The Bechdel Group's New Play Development Reading Series
The 2023 Fall Workshop Season
Click here for Content Warnings.
Our September, October, and November readings will be at TheTankNYC.
Our December readings and Shortlist Sunday will be via Zoom.
Sign up for the mailing list or contact us for links.
Monday, September 25 (live at the Tank), 6:30pm
A night of cultural mythology - in very different contexts.
Adina Aaron's Lilith
"Lilith tells the Biblical story of Adam and Eve with a twist - before Eve, there was another woman, Lilith. Drawing on ancient Jewish and Mesopotamian mythologies, Lilith weaves a tale of three primordial figures in a new and strange place, discovering what gender, power, and divinity mean for them and all of humanity."
Jen Diamond's Pageant Play
"Each year, Derby, Nevada (population 3,529) hosts the Derby Dolls Pageant to commemorate the sacrifices the town's foremothers made when they resorted to cannibalism in order to survive a snowstorm. In this laugh out loud, break your heart comedy about teetering on the brink of womanhood, four pageant girls compete to win the Derby Dolls crown, only to discover that there are more ways to be a woman than they ever realized."
Monday, October 30 (live at the Tank), 6:30pm
Let's get meta about writers and writing! Sometimes ... literally.
Laura Thoma's Writer's Block
"Sera Keel is writing on a deadline. Or, more specifically, she's blocked and has to deliver her manuscript in four hours. When her muse arrives with an attitude, and her inner critic won't stop impersonating Rod Serling she doesn't think things can get any worse. She was wrong —that's when the dicks arrive."
Libby Heily's Literary Girls Obsessed with Death
"The Literary Girls Arts Collective is here for revolution, and click-based passive income."
Monday, November 27 (live at the Tank), 6:30pm
Digging into what our relationships - with friends, with colleagues, and with our socio-political contexts - mean to us.
Clé Holly's Four
"A string quartet on the brink of a breakup."
Aly Kantor's Murdering Medea
"Queer activist Liv and funky feminist Fil are the hosts of the podcast ‘Monster of the Week,’ in which they dissect and discuss the evil around them. They've just landed a new brand deal requiring them to dedicate an episode to the divisive Greek play 'Medea.' They don't get very far before Fil discovers she's pregnant. In Ohio. In the year 2022. As the girls embark on a very short abortion road trip to Pittsburgh, they must grapple with their own relationship to monstrosity and what it means to be childfree-by-choice in Post-Roe America—and figure out what is really lurking under Medea’s mask."
In December, we examine untold stories.
Sunday, December 3 (via Zoom register here), 6:30pm
Baylee Shlichtman's Sonia is Good
"A loose War and Peace riff. With the help of a witch, Sonia tries to stop herself from turning into a tree."
Monday, December 4 (via Zoom register here), 6:30pm
Rachael Carnes' Canopy
"It’s just about love — And the patience love requires."
Sunday Shortlist! (via Zoom register here)
An afternoon of 10 minute selections from plays shortlisted for the Fall Season.
Sunday, December 10, 1pm (via Zoom)
Featuring excerpts from plays by:
Abby Dunbar
Darcy Parker Bruce
Elizabeth Breed Penny
Jan Rosenberg
Keely Herrick
Marjorie Muller
Mary Poindexter McLaughlin
and
Natalie Meisner