The Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA) presents InterPlay, a play reading series featuring readings of three contemporary plays over the course of four days, at Severson Theatre in Santa Maria. The series begins with a reading of The Cake, by Bekah Brunstetter, on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. Two feuding brides and a wedding cake baker are forced to re-examine their lives during this comedy, which will also be read on Sunday, Sept. 22, at 1:30 p.m.
Readings of Mary Jane, by Amy Herzog, will take place on Friday, Sept. 20, and Saturday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m. on both evenings. The titular character in this moving drama is a single mother caring for her sick child. The third play featured in the series is Peerless, by Jiehae Park, a darkly humorous Macbeth homage about two sisters willing to do anything in order to get into college. Readings will be held on Saturday, Sept. 21, at 1:30 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m. Each of the three plays chosen are less than 2 years old, all debuting in 2017.
“We’re really happy to bring new theatrical voices to the cultural conversation on the Central Coast,” Artistic Director Mark Booher said in a press release from PCPA. “InterPlay is one of the ways in which we investigate scripts that we’ve found exciting on the page, while we deliver fresh ideas and encourage rich dialogue in this uniquely pleasurable form of ‘hearing’ a play.”
Each reading in the InterPlay series is followed by a talkback with the performers. Parental guidance is encouraged due to adult language and mature themes. Admission to each show is $10. The Severson Theatre is located at Allan Hancock College, 800 S. College Drive, Santa Maria. Call (805) 922-8313 or visit pcpa.org for more info.
This article appears in Sep 12-19, 2019.