TWO DO-NOT-MISS READINGS FROM ATLANTIC THEATER
Atlantic Theater Company in New York is presenting a free virtual reading series of plays that had their World Premieres at Atlantic Theater Company. The Fall Reunion Reading Series launches October 22, 2020, and will include broadcasts of Dominique Morisseau’s amazing Skeleton Crew (review) and Rajiv Joseph’s best play to date, Guards at the Taj (review). Tickets to the exclusive virtual remountings, which will be broadcast via Atlantic Theater Company’s YouTube channel, are free and available to reserve here, with a suggested donation of $25 per viewer.
Skeleton Crew, helmed by original director Ruben Santiago-Hudson, features original cast members Jason Dirden, Wendell B. Franklin, Nikiya Mathis, and Adesola Osakulumi, along with new cast member Caroline Clay. Skeleton Crew will broadcast on Thursday, October 22 at 7pm, Friday, October 23 at 7pm and Saturday, October 24 at 2 and 7pm (EST for all showings). In Morisseau’s third play in her Detroit trilogy, a makeshift family of workers at the last exporting auto plant in the city navigate the possibility of foreclosure. Power dynamics shift, and they are pushed to the limits of survival. When the line between blue collar and white collar gets blurred, how far over the lines are they willing to step? Runs 100 minutes with intermission.
Directed by the great Amy Morton, the 80-minute virtual reading of Guards at the Taj will reunite Omar Metwally and Arian Moayed in their original Obie Award-winning roles and will broadcast on Thursday, November 5 at 7pm, Friday, November 6 at 7pm, and Saturday, November 7 at 2 and 7pm (EST for all showings). It’s 1648 India, and two Imperial Guards watch from their post as the sun rises for the first time on the newly-completed Taj Mahal — an event that shakes their respective worlds. When they are ordered to perform an unthinkable task, the aftermath forces them to question the concept of friendship, beauty and duty, and changes them forever.
Following each weekend of performances, Atlantic Theater Company will present Live with Atlantic: Remix, a free creative conversation about the artistic process of each play. On Sunday, October 25 at 4pm, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage will interview Dominique Morisseau about Skeleton Crew and her celebrated body of work. On Sunday, November 8 at 3pm Rajiv Joseph and Amy Morton will interview each other about collaborating on Guards at the Taj, their artistic processes and careers.
