Signature Announces Five New Plays for Reading Series SigWorks

Signature Theatre continues its commitment to new work and developing local talent by presenting the fourth season of SigWorks: Monday Night New Play Reading Series at Ali's Bar. This season Signature is proud to present five plays - Mermaid by Andrew Rosendorf, The Reapers on Woodbrook Avenue by Mardee Bennett, Wire in the Garden by Alona Bach, Torgus & Snow by Christine Evans, and Soldiers of the Cross by Caleen Sinnette Jennings.

"It's so heartening that every year since we started SigWorks Monday Night Reading Series we've had an overwhelming response from local writers," said Signature TheatreDirector of New Works Joe Calarco. "This year we had over 80 submissions, and I couldn't be more excited about the final 5 selections. These are thrilling, adventurous writers who are tackling daring subjects in very unique ways."

SigWorks: Monday Night New Play Readings at Ali's Bar is an initiative which highlights and supports the work of DMV and regional playwrights. This series is an opportunity for playwrights, actors, directors, designers, and patrons to explore new plays in a fun and informal environment. Each reading will be followed by a dialogue with the audience and the artists. Over the last four years, three plays developed as part of the SigWorks program have gone on to full productions at Signature Theatre including The Gulf by Audrey Cefaly, 4,380 Nights by Annalisa Dias, and Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible History of Humanity by Heather McDonald. The Gulf has gone on to major international productions and was the winner of the 2018 Lammy Award for LGBTQ Drama and a recipient of the Edgerton New American Play Award.

The Monday Night New Play Reading Series is hosted at Ali's Bar in Signature Theatre's Mead Lobby. See full schedule of featured plays below. Ali's Bar will be open before and after each reading and audience members are invited to come early for drink specials.

The readings are free and open to the public, no reservations are required.

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Mermaid

by Andrew Rosendorf

October 1, 2018 at 7PM

Raised a boy, when nine-year-old Everett tells her family she's a girl, their good liberal values are put to the test in a lyrical, thought-provoking meditation on gender identity.

The Reapers on Woodbrook Avenue

by Mardee Bennett

December 10, 2018 at 7PM

Baltimore, 1976: matriarch Loretta Reaper is forced to consider how far she'll go to protect her property. Charleston, 2008: Corey, Loretta's great-grandson, must reclaim the land that was promised to-and stolen from-his ancestors.

Wire in the Garden

by Alona Bach

February 4, 2019 at 7PM

In rural England in 1925, electrical engineer Margaret Partridge is a woman in a man's world-and her fight to shape the future of the electrical industry faces resistance at every turn.

Torgus & Snow

by Christine Evans

April 8, 2019 at 7PM

A talking vacuum cleaner, a child-turned-machine, and malevolent trolls interweave in a Nordic fever-dream inspired by Sweden's "apathetic children"-young refugees who fall into coma-like states when faced with deportation.

Soldiers of the Cross

by Caleen Sinnette Jennings

June 3, 2019 at 7PM

When black activist Asha Brown's brothers marry outside of their race, she experiences the pain, compromises and joys of a new kind of family in a serio-comedy about intermarriage in Trump's America.

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Readings are free and open to the public with no reservations required. Ali's Bar will be open with a full food and beverage menu.

For more information about the series visit SigTheatre.org

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