Chautauqua Theater Company Stages Readings of AFTERLOVE This Week

Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Vivienne Benesch and Managing Director Sarah Clare Corporandy, presents David West Read's Afterlove for three Signature Staged Readings from Wednesday, August 5 to Friday, August 7 on the Bratton Stage.

Directed by Associate Artistic Director Andrew Borba (numerous CTC directing credits, including The Comedy of Errors, The Philadelphia Story, and Macbeth), Afterlove's cast features guest artists Charlie Semine (CTC 2005 Conservatory alum; multiple television credits including "Mercy," "Smash," and "The Following") and Aaron Roman Weiner (Regional credits include LAByrinth Theater Company, Roundtable Ensemble, and Hangar Theatre). CTC Conservatory actors Audrey Corsa (The Juilliard School) and Keren Lugo (NYU Graduate Acting) complete the cast.

The creative team is led by CTC's Design Fellows, including Charlie Jicha (Set), Dominique Hill (Costumes), Megan Turnquist (Lighting) and Brandon Reed (Sound). CTC Artistic Associate Drew Ledbetter serves as Assistant Director and Michelle Eisen serves as Stage Manager.

David West Read's newest play, Afterlove, explores life, loss, and love in the tradition of great romantic ghost stories. A troubled young doctor, struggling with the loss of a patient, finds unexpected tenderness when he's visited by an enchanting female ghost.

David West Read is a New York-based playwright and screenwriter. He currently writes for the CBC comedy series "Schitt's Creek," starring Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara. His plays include: The Performers (Longacre Theatre), The Dream of the Burning Boy (O'Neill Theater Conference, Roundabout Underground), The Great Pretender (Old Globe New Voices Festival, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley), Happy Face (Pacific Playwrights Festival) and The Dark Pines (Cape Cod Theatre Project). David is a graduate of the Lila Acheson Wallace Playwrights Program at The Juilliard School and the MFA program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where he also has taught in the Department of Dramatic Writing.

The New Play Workshop (NPW) is the component of Chautauqua Theater Company dedication to supporting important new American playwrights. As part of the NPW, CTC produces a Signature Staged Reading series. Since its inception more than ten years ago, the series has gained incredible momentum and developed into something truly unique. As one writer describes it, the NPW readings are "not just another music stand stop for plays in development - they're a genuine opportunity to see the play come to life with top actors, designers, and directors for an audience that truly welcomes new theater."

More than 175 plays were submitted to be part of Chautauqua Theater Company's 2015 New Play Workshop Signature Staged Readings series. Of those submissions, CTC staff selected two new plays to benefit from one-week workshops and staged readings.

Director Andrew Borba explains, "Afterlove has gone through significant revisions since we first read David's script, which is exactly what The New Play Workshop is about. We're here to support playwrights in the development of their work. We're all excited to get Afterlove on stage and in front of an audience so we can see what works and what doesn't."

Past seasons have hosted new work by Nikole Beckwith, Zayd Dohrn, Kate Fodor, Rinne Groff, Molly Smith Metzler, Alex Lewin, Michael Mitnick, David Schulner, David Zellnik, and Anna Ziegler, among others. Our past NPWs have gone on to receive productions both Off-Broadway at Manhattan Theater Club, Primary Stages, Playwrights Horizons and at regional theaters across the country.

Performances run Wednesday August 5, 2015 at 8:00, Thursday, August 6, 2015 at 6:00, and Friday, August 7 at 4:00. Tickets for Afterlove are $20 and are on sale now. For more information, visit www.ctcompany.org.

Dedicated to the next generation of theater artists, the development of new work, first-rate productions of modern and contemporary classics, and fresh insight into Shakespeare's canon, CTC produces the best of a year-round regional theater within an eight week summer season as the resident theater of the Chautauqua Institution. Chautauqua Theater Company is where the finest theater artists of tomorrow bridge the gap between their training and the professional world. For more information about Chautauqua Theater Company, please visit www.ctcompany.org.

The New Play Workshop (NPW) is the component of Chautauqua Theater Company dedicated to fostering important new American playwrights and to providing a safe and stimulating playground for artists to develop new work for the theater.

CTC hosts four graduate-level Design Fellows each season. The Fellows design both of The New Play Workshop Signature Staged Readings, giving them the opportunity to work closely with professional directors and playwrights in intensive one-week collaborations. As a way to commit to emerging designers in the same way that CTC has always been committed to emerging actors, CTC instituted the Design Fellowship program as part of the CTC Conservatory in 2006. The Design Fellows also serve as Assistant Designers on all Mainstage productions.

The pre-eminent expression of lifelong learning in the United States, Chautauqua Institution is a 140-year-old community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York State that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities.