The Bechdel Group's New Play Development Reading Series

The 2021 Fall Workshop Season
Our September and October readings will be via Zoom.
Sign up for the mailing list or contact us for links.
Our November reading (pending Covid developments) will be back LIVE at TheTankNYC.

Monday, September 27th, 6:30 pm (Zoom):
Katrina Byrd's Standing Tough in the Buff
"Karen's world turns upside down when LUSA'D article, 'Standing Tough on the Buff' is published in the college newspaper."

Tuesday,  September 28th, 6:30 pm (Zoom):
Madison Wetzell's The Body Play
"The Body Play is about life with a chronic illness and the absurdity of being embodied. One protagonist is played by two actors, a detached, neurotic mind, and her chaotic, screaming body. The Mind submits her Body to the scrutiny of experts—doctors, therapists, yoga teachers—and ultimately explores what it might mean to be a body, as opposed to being a mind that, regrettably, also has a body. "

Monday,  October 25th, 6:30 pm (Zoom):
Mallory Jane Weiss' Inside Siberia
"Five of the top female sled dogs — Lucy, Doon, Logan, Iva, and Hope — battle it out during pre-season for two slots on the mythical Siberian sled dog team. But as civil unrest grows outside the camp, it becomes clear that this sled is about much more than a race."

Tuesday, October 26th, 6:30 pm (Zoom):
Rachael Carnes' Yoncalla
 "Yoncalla, Oregon: one hundred years ago, a dinky town about 45 minutes south of where I live. Sounds cute enough, but like many towns in the West, Yoncalla tells a pretty dark story. There’s a lawless alchemy to these pioneer outposts, where ‘settlement’ runs over whole peoples, where prejudice finds a foothold, then a platform, then a foundation. Yoncalla takes us to the past, to find today, and tomorrow."

Monday,  November 15th, 6:30 pm (Live): 
David Gregory's This Nice Ohio Sense of Worry
"Instead of doing Our Town, Annabell Kelton has written a play about the end of her life for her local theater. All her loved ones try to put it on with a brave face, but knowing the ending is hard. Good thing Annabell wants to skip all the sad parts."

SHORTLIST SUNDAY
Sunday, December 5th, 1pm
An afternoon of ten minute selections from shortlisted scripts by:
Alan Flurry
Andrea Markowitz
Bara Swain
Barbara A. Blatner
Emily Welty
Jacob Rice
Jeana Scotti
Marianna Staroselsky
Mary Lannon