Epic Theatre Company Presents Live Reading Of MAYOR PETER

Epic Theatre Company is presenting its first, full-length virtual reading of "Mayor Pete" written and performed by Artistic Director Kevin Broccoli. The event will stream Live on Epic's Facebook at 7pm on Monday, February 15.

The Presidents' Day reading will mark the first time Epic has produced long-form, fictional content during the pandemic, after reaching over eleven million viewers on social media.

"We haven't been eager to present anything longer than a few minutes up til now," says Broccoli, "We've had tremendous success with short-form content on all of our platforms, but the momentous occasion of having an openly gay Presidential candidate seemed like something that was lost in the Election Year tumult. Pete Buttigieg's rise from small-town to political superstar is a story we were eager to tell before theaters shut down. With Buttigieg recently becoming the first gay Cabinet member, we thought now was the perfect time to produce a sneak peek at the play, while still planning to bring it in front of an audience as soon as we're able to."

Mayor Pete takes place in the middle of the 2020 primaries, as the soft-spoken but charming candidate is contemplating his unexpected success on the national stage while wondering what he can realistically expect from the future. It's an examination of what it means to be a modern-day public servant while also belonging to communities that create conflicting identities within the same person.

"Pete is not much older than I am," says Broccoli, "So we have a kind of shared experience in both our age and sexuality, but I find the direction that his life took to be so fascinating. This play isn't meant to be a biography of him, but a centralized look at the life of a person who is, in some ways, incredibly privileged, but also at a major disadvantage in terms of what they're able to achieve simply because of who they are."

The livestream will be open to the public, and Broccoli will be taking questions after the performance.

"There was so much noise this past year, understandably, but as a gay man, I find it immensely important that we don't fail to recognize how monumental it is that Secretary Buttigieg got as far as he did, and what it cost him to do that. This reading, I hope, is going to give us all a lot of insight as we begin to prepare the show for an in-person production. In the meantime, it'll give the audience a look at what a new work in progress sounds like, and helps them get a little bit of theater back into their lives."

For more information, e-mail Info@EpictheatreCo.org or go to Epic's Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/EpicTheatreCo

*Photo: Dave Cantelli

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