FST Presents 3 New Staged Readings During Upcoming Play Reading Series

As a part of its ongoing commitment to new play development, Florida Studio Theatre will present three staged readings of new works during the Richard & Betty Burdick Play Reading Series.
The series, which is named after the late Richard and Betty Burdick, is a part of the larger Sarasota Festival of New Plays. It is a celebration of three new works, which FST presents on Monday Evenings during the month of May in the Keating Theatre. This year, the three plays are The Chimes, written by Kevin Christopher Snipes; Trumpery, by Peter Parnell; and Up to Home, by Beth Duda.

Kicking off the series is The Chimes. Playwright Kevin Christopher Snipes is the author of such plays as A Bitter Taste, Small Gods, Beautiful World, Party Lights and Hip-Skidoo. His work has been performed at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Bailiwick Repertory, New York Stage & Film, Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, Moving Arts, Hippodrome State Theatre (Fl), and as part of The Pittsburgh New Works Festival. He is the recipient of a 2008 Artists Fellow in Playwriting/Screenwriting from the New York Foundation for the Arts and an Alfred P. Sloan Screenwriting Fellowship. He has also been a finalist for the Princess Grace Playwriting Fellowship, the O'Neill Conference, Sundance Screenwriter's Lab and the Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship. His one-act Virgin Rock is published in "The Best Plays of the Riant Strawberry One-Act Festival: Vol 3." 

A shared idolization of Shakespearean verse is at the core of a brotherhood formed by four teenage boys. On the eve of the Second World War, the classmates find themselves fighting against their boarding school's subtle pro-German policies. Will their friendship survive or will a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions occur? The Chimes will be performed on Monday, May 4, at 7 p.m. in the Keating Theatre, Directed by Mikel Sarah Lambert.

The Richard and Betty Burdick Play Reading Series continues with Trumpery. Playwright Peter Parnell's plays include The Cider House Rules, Flaubert's Latest, Hyde In Hollywood, An Imaginary Life, QED, Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket, Romance Language, Scooter Thomas Makes It To The Top Of The World, and Sorrows of Stephen. Parnell is also noted for co-writing the "In This White House" episode of the West Wing series with Aaron Sorkin, and the book And Tango Makes Three with Justin Richardson.

It is 1858. Charles Darwin is about to unleash "The Origin of Species," and give the world his theory of natural selection. Darwin struggles with family illness, his own loss of faith, and an abiding fear of the controversy he will divulge to the world. A vibrantly comic and deeply moving exploration of the true events that pitched science into conflict with religion. Can faith endure in a world where it's survival of the fittest? Trumpery will be presented Monday, May 11, at 7 p.m. in the Keating Theatre, Directed by Cynthia White.

Rounding out the series will be Up to Home, by Beth Duda. Ms. Duda has been affiliated with FST since 1991 as an actress, playwright, teacher, and director. Most recently, Beth directed UNDER SIX, the compilation of winning plays written by elementary school students and David Harrower's Blackbird in the FST Stage III Series. As Associate Director of Youth Education, Ms. Duda teaches classes in Monologue, Scene Study, Play Production, Musical Theatre and a class for students with special needs. She has written, co-written, and conceived several one act plays including: Immigrant Children, Bus Stop, Hannah The Kid Detective, Vote for Me in '53, Playing Baseball in the Rain and Poof.

Unfinished business with family brings Doris back Up To Home. Will Doris be able to balance her sense of duty to her wacky clan, while remembering why she left them in the first place? Set in rural upstate New York, Up To Home is a heartfelt new comedy that examines the relationships we hold with our families and how we manage to cope with the eccentricities of family life. Up to Home will have its staged reading on Monday, May 18, at 7 p.m. in the Keating Theatre, Directed by Bob Turoff. 

The Richard and Betty Burdick Play Reading Series is a part of the Sarasota Festival of New Plays, a month-long celebration of new plays. However, new play development at FST extends beyond its festivals. FST is continually developing new works through a series of commissions, closed-door readings, workshop productions and development roundtables that create new work on a year-round basis. The Richard & Betty Burdick New Play Reading Series is often the culmination of years of work by writers and FST staff.
The Richard and Betty Burdick New Play Reading Series will be presented at 7:00 p.m. on May 4, May 11, and May 18 by invitation only, with no press reviews (in accordance with the League of Resident Theatres). All staged readings are at the Keating Theatre.

Known as Sarasota's Contemporary Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre was founded in 1973 by Jon Spelman. Starting out as a small touring company, FST traveled to places such as migrant camps and prisons. The company eventually settled down into a permanent home, acquiring the former Woman's Club building - now renamed the Keating Theatre. In the years that followed, Florida Studio Theatre established itself as a major force in American Theatre, presenting contemporary theatre in its three theatre venues: the Keating Theatre, the Goldstein Cabaret and its newest space, the Gompertz Theatre.

Even with its growth, Florida Studio Theatre remains firmly committed to making the arts accessible and affordable to a broad-based audience. Under Richard Hopkins, Artistic Director and CEO, FST develops theatre that speaks to our living, evolving, and dynamically changing world. As FST grows and expands, it continues to provide audiences with challenging, contemporary drama and innovative programs.

Florida Studio Theatre is grateful to the Florida Arts Council and the Sarasota County Arts Council, a Tourist Development Funded Program, for sponsoring the Sarasota Festival of New Plays.