Schedule of Forthcoming Play Reading Events

Except where otherwise noted, all meetings are via Zoom on Friday afternoons from 3:00 to 5:00 pm EST.  We have planned in-person events at members' homes for June and July.  Please contact Alice Roth if you are interested in attending.

Apr. 11 & 25: (Facilitator: Alice Roth)  Major Barbara by Bernard Shaw.  Born in Ireland in 1856, Shaw is considered one of the greatest playwrights in the English language.  A comedy and social satire, Major Barbara was first performed in London in 1905.  Story: Barbara Undershaft, an idealistic young woman and Salvation Army major, clashes with her wealthy father, an arms manufacturer.  What is the best way to help the poor?  Faith and charity or capitalism?  The play was adapted for film and appeared in 1941, starring Wendy Hiller and Rex Harrison, directed by Gabriel Pascal and edited by David Lean.

May 9 & 30:  (Facilitator: Peter Podol) The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance.  Winner of a Tony Award for Best Play, The Elephant Man premiered in London in 1977.  This play opens at the Berkshire Theater Festival (Unicorn) on May 28. From the Berkshire Theater website: "set in Victorian England, the play follows Joseph Merrick, a man whose severe physical deformities make him a target of cruelty and exploitation. Rescued from a life in a traveling sideshow, he finds refuge in a London hospital, where he forms an unlikely bond with a celebrated physician. As society debates whether to view him as a medical curiosity or a man of intelligence and grace, The Elephant Man explores the struggle to be seen for who we truly are.”

June:  (Date TBD) Madam Mozart, The Lacrimosa by Anne Undeland.  IN-PERSON EVENT.  Berkshires-based playwright Anne Undeland’s new play will open at the Great Barrington Public Theater on Bard’s Simon Rock campus on July 10.  We will be meeting with the playwright to read the play, ask questions, and discuss.  This is your chance to learn about the play-writing process. From the website:  "Constanze Mozart, wife of the great composer, struggles mightily in the wake of his too-early death in 1791 — to feed her children, to survive her own shattering grief, and to secure her husband’s astonishing musical legacy by completing his great unfinished masterwork, the Requiem in D Minor. ... the perennially-underestimated Constanze Mozart digs deep to find a way to not only prevail but to triumph—in the end, she’s the last woman standing, smarter and braver than everyone else in her story.  

Saturdays, July 19 & July 26, 10am - Noon:  (Facilitator: Mara Winn).  IN-PERSON EVENT.  A Case for the Existence of God by Samuel D. Hunter.  This play won the 2022 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play and will be performed at the Chester Theatre in July and August.  Stay tuned for a message from OLLI concerning a Special Event.  OLLI members will be able to register and pay for tickets to the July 24 matinee and lunch at the Chester Railway Museum.  From the theater website:  "Somewhere in the middle of America, Keith, a mortgage broker, and Ryan, a yogurt plant worker, unexpectedly let each other into their own fragile worlds. Negotiations of bank loans transform into talk of financial insecurity and the precariousness of parenthood, as the two realize they share a 'specific kind of sadness.’” 

Getting the Scripts

We will be reading from the editions listed below.  You may be able to find copies at your local public library.

Major Barbara by Bernard Shaw.  Available for free on Project Gutenberg here.

The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance, Grove Press, 1979.  Available from Amazon here as a $9 paperback and on Kindle.  

A Case for the Existence of God by Samuel D. Hunter, Theatre Communications Group, 2024.  Available from Amazon here as a $15 paperback and on Kindle.