Devin Kessler Will Lead Developmental Reading of SAVED MESSAGES

Devin Kessler (Crystal Lake; Godfather of Harlem) will perform a developmental reading of Saved Messages, a new one-woman play by playwright and actor Carlita Victoria, on Monday, October 19 at 7:00 PM at Ripley-Grier Studios. The reading is directed by Donathan Walters (Fences at The Old Globe; Paramount+'s Evil), with dramaturgy by Daphnie Sicre (The Fire This Time Festival; San Diego Repertory Theatre) and stage management by Kelsey Nicole Jenkins (The Kennedy Center; Arena Stage).

What do you do with the messages you can't bring yourself to delete? Blending humor, vulnerability, recorded voices, and phones from different eras, Saved Messages follows one woman through a mental health crisis and the systems that respond to it. It asks what happens when someone in crisis meets institutions built to police, contain, or punish rather than to care, and what becomes possible when we center connection, dignity, and community instead.

'I wanted to tell a story that makes room for the humor, messiness, and humanity of being alive, even when being alive feels hard. Sometimes, the smallest moments remind us we have a reason to stay another day,' said Victoria.