Nashville Rep's REPaloud Reading Series Continues in November

Nashville Rep will present two plays in repertory as a part of its popular REPaloud staged reading series in an effort to prod discussion about issues related to successful women. The series will take place November 12 - 15 at Nashville Rep's Rehearsal Hall (NPT Studio A, 161 Rains Avenue) and will include David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winner Glengarry Glen Ross featuring an all-female cast (Wednesday, November 12 and Friday, November 14) and Caryl Churchill's Top Girls (Thursday, November 13 and Saturday, November 15). The same cast of talented Nashville actresses will be featured in the staged readings of each play.

David Mamet's searing masterpiece Glengarry Glen Ross is as timely now as it was when it premiered in 1983. (Or is it?) An office of small-time cutthroat real estate salesmen bite, scratch, and claw their way through the weekly sales contest while trying to carve out their own piece of the American Dream. First prize is a Cadillac. Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third place is You're Fired. Nashville Rep has added one noticeable plot twist in its staged reading: an all-female cast. And with such talented actors crossing the gender divide, the story of Mamet's play will burst through while giving us the exciting opportunity to hear this classic with new ears and a fresh perspective.

Top Girls is the story of Marlene, a successful career-driven superwoman in the early years of the 1980's in Margaret Thatcher's England. In the first act, Marlene celebrates her promotion over a male co-worker by inviting famous women throughout history to her dinner party: Pope Joan (who claims to have been pope in the 9th century while disguised as a man), Isabella Bird (the famous explorer), Dull Gret (the harrower of hell from the Breughel painting), Lady Nijo (mistress of a Japanese emperor), and Patient Griselda (from "The Clerk's Tale" in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales). In the second act, we meet Marlene's sister and learn the steep cost of what she had to give up in order to find success.

Presenting these plays "in repertory" allows the two scripts to play off of each other, to highlight common themes, and to bring their differences into sharp focus. Both plays are about work, identity, the roles we play, and the cost of success. Ultimately the plays complement one another by asking the same chilling questions: what are we willing to do in order to succeed? What are we willing to give up? What is the cost for a woman to break through? Does the fact that one woman broke through the glass ceiling mean liberation for all women? Or is it every woman for herself? It's been thirty years: Have we "come a long way, baby?" Are the questions different now?

The electric ensemble of Nashville actresses featured in both staged readings include Rachel Agee, Rebekah Durham, Denice Hicks, Shannon Hoppe, Nettie Kraft, Megan Murphy Chambers, Jennifer Richmond and Tamiko Robinson.

"Talkback" discussions follow the staged readings of Top Girls on Thursday, November 13 and Saturday November 15. Attendees are encouraged to see both staged readings.

Since 1985, Nashville Repertory Theatre has been a critically acclaimed regional theatre, creating the highest quality professional productions and by serving as a prime cultural, educational, and economic resource within the Nashville and Middle Tennessee communities. Nashville Rep produces work that is designed, built, and rehearsed in Nashville by highly skilled actors, designers, directors, and technicians. A non-profit organization, Nashville Rep is committed to consistently delivering thought-provoking theatre each year while creating "Ah-ha!" moments that inspire empathy, prod intellectual and emotional engagement, and expand the creative capacity of audience and artists though the dynamic connection unique to live theatre. For more information on Nashville Repertory Theatre, please visit www.nashvillerep.org.

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