Berkshire Playwrights Lab to Present Staged Reading of TITLES, 7/24

Berkshire Playwrights Lab will present a staged reading of Michael Brady's Titles, directed by Giovanna Sardelli, on Wednesday, July 24 at 7:30pm at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center (14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, Mass.). There is no charge for admission, however, Berkshire Playwrights Lab suggests a $10.00 donation to help offset its programming costs. For reservations, call 413.528.0100 or visit the Mahaiwe box office in person.

Berkshire-based playwright Michael Brady is best known for his play To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, which was developed through the literary department of Ensemble Studio Theatre and M Square Entertainment and moved to Circle in the Square Theatre. It was awarded the Oppenheimer Award for best play of 1983, and was produced as a film in 1996 by Sony Pictures. His other staged works include Sara (Equity Library Theatre at Lincoln Center), Korczak's Children (Boston College Dramatics Society, winner of the Jesu Award in Playwriting), Two Bears Blinking (New Theatre of Miami), Semper Fi (The Gloucester Stage Company), and Hard Time (Main Street Stage, North Adams, Massachusetts). Broadway Play Publishing has published several of his plays. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and Ensemble Studio Theatre. In addition to his writing, he served for several years as the Program Officer for Artists for the Massachusetts Cultural Council, overseeing a grant giving program for literary, visual and performance artists. He lives in Southfield, Massachusetts, with his wife, Patricia Jacobsen-Brady.

Set in contemporary New York City, Titles is about a character named "Brian," whose new play "needs a little work" according to his theater friends (and an actual title wouldn't hurt, either). Brian's life needs even more work. His ex-wife, the new girlfriend, and a new generation that's passing him by-everyone is a critic. Even his ever-loyal muse has issues. "Titles is about friendships, how they grow and how they die, and it's a play about writing a play, which is, of course, a subject matter close to our hearts at Berkshire Playwrights Lab. We are excited that ours will be the first-ever public reading of this new play. Michael Brady is a very talented and accomplished playwright and we look forward to developing this piece with him. That the work is in its infancy gives us a chance to have a big impact on its creative journey into the world," said Berkshire Playwrights Lab Co-Artistic Director Jim Frangione. The cast of eight is TBA.

Director Giovanna Sardelli most recently directed the world premiere of Joe Gilford's Finks (Ensemble Studio Theatre, Drama Desk nomination Best Play) and Zayd Dohrn's Muckrakers for Barrington Stage Company. Also for Barrington, The Lord of the Flies and Rajiv Joseph's The North Pool (TheatreWorks, Vineyard), Other world premieres with Rajiv are Animals Out of Paper (Joe A. Callaway Award for Outstanding Director), All This Intimacy (both for Second Stage), The Leopard and The Fox (Alter Ego), and Huck & Holden (Cherry Lane). She directed the west coast premiere of The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez (Old Globe, NAACP nomination Best Director), and the world premiere of his play, Somewhere (Old Globe, TheatreWorks). She has developed plays with The Lark, the O'Neill Playwrights Conference, EST, Sundance, Playwright's Realm, and the Playwrights' Center, among others. She spent two seasons as the director of the Shakespeare Sedona Institute and two seasons as the artistic director of Studio Tisch. She is the resident director for the Dorset Theatre Festival. MFA: Grad Acting NYU, graduate of their Director's Lab. Upcoming: Clybourne Park (Dorset Theatre Festival/Barrington Stage), The Mountaintop (Actors Theatre of Louisville), and Somewhere (Hartford Stage).

Founded in 2007 by theatre professionals Joe Cacaci, Jim Frangione, Bob Jaffe, and Matthew Penn, the Berkshire Playwrights Lab is the area's only theater dedicated exclusively to encouraging, developing, and presenting new plays. Through readings-and this season, a full workshop production of Anna Ziegler's Life Science -the Lab provides emerging and established writers with a professional and creative environment, while offering audiences the engaging and provocative opportunity to share in the dramatic evolution of premiere works. The Lab has staged readings of more than 50 new plays, many of which have gone on to full productions, including Kelly Masterson's Against the Rising Sea at Queens Theatre in the Park, Chris Newbound's The Birthday Boy at Berkshire Theatre Festival, Kate Wenner's Make Sure It's Me at Stage Left Theatre, and Kelly Masterson's Edith at Berkshire Theatre Group. Also, Jonathan Caren's The Recommendation went on to The Old Globe, Andrew Dolan's The Many Mistresses of Martin Luther King received rave reviews at Ensemble Studio Theatre Los Angeles, Matt Hoverman'sThe Glint was optioned for Broadway, and Matthew Penn recently directed the New York premiere of Scrambled Eggs by Robin Amos Kahn and Gary Richards. For more information, see www.berkshireplaywrightslab.org.