TRU Announces Casting For Upcoming Virtual Readings

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces the casting for the first virtual presentation of its 2020 TRU Voices New Plays Reading Series, presented with generous support from The Storyline Project.

The series, a benefit for Theater Resources Unlimited to help make up for financial losses due to COVID-19, will take place on Sunday, June 14, 2020 at 2:30pm EDT and on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 at 2:30pm EDT. Information and ticketing can be found through onthestage.com at www.onthestage.com/theater-resources-unlimited/

The series will comprise world premiere readings of two timely and resonant plays: No Entry by Marc Paykuss, which follows Jews who were displaced after being liberated from Nazi camps and placed in interim detention camps, and Disbelief, a Cassandra Tale by Garret Jon Groenveld, which uses the Cassandra legend to catalog the struggle of women being believed and having their voices heard.

This year's TRU Voices Series is being performed under an agreement with the Performers' Unions through the Theatre Authority. Tickets are being offered for free during this time of crisis, with the hope that those who are able will support TRU with tax deductible donations.

World Premiere Reading

No Entry

by Marc Paykuss

produced by James Simon

directed by Melody Bates

stage manager/tech director Randy Howk

Sunday, June 14 at 2:30pm EDT

No Entry is a fictional historical play centering around a group of liberated Polish Jews in a displaced persons camp, facing the challenges of rebuilding their lives, and waiting for the world to open its doors to them.

Featuring:

Jonathan Burwell (STAGE Porgy and Bess, Lady L'Amour's Final Bow, Cinderella. TV A Crime to Remember, Black Actress, Life on Mars.) www.jonathanburwell.com

Cait Cortelyou (FILM Ask for Jane, Ripped!. STAGE Gallow Green/Sleep No More, R & J & Z. TV The Knick, Bull.) www.CAITCORTELYOU.com

Tali de Assis (FILM Fonder, Aeon, Dogs, Two Strikes, Wallace. STAGE True West, All The King's Men, Brilliant Traces, TV Trans Literacy Web series. VOICEOVER Cerberus Rex Audio Drama, Little Lights AI.) www.TalideAssis.com

Clara Francesca (STAGE Macbeth, Hamlet, Three Sisters, Uncle Vanya's, Ostrovsky's, A Family Affair, solo show Manifesting Mrs. Marx. TV We Are NYC & Pokémon, Loose Ends, PlayStation4 Pillars of Eternity.) www.clarafrancesca.com@clar_esca

Maria Jung (STAGE Avalon, Chill, Iphigenia 2.0, Cymbeline, 2015 NBC Diversity Showcase. FILM Paterno, The Magic Bomb, Milk and Cookies.)

Nicholas Mongiardo-Cooper (STAGE Theatre for a New Audience, 59E59, The York, Geva, South Coast Rep, La Jolla, San Diego Rep, Rubicon, North Coast Rep, Laguna Playhouse, 5 Star, Portland Stage and more. BFA NYU.)

Yvonne Roen (FILM Decent Men, All the Silver, Bedford. STAGE Drs. Jane & Alexander, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Spinoza's Ethics, Henry V, Tartuffe. TV As The World Turns, Welcome to New York.) www.yvonneroen.com

Perri Yaniv (FILM Purity, Winter Has No Sun. STAGE Refuge, The Plantation, East in Red, The Brutes.) www.perribazyaniv.com

World Premiere Reading

Disbelief, a Cassandra Tale

by Garret Jon Groenveld

directed by Jess Cummings

produced by Molly Morris

stage manager/tech director Krista Swan

Wednesday, June 17 at 2:30pm EDT

Disbelief is the story of Apollo's gift to Cassandra, rethought for today, from her point of view. This updated telling adds a contemporary perspective on how women are perceived and controlled and disbelieved (or dismissed). Scintillating language explores the parallels of belief in a higher power, with belief in a powerful man, versus a woman of power, struggling to be believed. And for the first time the two most famous women of the Trojan War, Helen of Troy and Cassandra, actually speak to each other, without a man around at all. The play draws a gentle parallel to our 2016 election, and a candidate who told the truth, was systematically undermined and disbelieved.

Featuring:

Marija Abney (FILM Black Panther. BROADWAY The CHER Show, After Midnight.)

Ceasar F. Barajas (REGIONAL PREMIERE Miss You Like Hell. TV & FILM Ramy, The Last OG.)

Catherine LeFrere (TV & FILM The Blacklist, HAPPY!, Orange Is The New Black, GIRLS.)

Gerrard Lobo (TV & FILM Master Of None, Orange Is The New Black, You.)

Alfredo Narciso (BROADWAY Time & The Conways, The Motherf**ker With The Hat. OFF-BROADWAY Tiny Beautiful Things.)