TheaterSounds

Dear Friends and Audients,

Welcome back to the friendly world of TheaterSounds.

Our September reading will be OUR MOTHER'S BRIEF AFFAIR, a play of razor-sharp wit and extraordinary insight, written by TONY Award winner Richard Greenberg, known for his subversively humorous depictions of middle-class life.

NICOLA SHEARA will be featured as "our Mother" along with an exceptional cast directed by MARNIE ANDREWS.

STORY:
On the verge of death for the umpteenth time, Anna makes a shocking confession to her grown children: an affair from her past that just might have resonance beyond the family. But how much of what she says is true? While her children try to separate fact from fiction, Anna fights for a legacy she can be proud of. With lively wit and piercing insight, OUR MOTHER'S BRIEF AFFAIR considers the sweeping, surprising impact of indiscretions both large and small.

REVIEW:
OUR MOTHER'S BRIEF AFFAIR is the sort of everyday detective story in which the prolific Mr. Greenberg has long specialized...he juxtaposes a generational then-and-now to consider how little we know about the lies that impinge upon and shape our own...This brooding comedy of memory unfolds as a retrospectively played game of truth and consequences, though just what the truth is will remain ambiguous. THE NEW YORK TIMES

You are enthusiastically invited to join us on Saturday, September 24 AT 7:30 PM
at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills
320 Sawkill Road
Kingston, NY 12401

ADMISSION BY DONATION

Our next reading will be a MATINEE
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23 at 3pm.

INFORMATION; 845 657-6303

Dear Friends and Audients:

We hope your summer has been sun-filled, tick-free, poison ivy-absent and resplendent with joy, if tempered by political angst.
We will launch our new season in September with readings on the fourth Saturday of each month through June, which will include the following new features:

* One matinee

* One audience favorite to be remounted by us and selected by you from a list of our most popular readings

* Several bravura solo performances

* Explorations into Artificial Intelligence

* Recently published Broadway plays

* The usual selection of irreverent, irksome, irascible, exciting, entertaining, and engrossing** fare you have come to expect.

We look forward to having you join us on Saturday, September 24 at 7:30 pm for our reading of................it's a surprise

**enchanting, edgy, enriching, edifying, elating, ennobling exercises in theatricality

Until our return, take advantage of these theater offerings:

COMEDY OF ERRORS
presented by Bird/on/a/Cliff Shakespeare Company at the Comeau property, Woodstock, NY
Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 5pm through August 7

3 SHORT PLAYS BY HORTON FOOTE
presented by Horton By The Stream at Elka Park in Tannersville, NY
Sunday August 7, Saturday and Sunday August 13 and 14 at 2pm
www.hortonbythestream.org

SEVERELY FRACTURED FAIRY TALES
presented by BOAC at the Comeau property, Woodstock, NY
Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 5pm August 12 - September 14

HAPPY DAYS by Samuel Beckett
presented by the Woodstock Fringe at the Byrdcliffe Theatre, Woodstock, NY
Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm Sunday at 2 pm August 11 - 21
www.woodstockfringe.org

Go well,

Nicola

Mark St. Germain is this season's featured playwright (BECOMING DR. RUTH, DANCING LESSONS)

Dear Friends and Fellow Thespos:

We will present a sizzling evening for our last reading before our summer hiatus:

SCOTT AND HEM, by Mark St. Germain
Directed by Norman Thomas Marshall with John D. Alexander*, Johnny Morelli* and Nicola Sheara*

PRECIS:

In 1937, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, famous authors and frenemies, meet in Hollywood - the City of Dreams - to confront their own. SCOTT AND HEM is a drama about the cost of love, friendship, and the price of being a writer. Some rough language is bandied about by thes two wordsmiths, so you might like to place a bet on who wins the stand-off...

REVIEWS:

"The obvious comparison is to St. Germain's biggest hit, FREUD'S LAST SESSION, a philosophical encounter between two academics.....this new play finds its central characters locking horns.....with the sense that their lives depend on it. This time there are (metaphorical) blood and guts on the floor." -RuralIntelligence.com

"With SCOTT AND HEM we can add another play of St. Germain's to those which bring us new perspectives about familiar characters. Once again the playwright turbo-charges our imaginations." -BroadwayWorld.com

"Probably no one can mine the drama found in encounters between historical figures better than playwright Mark St.Germain." -Examiner.com

You are warmly invited to join us at:

At the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills
320 Sawkill Road, Kingston

*Appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association

ADMISSION BY DONATION

Information: 845/657-6303
Find us on Facebook and at www.theatersounds.com

ALERT:
Sawkill Road is closed for bridge repairs between Washington Avenue and the UUCC.
Take Route 209 to the Sawkill Road exit and go South one and a half miles, and left at the UUCC entrance.

