Dreamcatcher Offers 'Meet the Artist' Free New Play Readings on May 15 & 22

Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre, professional Theatre in Residence at the Oakes Center in Summit, will present its annual Meet the Artist free new play reading series on Wednesday May 15 and Wednesday May 22 at 7 pm on the second floor of the Oakes Center.

The new play reading series is a chance for the audience to participate in the development of new works, both to hear the play read by professional actors and also to discuss the project with the playwright, director and actors afterward. Feedback from these evenings helps the playwrights to further refine their scripts and also gives them a first-hand experience of how the audience will respond to the finished work. These evenings provide a fun and lively way to interact with the creative process, and to receive a preview of plays that may be performed on Dreamcatcher's mainstage in the future.

The first reading, The Promised Land by David Meyers, will take place on Wednesday, May 15 at 7 pm. In play, Senator Michael Stewart is a moderate Republican from New Jersey who is trying to work across the aisle. He subsequently finds that the path to real change is littered with conflict and personal agendas. When ideals conflict with reality, which emerges the winner? Meyers is a New Jersey native whose plays have been seen off-Broadway at the Abingdon Theatre Company and the Platform Group, at the Lark Play Development Center, and regionally in New York, New Jersey, Washington, DC, and Minneapolis. The reading will be directed by Laura Ekstrand, Dreamcatcher's Artistic Director, and will feature Rick Delaney, Joe Discher, Jean Goto, Gary Martins, David Meyers, Jason Szamreta, and Heather Wahl.

Real True Crime by David Lee White will be read on Wednesday, May 22 at 7 pm. In this play, we meet Maddie, a woman disappointed by her life and feeling helpless to change it. Could the attractive burglar who breaks into the Wawa convenience store where she works be the answer to her prayers? Together they embark on an adventure that could lead them to the life they fantasize about... or right back to where they started. White's play, Blood: A Comedy, played to sold out houses and critical acclaim at Dreamcatcher in March of 2012. David is the associate artistic director of Passage Theatre Company in Trenton. His play Slippery as Sin premiered there in May of 2012. His play White Baby was produced by Emerging Artists Theatre in NY in 2010. The reading will be directed by Dave Maulbeck and will feature Clark Carmichael, Harry Patrick Christian, Laura Ekstrand, Noreen Farley, Jessica O'Hara-Baker, and David Miceli.

The readings are on the second floor of the Oakes Center, located at 120 Morris Avenue in Summit. Admission is free and no reservations are necessary. The parking lot is accessible from Ashwood Avenue, behind the theatre. For information on any of Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre's programs, please contact Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre at the Oakes Center, 120 Morris Avenue, Summit, NJ 07901, 908-514-9654, www.DreamcatcherRep.org.