Cincinnati Playhouse Adds Reading of NOT ABOUT HEROES, 3/24

The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park will present a reading of Stephen MacDonald's drama about the real-life friendship of two World War I soldier poets, NOT ABOUT HEROES, at 7 p.m. Monday, March 24. The reading is being offered in collaboration with the Cincinnati Remembers World War I series, the Cincinnati Opera's citywide series of events in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the onset of World War I.

Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen met in 1917 at the Craiglockhart War Hospital for Nervous Disorders near Edinburgh, Scotland. Sassoon, the elder of the two men, had already established a reputation as a decorated war hero and antiwar writer when they met; the shell-shocked Owen was inspired by their comradeship to write about the rage and anquish of war. The story is told by Sassoon in flashbacks drawn from the men's real letters and diaries -Sassoon survived the war, and Owen did not. The play's title comes from Owen's preface to his volume of collected poems, which was published posthumously.

English playwright, actor and director Stephen MacDonald, who died in 2009, is best known for NOT ABOUT HEROES, which premiered in 1982 at the Edinburgh Festival and won a Fringe First award. It debuted in the United States at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 1985 and then transferred to the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York.

The reading will take place at 7:00 p.m. in the Playhouse's Marx Rehearsal Hall. It is free, but space is limited and advance reservations are required. To make a reservation, contact the Playhouse Box Office at 513-421-3888 (toll-free in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana at 800-582-3208). Call 513-345-2248 for Telecommunications Device for the Deaf accessibility.

The 2013-14 season is presented by The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation and Heidelberg Distributing Company. The season sponsor of new work is the Lois and Richard Rosenthal Foundation.

The Playhouse is fully accessible. Audio enhancement receivers, large print programs and complete wheelchair access are available.

The Playhouse is supported, in part, by the generosity of the tens of thousands of individuals and businesses that give to ArtsWave. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Playhouse with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The Playhouse also receives funding from the Shubert Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.