Theatre 40 Will Perform a Reading of POWER & LIGHT This Week

Theatre 40 will present a play reading on YouTube of a new work by John Strysik, Power & Light. Thomas Edison and Nikolai Tesla: The War That Lit the World. Pioneering scientists in electronics, they were rivals with differing viewpoints on delivering energy. Edison was about the money, while Tesla was more a believer in free energy for all. Commerce won.

The cast includes Alison Blanchard, Dave Buzzotta, John Combs, David Datz, Kevin Dulude, Eric Keitel, Daniel Leslie, Melanie MacQueen, Nathalie Rudolph, David Hunt Stafford and Martin Thompson.

Jeff G. Rack directs. His work as an Art Director for films and commercials, and as an EFX artist, can be seen in many films, including: Armageddon, Con-Air, Flubber, Mighty JoeYoung, Kundun, and Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes. Probably best known to Los Angeles theater patrons for his award-winning set designs, Jeff has designed and built over 300 productions from Santa Barbara to Edinburgh, Scotland. He is a multiple Ovation Award winner and received an L.A. Weekly Award for his work on Frank Zappa's Joe's Garage. Shows he has adapted and/or directed for Unbound Production's Wicked Lit include: H. P. Lovecraft's The Unnamable, and The Lurking Fear, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Damned Thing, The Dead Smile, The Yellow Wallpaper, Dracula's Guest and Robert E. Howard's Pigeons From Hell. Other shows Jeff has directed are Rod Serling's Tales from the Zone, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Birds, PEN, a The Mystery Plays, Villainy, and Martians: An Evening with Ray Bradbury.

John Strysik is the playwright. He is known for his work in film and television, including the screenplay for the award-winning movie Stuck, directed by Stuart Gordon and starring Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea. Strysik was a director and writer on the tv series Tales From the Darkside and Monsters. He also directed the reboot of the ABC series Land of the Lost. He also co-authored the book Lurker in the Lobby: A Guide to the Cinema of H.P. Lovecraft. His play Villainy debuted at the Whitefire Theatre in 2018.

The reading of Power & Light will have its YouTube premiere on Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. PDT. To access this event, go to https://youtu.be/SklG68iWHWs

The event can also be accessed after April 21 at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx7uiDGA8OjYIY904ZL3Bww

This event is free, but the non-profit Theatre 40 will gratefully accept donations in support of its artistic endeavors at http://theatre40.org