Cranford Library Will Host Free Staged Reading This Saturday

The Theater Project's Playwrights' Workshop will launch its winter/spring series of New Play Readings series at 2pm, Saturday, January 17, at Cranford Community Center's 110-seat theater. The script-in-hand staged readings are free to the public, and they include post-performance conversations with audience, author, cast and director.

The first play of the new year is Conshohocken McFaddens. Anna and George McFadden meet and marry in 1919 in a small mill town outside Philadelphia, dreaming that the worst is behind them as the country emerges from the devastation of the “war to end all wars” and history's deadliest epidemic. They are in for a few surprises.

Author Lynn Aylward is an emerging playwright who recently moved from San Francisco via Scotland to New Jersey. She was a long-time member of the Writers Pool in San Francisco, and her short plays have been produced in California, Florida, and New York.

“The post-reading discussions are always exciting, not only for the audience, but for the playwrights,” said Mark Spina, artistic director of The Theater Project. “They provide audiences a rare opportunity to give feedback and contribute to the development of a new script. Likewise, the discussions give the playwrights immediate insight into how their work is received.”

The Friends of the Cranford Library host the series on the third Saturday of each month, January through May and September through November. It is made possible in part through a Union County Local Arts Grant. All presentations take place at the Cranford Community Center, located at 220 Walnut Avenue. Large-print programs and scripts will be available with advance request. More information is available at the company's website: New Play Reading, TheTheaterProject.org. For further information, call Gary Glor, 908-809-8865.