SOMETHING GREATER, BROKEN PIECES and More Set for MGT's Sixth Annual Staged Reading Festival, 3/21-23

As part of its mission "to reestablish and expand Detroit's theatre community," Magenta Giraffe Theatre Company has chosen plays by Michigan natives and current Michigan residents to stage as part of a festival to take place March 21, 22, and 23, 2014, at the Abreact Performance Space (1301 W. Lafayette, #1301, Detroit, MI 48226).

Attendees will see a reading of each play and are encouraged to participate in a workshop-style discussion afterward. Several plays that have been read in past staged reading festivals have gone on to be produced in the region, and this event gives audience members an opportunity to become a part of the process of developing plays for eventual production. Admission is by donation only.

Followers of past staged reading festivals will see some familiar names as well as new ones! The schedule for the weekend is as follows:

Friday, March 21

8:00 p.m.

Something Greater

By Kirsten Knisely

Directed by: Frannie Shepherd-Bates

Two codependent New York City roommates find themselves at odds when one invites his new love interest and her sister to stay the weekend. Severe culture clashes lead to revelations about marriage, children, and what people are willing to compromise for the ones they love.

Saturday, March 22

2:00 p.m.

One Hundred Views of Mount Fiji

By Evan Guilford-Blake

Directed by: Michael Lopetrone

One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji is about teen bullying, teen suicide, ethnic and sexual-preference prejudice, and being "different." Loosely suggested by actual events -- the suicides of three 16 year olds in one small community -- the play (using Romeo and Juliet and Rashomon as framing devices) looks at the events leading to, and consequences of, the self-inflicted deaths of two 16 year olds, a gay Hispanic boy and an obese, Eastern European, Jewish girl, who consider themselves misfits (and who are treated as such by their peers).

5:00 pm

One Cat Away From 61

By Rikki B. Schwartz

Directed by: Molly McMahon

A woman with a strong aversion to therapy has her first session with Dr. Jacobs, and explores her journey through aging, relationships, and finding out exactly what kind of person she really is.

8:00 p.m.

WALL: A Product of Resourcefulness and Efficiency in America's Never-Ending
Battle For Absolute Supremacy and General All-Around Kick-Assedness

By J.R. Spaulding, Jr.

Directed by: Mike McGettigan

Mr. Rondo and his assistant Ms. Ricki want to build a wall as a symbol that will provide Americans purpose in what seems to be an otherwise meaningless and mundane life. But this noble and most elementary task of theirs becomes increasingly more difficult to achieve as they face an incompetent workforce, a supply shortage, and a time crunch that will put them in an epic showdown against America's mucky-mucks and The Man's oppression.

Sunday, March 23

3:00 p.m.

Broken Pieces

By Sean Paraventi

Directed by: Matthew Turner Shelton

Four grown siblings return home to attend the funeral of their mother and are forced to confront their harsh, overbearing father and deep-rooted, still-festering family wounds. With equal parts pain and humor, they discover how difficult it can be to fit the broken pieces back together.

6:00 pm

Subsistence or Grow a Garden and Buy Some Ammo

By Sally Jane Kerschen-Sheppard

Directed by: David Woitulewicz

In the midst of a global financial crisis, three adult siblings and their families find themselves reunited at the farm where they were raised. What should be a happy reunion slowly dissolves into a fierce battle over property; the financial and emotional value it holds.

For additional information on the 2014 Staged Reading Festival featuring Michigan playwrights, contact Frannie Shepherd-Bates or visit www.magentagiraffe.org.

ABOUT Magenta Giraffe Theatre Company: Magenta Giraffe Theatre Company is a nonprofit organization that acts to eliminate apathy, violence, prejudice and barriers to education through theatre productions, projects and programs; and further acts to reestablish and expand Detroit's theatre district.