OUTSIDE THE BOX '24 Reading Series

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We believe live theatre should be accessible to all. Pay it forward if you can.

Single tickets: $25 - $100  

**Read all about the offerings below**

Play #3

COMPLEAT FEMALE STAGE BEAUTY

by Jeffrey Hatcher and with his special permission

Directed by Nancy Carlin

Monday, August 12, 2024 at 7pm

In 1666, Ned Kynaston is the most celebrated actor on the English stage. His specialty: Shakespeare’s tragic heroine, Desdemona. After the newly reinstated King Charles II decides to allow women to play female roles in public, all hell breaks loose for Ned: he cannot compete with an actual woman, no matter how good his acting chops are! The final straw is when his loyal dresser, Maria, is suddenly starring in his beloved role and he, Ned, finds himself working in a bawdy tavern-house, struggling to survive. After losing his lover, his fame, and finally his pride, Ned must pull himself up by the metaphorical bootstraps to adapt to this strange new world--and perhaps to find himself little revenge on the side.

Jeffrey Hatcher’s delicious Compleat Female Stage Beauty is an eloquent text that provides a distilled, racy reflection on the role of the actor and the birth of acting in the 20th Century.

- Dr. Vanessa Byrnes, Theatre View, 19th Aug 2008

Cast includes:

Michael Barrett Austin*, Sylvia Burboeck*, Ron Chapman*, Catherine Luedtke*, Lisa Morse*, Carrie Paff*, Robert Parsons*, Marcia Pizzo*, Timothy Roy Redmond*, Howard Swain*, Jomar Tagatac*, Emilie Talbot*, Ansley Valentine*, Michael Ray Wisely*.

CLICK HERE for Compleat Female Stage Beauty tickets

Play #4

BUZZ

by Susan Ferrera

Directed by Marcia Pizzo

Monday, August 26, 2024 at 7pm

Charismatic director, Mary Ann ‘Buzz’ Goodbody, was one of only a handful of women directing in the U.K. in the 1970’s. In 1975, she famously directed Ben Kingsley in the title role of HAMLET at the Royal Shakespeare Company; the Hamlet of their generation.

Four days after the first performance, she was dead at age 28.

BUZZ is a funny, powerful, heartbreaking and universal story about the unique challenges of the creative process and a woman’s struggle for agency in a man’s world.

“Few have heard of Buzz Goodbody, the female director who crashed through the glass ceiling in 1975 by directing what some considered the best “Hamlet” of her generation. This is a fact playwright Susan Ferrara’s “Buzz” is likely to change… ”

- Montgomery Advertiser, September 2019

Cast includes:

Nancy Carlin*, Anthony Fusco*, Dan Hiatt*, Leontyne Mbele-Mbong*, Joseph O’Malley*, Robert Parsons*, Timothy Roy Redmond*, Liz Sklar*, Jomar Tagatac*, Emilie Talbot*.

CLICK HERE for Buzz tickets

Play #1

INTO THE BREECHES!

By George Brant

Directed by David Sinaiko

Monday, July 1, 2024 at 7pm

1942. Oberon Play House’s director and leading men are off at war with the Axis. Determined to press on, the director’s wife sets out to produce an all-female version of Shakespeare’s Henry V, assembling an increasingly unexpected team united in desire, if not actual theater experience. Together they deliver a delightful celebration of collaboration and persistence when the show must go on! A surprisingly modern and moving comedy about the singular way art and community reveal our boldest selves even in the darkest times.

“An absolute delight...thought-provoking and heartwarming...like a breath of fresh air that will leave one smiling at the end.” - Andria Tieman, Broadway World, February 2, 2018

Cast includes:

Ron Chapman*, Sheila Devitt, Olivia Hoffman, Amy Kossow*, Leontyne Mbele-Mbong*, Timothy Roy Redmond*, Stacy Ross*, Luisa Sermol*, David Sinaiko*.

Play #2

MALVOLIO

by Betty Shamieh

Directed by Amy Kossow

Sunday, July 21, 2024 at 7pm 

MALVOLIO is an irreverent comedy and sequel to Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. It’s wartime. A lowborn steward, Malvolio, has risen to the rank of general.  He is determined to seek vengeance on a cast of characters who tormented him twenty years earlier.  Malvolio encounters Volina, the daughter of Duke Orsino and Duchess Viola.  Dismayed by the apathy of her fellow nobles, Volina tries to pass as male to join the war effort.  When she falls in love with him, Malvolio is sure her ardent displays of unbridled passion and awkward love letters must be a trick.  How do we get past each other’s defenses?  Can the right kind of love heal all wounds? MALVOLIO explores the difference between revenge and redemption.

“Playwright Betty Shamieh has turned [this sequel] into a hero’s origin story with her clever, winking new play. A sweet summer frolic.” - Laura Collins-Hughes, New York Times, July 10, 2023

Cast includes:

Mary Baird*, John Balma*, Anne Hallinan*, Bezachin Jifar, Danielle Levin*, Gwen Loeb*, Brady Morales Woolery*, Phoebe Moyer*, Nick Musleh*, Louie Parnell*, Phil Wong*.

*Member, Actors' Equity Association