Baltimore Playwrights' Festival Announces Their Public Readings 1/18

The Baltimore Playwrights Festival (www.baltplayfest.com) announces its monthly public meeting to be held at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 18, at The Strand Theater, 1823 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. After the meeting there will be a staged reading of a new play, Sick Stories, Gentle Granddaddy, by Sherna Johnson, followed by a discussion of the script with the playwright, director and actors. The event is free, and the general public is encouraged to attend.

Sick Stories, Gentle Granddaddy, by Sherna Johnson, is told through the voice of Little Miss Mabelle, the only person in the family who has never borne witness to the drunken monster that her maternal grandfather once was. The only grandfather she knows is her pot-bellied protector -- a gentle, sweet old man who makes her laugh and spoils her rotten. However, the rest of the family has witnessed the transition Granddaddy has made over the years to become such a gentle soul. They have witnessed him get in verbal and physical fights with Queen (Little Miss Mabelle's maternal grandmother) and miss important milestones in his children's life. While Little Miss Mabelle knows her grandfather to be her protector, he surely was not around to protect his daughters when they were molested as young girls. In Sick Stories, Gentle Granddaddy, each family member shares a story with the audience. Little Miss Mabelle also narrates select stories that she has been told over the years, as the scene plays out before the audiences' eyes. Through tears, laughs, joy and pain, this play chronicles the life of a father, grandfather, husband, and just plain human being whose painful past helps him to survive in the present.

The Baltimore Playwrights Festival has presented 266 scripts by 158 playwrights, produced by 25 different companies, over the past 29 Years. Further information can be found at www.baltplayfest.com .