Florida Studio Theatre Announces 2021 August Play Reading Festival

July 23, 2021

Florida Studio Theatre announces the 2021 August Play Reading Festival, presenting three staged readings of new works by members of FST’s Playwright Collective, a select group of artists dedicated to developing new work for FST’s stages. Part of the theatre’s New Play Development program, this Festival will take place in FST’s Keating Theatre on August 2, 9, and 16 at 7PM each day. Subscription packages to see all three readings range from $28.50-48.00. Single tickets are $20 per-person for each reading. Subscription packages and single tickets are now on sale at FloridaStudioTheatre.org or 941.366.9000.

As Sarasota’s Contemporary Theatre, New Play Development is intrinsic to FST’s mission. Through events like the 2021 August Play Reading Festival, FST gives contemporary playwrights the opportunity to see their plays in their final stages of development, brought to life by professional actors.

The three playwrights featured in this Festival—Thomas Gibbons, Kenneth Jones, and Jason Odell Williams—will each travel to Sarasota for one week of rehearsals and play development sessions with FST’s artistic staff, followed by a staged reading of each of their plays for live audiences. After each reading, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and give feedback to the playwrights. These sessions are essential to the development and creation of new plays, giving playwrights direct access to artistic support as well as valuable audience feedback.

“New plays take time to develop,” explained Catherine Randazzo, FST Associate Artist. “Although we were ‘shuttered in’ last year, FST used the time to advance the New Play Development process. Now, after 15 months of hard work done virtually, the fruits of our labor need a live audience. These three plays are engaging and entertaining, and we’re looking forward to sharing these stories with our loyal audience.”

FST has played a role in the development of each of the featured plays. Last year, the theatre commissioned Jones to write Last Call at the Old Slave Quarters Lounge and Williams to write America In One Room. Gibbons has been working closely with FST’s artistic team to develop Steal Her Bones since its first draft.

“After I completed an early draft of my play Last Call at the Slave Quarters Lounge in June 2020, I was delighted that FST invited me to continue developing the play with no fewer than three virtual Zoom readings over a year-long period,” said Kenneth Jones, a playwright, librettist, and lyricist. “Zoom readings are approximations of staged readings. On screens, we all used the limitations of the pandemic to fearlessly keep asking the essential questions of playmaking. Now, the process continues live and in-person, with all of us in the same room, still trying to solve the riddle of what it’s like to be human, hurt, but still hopeful.”

The Festival begins on Monday, August 2, with Steal Her Bones by Thomas Gibbons, whose previous plays include Permanent Collection and Bee-luther-hatchee, both of which have been produced by FST. Gibbons’ newest play explores the clash between reason and faith, centering on Diana Goodwin, an esteemed evolutionary biologist and atheist. After Diana passes away from cancer, a theologian named Martin Banks publically announces he met Diana during her final days and she finally accepted the existence of God. Diana’s partner, Ellen, must then decide whether to mourn the loss of her love in private or start a public battle over Diana’s true beliefs. Steal Her Bones explores a deep, human mystery: who owns our legacy after we’re gone? FST Associate Artists J Paul Nicholas and Catherine Randazzo will co-direct this staged reading.

Next is Kenneth Jones’s Last Call at the Old Slave Quarters Lounge on Monday, August 9, a bold new drama set in a popular Mississippi restaurant steeped in unsettling history. Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, estranged members of the Hardy family come together to help fix the damage to their world-famous eatery, The Forrest House. When long-buried secrets are unearthed, they challenge the status quo across the family’s three generations. FST’s Associate Director At-Large, Kate Alexander, will direct the staged reading of this daring new play exploring heritage, community, and responsibility.

FST’s August Play Reading Festival comes to a close with America in One Room by Jason Odell Williams on Monday, August 16.When eight strangers receive an invitation to the America in One Room Convention, which promises debate on a wide range of topics, they are hesitant to participate. However, as each personality files into the aptly titled “Liberty Room,” their insecurities, strengths, weaknesses, and hopes for the future are put on full display. Inspired by the 2019 convention of the same name, America in One Room dissects the recent headlines and our nation’s past to answer the question: what does it mean to be an American? FST Associate Artist Catherine Randazzo will direct this reading of Williams’ latest work.  

The 2021 August Play Reading Festival will take place in FST’s Keating Theatre on August 2, 9, and 16 at 7PM each day.Subscription packages to see all three readings range from $28.50-48.00. Single tickets are $20 per-person for each reading. Subscription packages and single tickets are now on sale at FloridaStudioTheatre.org or 941.366.9000.