition, the Alley engages theatre artists of every discipline - actors, designers, composers, playwrights - who work on individual productions throughout each season as Visiting Artists.

After a year-long, $46.5 million renovation during the 2014-15 season, the Alley Theatre now possesses the most technically advanced stage facilities of any non-profit theater in the country. The renovation of the Hubbard Theatre at the Alley was completed in October 2015 - and created a new 774 seat state-of-the-art performance venue. Matched with the 310-seat Neuhaus Theatre, the Alley offers nearly 500 performances each season. The Company reaches over 200,000 people each year through its performance and education programs. Its audience enrichment programs include pre-show and post-performance talks, events, and workshops for audience members of all ages.