US UNPARADISED to Receive Public Reading from Next Life Theatre Company in Brooklyn
Playwright Maggie Rahilly's PARADISE LOST adaptation, directed by Julie Monteleone, closes Next Life's Metamorphoses program.
Next Life Theatre Company will present the public reading of Us Unparadised, a fascinating and thought-provoking new one-act written by Maggie Rahilly on Friday, June 26th 2026 at 7:15pm at The RAT NYC (68-117 Jay St, Brooklyn, NY 11201). This reading will close out the first cycle of Next Life's Metamorphoses New Play Development Program.
Maggie Rahilly and Us Unparadised were selected as the inaugural playwright and script. Metamorphoses is a reading series and workshopping program for playwrights with in-progress or recently drafted adaptive works that have not yet been produced. The process began in the summer of 2025 with an open call for original works of adaptation. After narrowing down the submissions and selecting Us Unparadised, Next Life hosted an invite-only reading of the initial draft script, using that experience and feedback to develop the script that will be read at this performance.
Us Unparadised is an adaptation of Milton's Paradise Lost with a new epic hero - Eve. Centering the storytelling around Milton's daughters, the play explores questions inherent to being the first people, familial politics, with meditations on Roe v Wade, bodily autonomy, and choice. This reading is directed by Julie Monteleone and stage managed by Bethany Qian. The cast features Audrey Loomis as Annie, Alicia Brogan as Mary, Liv Malone as Eve, Advika Atmana as The Serpent, and JL Zhang as Adam.
The Metamorphoses program is run by Next Life Literary Manager, Ava Pirie in association with Next Life Artistic Director, Brayden Stallman.
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