As we are tossed about by the vicissitudes of life, weather, politics and the machinations of everyday relationships, come settle into the arms of "this play that will have you laughing one moment and crying unabashedlythe next"* - THE GOOD FATHER by Christian O'Reilly, brought to searing life by Leigh Adel-Arnold and Jed Peterson** under the direction of Nicola Sheara.
*The Poughkeepsie Journal
**Appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association\

First performed by The Druid Theatre Company at the 25th Galway ArtsFestival in Galway, Ireland.

PRECIS:

"It's New Year's Eve and most of the party guests are in the kitchen admiring photos of their babies. But two lonely strangers find themselves cut off from the rest. Jane was invited because she knows the people in the kitchen. Tim was invited because he painted the kitchen. Jane drunkenly asks Tim, "What are you doing for sex tonight?" And a few weekslater she calls him with some unexpected news: she's pregnant...

REVIEWS:

"....Peppered with sharp dialog and witty one-liners, the script hovers between tragedy and comedy as O'Reilly emphasizes the chasm that divides the pair while tracing the ongoing development of their unlikelyrelationship...the drama looks likely for future productions this side of the Atlantic." --Variety

"O'Reilly's play is a voyage of discovery...His handling of dramatic action is so obviously skillful...a piece of theatre whose power lies in its refusal to pretend. It is what it is: the bones of a play exposed tothe light that shines through it, but identifiably, unmistakeably human. O'Reilly's brilliant THE GOOD FATHER...taps the emotions as few plays do,probing the minds and confusions of two people in trouble with life and with each other." --The Irish Times

"THE GOOD FATHER'S hilarious banter has the audience in stitches for the better part of two hours, and still doesn't interfere with the character's emotional development...This is inescapable, electric dialog...which is crisp, incisive and intelligent, and hangs like a garland around the depths of daily misery and pain...It's the substance of every romantic tale that's ever been told and yet it shines through as if new, thanks to writing that skims along at breakneck pace." --Irish Independent

You are cordially, and enthusiastically invited to join us at THEATERSOUNDS
Saturday, May 21 at 7:30 pm
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills
320 Sawkill Road, Kingston

ADMISSION IS BY DONATION

ALERT
Sawkill Road is closed for bridge repairs between Washington Avenue and the UUCC.
Take Route 209 to the Sawkill Road exit and go South one and a half miles, and left at the UUCC entrance.

INFORMATION: 845/657-6303

Dear Friends and Audients
As things heat up......** Theater Sounds is pleased to bring you a sizzlling confrontation between two worthy, if unequal, adversaries:
A PICASSO by Jeffrey Hatcher
with Parker Cross and Nicola Sheara* directed by David Aston-Reese
STORY: Paris, 1941. Pablo Picasso has been summoned from his favorite cafe by German occupaton forces to a storage vault across the city for an interrogation. His questioner: Fischer, a "cultural attache" from Berlin. Her assignment: discover which of three Picasso paintings rec- ently "confiscated" by the Nazis from their Jewish owners are real. The ministry of propaganda has planned an exhibit, and only the great artist himself can attest to their authenticity. When Picasso discovers the true nature of the exibition, he engages in a pressurized negotiation with the equally determined and wily Miss Fischer to hold onto his artworks . The result: a witty, clever and engaging cat-and-mouse drama about art, politics, sex and truth,** with a twist at its climax.
REVIEWS:
"Artful, remarkable and genuinely dramatic, with impressive sensitivity and wit." -The New York Daily News
"Sex, art, Nazis and a classy twentieth century icon, all wrapped up like a tasty cultural burrito. Expertly done" -The Star-Ledger
"A polished production with carefully sprung surprises." -The New York Times
"If I were a betting man (and who isn't in the theater), I'd wager that we'll be seeing a lot of Jeffrey Hatcher's new play over the next few years...brace for a Picasso bonanza. An exceptionally sharp piece of writing coming soon, no doubt, to a theater near you." -The New York Sun
You are invited, nay encouraged, to join us on Saturday, April 30 at 7:30 pm
For Jeffrey Hatcher's exciting play A PICASSO
at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills
320 Sawkill Rd. Kingston 12401
ADMISSION BY DONATION
Information: 845/657-6303 917/570-8782
*Appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association **see above

7:30 PM

Dear Audience Members - and Re-members

As the daylight lengthens we are pleased to welcome back our featured
playwright for this season, Mark St. Germain. His play, BECOMING DR.
RUTH was a hit (a palpable hit) in November, and the playwright will
again join us onstage to participate in the reading.

