The Theater Project to Present Staged Reading of TWO ROOMS, 5/3

The Theater Project is no stranger to hot potato topics, having presented productions and readings of plays tackling marriage and income inequality, not to mention war and peace. TWO ROOMS by Lee Blessing examines a husband and wife separated by an act of political violence. The two rooms of the title are a windowless cubicle in Beirut where an American hostage is being held by Arab terrorists and a room in his home in the United States, which his wife has stripped of furniture so that, at least symbolically, she can share his ordeal. While he languishes in confinement, she does all she can to pressure the government to take action. The play will be presented as a script in hand performance at the Maplewood Memorial Library, 51 Baker Street, at 2 PM, Saturday, May 3. Admission is free.

Actors Jessica O'Hara-Baker, Elissa Strell, Scott Cagney and Jerome Shuler will perform the reading which will be directed by Nick Wolf of Bloomfield. Wolf recently appeared in The Theater Project's production of THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. General Manager Gary Glor will lead the discussion after the performance. The Theater Project, an award-winning New Jersey theater company presenting at the Burgdorff Center for the Performing Arts in Maplewood, is known for presenting outrageous comedy as well as drama with social commentary. Part of The Theater Project's mission is to showcase lesser-known plays on thought provoking topics and create dialogue among the audience in post-performance discussions. It recently produced NICKEL AND DIMED a play by Joan Holden based on the book by Barbara Ehrenreich, which examined the struggles of minimum wage workers. The Theater Project is celebrating 20 years in 2014 with a gala on May 15.

The company offers classes for kids in juggling, puppetry, musical theater and improvisation, and a workshop for adult playwrights. For further information about the gala or any of the company's programs, call 908 809-8865, or visit the web site: TheTheaterProject.org.