Let's Summon a Demon at Debbie's (staged reading) at McDonald Theatre

Looking for something spooky to do on Friday the 13th? Playwright Brandon Monokian returns to Geneva, NY with a camp horror comedy about an unusual reunion of high school friends. Let’s Summon a Demon at Debbie’s will be performed as a script-in-hand staged reading on Friday June 13th at 7:30 p.m. in McDonald Theatre in the Gearan Center for the Performing Arts on the Hobart and William Smith Colleges campus. Admission is free.

Debbie (Chris Woodworth) hasn’t left her house since high school. But she’s far from alone. Keeping her company are more than 50 dolls, who each have a voice and personality all their own. Debbie is visited by her high school friends, Cara (Trish Annese) and Lucy (Jasmin Singer). Strange events have plagued all three women since one fateful night in high school when they tried—and failed—to summon a demon. The women haven’t spoken in years, but one of them has been keeping a close eye on Debbie. Is it finally time to finish what they started? And what’s the deal with the goat? Rounding out the cast is Kiefer Schenk, who reads stage directions. Let’s Summon a Demon at Debbie’s features graphic language, adult content, and many, many creepy dolls. 

The staged reading of Let’s Summon a Demon at Debbie’s marks the fourth time one of Brandon Monokian’s plays have been presented in Geneva. Last year, Zombie Cheerleaders, A Teenage Witch & The Demonic Voice on the Other End of the Phone was produced as part of the HWS Theatre season. Chris Woodworth, Professor of Theatre at HWS, directed the production as well as a staged reading of the script two years prior. Woodworth also directed the Geneva staged readings of Monokian’s plays Quiche and Echo and Narcissus Blast Third Eye Blind Outside A Diner in New Jersey at 2AM. The June 13th reading of Let’s Summon a Demon at Debbie’s is directed by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin, who is a theatermaker, playwright, educator and Assistant Professor of Playwriting at Salem State University. Mei-Shing Garvin has previously collaborated with Monokian several times, including directing a workshop production of Echo & Narcissus Blast Third Eye Blind Outside a Diner in New Jersey at 2am and a developmental reading of Let’s Summon a Demon at Debbie’s, both at The Tank in NYC. Recent HWS grad Derrielle Faulkner serves as stage manager and house manager for the reading. 

The staged reading will last approximately 80 minutes. Admission is free, first-come, first-serve. Doors will open at 7:00. Free parking is available in the Medbery North Visitor Parking Lot, adjacent to the Gearan Center. Let's Summon a Demon at Debbie's is published by 1319 Press. Signed copies of the script will be available for purchase at the reading.  For more information, visit https://www.thisworldofyes.com/demonatdebbie-s or contact Chris Woodworth (chriswoodworth77@hotmail.com).