DANCING LESSONS
by Mark St. Germain
Featuring Dannah Chaifetz, David Smilow and Mr. St. Germain
With some direction by Nicola Sheara

STORY:

"DANCING LESSONS centers on Ever, a young man with Asperger's
syndrome, who seeks the instruction of a Broadway dancer to learn
enough dancing to survive an awards dinner in his honor. The dancer,
Senga, however, is recovering from an injury that may end her dancing
career. As their relationship unfolds, they're both caught off-guard
by the discoveries - both hilarious and heartwarming -that they make
about each other and themselves."

REVIEWS:

"You don't want it to end...."
- The
Boston Globe"

"Laughs abound in this play and so do those plucked heartstrings....A
perfect evening of theatre."
-
BerkshireBrightFocus.com

"DANCING LESSONS goes beyond the conventions of a romantic comedy to
an enthralling evening....totally absorbing....brilliantly
conceived...."
-
BroadwayWorld.com

"A terrific new romantic comedy....frequently and deeply funny....the
best play of Mark St. Germain's I've yet seen."
- Albany
Times Union

You are cordially and enthusiastically invited to join us at

THEATERSOUNDS
on Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 7:30 pm
at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills
320 Sawkill Road, Kingston

ADMISSION BY DONATION

Dear Treasured Colleagues of, in and at Theater:

In this weird weather climate and in this even weirder political
climate, TheaterSounds will take the Texas bull by the horns and
present for its next sizzling reading

RED HOT PATRIOT
the kick-ass wit of MOLLY IVINS
by Margaret Engel and Allison Engel
directed by Nicola Sheara
featuring Nancy Rothman* ably abetted by Ken Thompson

(We will refrain from declaring that we will out-trump the current
circus happening around us with this witty and intelligent piece.)

PRECIS:

"The story of the unsinkable Molly Ivins, the famously brassy
newspaper columnist and best-selling author. A true Texas original,
Ivins was a sharp-tongued wit who skewered the political
establishment and the 'good ol' boys' with her unforgettable humor
and wisdom. Written by twin sisters, themselves longtime journalists,
the play celebrates Ivins' courage and tenacity - even when a
complacent America wasn't listening."

REVIEWS:

"A memorable portrait of a crusading journalist who broke gender
barriers to establish herself as one of the nation's most influential
and compassionate political columnists."

- TheaterMania.com
"RED HOT PATRIOT is an inspiring piece of theater."

- Broad Street Review

You are cordially and enthusiastically invited to join us at
THEATERSOUNDS
on Saturday, February 27 at 7:30pm at
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills
320 Sawkill Road, Kingston

ADMISSION BY DONATION

*Appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association

Information: 845/657-6303

14th Season

From ANNAPURNA Sharr White 1/24/15 to present

NEXT FALL Geoffrey Nauffts 2/22/15

THE HOW AND THE WHY Sarah Treem 3/21/15

ANY GIVEN MONDAY Bruce Graham 4/18/15

2 ACROSS Jerry Mayer 5/24/15

SIDE EFFECTS Michael Weller 6/21/15

BAKERSFIELD MIST Stephen Sachs 9/ /15

BUYER & CELLAR Jonathan Tolins 10/ /15

BECOMING DR. RUTH Mark St. Germain 11/21/15

THE SECRET MASK Richard Chafe 12/19/15

THEATERSOUNDS presents the final reading before our summer hiatus - another EXTRA SPECIAL MATINEE on SUNDAY JUNE 21 AT 4PM.

SIDE EFFECTS - a surprising drama by Michael Weller. Directed by Nicola Sheara with Olivia Horton*

Those of you who were mesmerized by last year's reading of WHAT THE NIGHT IS FOR by Michael Weller, will welcome back the character, LINDY, so
wonderfully portrayed by (the then pregnant) Olivia Horton*. We will visit the marriage of Lindy and Hugh which exists on the other end of the telephone that kept interrupting the affair she was conducting with Adam.

This unsettling and outrageously humorous and gratifying companion piece will keep you fascinated as the little plot points explode into big bombshells.

Reading at:
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills
320 Sawkill Road, Kingston
Information: 845/657-6303

*Appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association

(Listings subject to change due to availability of actors and licenses.)

Suggested donation is $5.00 or more.