Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced plays to be featured in its Summer 2023 Fridays@3 Reading Series, which will feature a new play every Friday at 3 PM.
The series runs alongside the company's previously announced Summer 2023 Main Stage Reading Series, which has a lineup that includes Hamish Linklater's Paris, ACTORS!; Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters; and Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman.
The newly announced Fridays@3 Series plays will include Kamilah Bush's Nick and the Prizefighter, Cindy Lou Johnson's Plunder and Lightning, Clarence Coo's Chapters of a Floating Life, and Aurora Real de Asua's Wipeout.
The Fridays@3 Reading Series begins July 14 with Bush's Nick and the Prizefighter, directed by Kristolyn Lloyd. Featuring Dane Dehaan, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Amber Iman, and dL Sams, the play follows Selah, a caregiver for her famous father, playwright Forest Thompson. Young dramaturg and writer Nick Beerman helps Forest complete his life's work before the clock runs out, while Selah fights for control of her father's legacy. Nick and the Prizefighter will feature music composed by Brittany Campbell.
Johnson's Plunder and Lightning will be presented July 21. Portia Krieger is at the helm of the play, which will feature Samantha Bohrer, Johanna Day, Annie Golden, Nina Grollman, and John Pankow. Plunder and Lightning follows Tina and George as they prepare for an important party, but their plans go awry when their daughter, Rikki, shows up on the run from the police, while Tina's stepmother threatens charges of elder abuse.
Coo's Chapters of a Floating Life will be presented July 28, featuring Grant Chang, James Chen, Leah Getz, Teresa Avia Lim, and Diana Oh. Directed by Jennifer Chang, the play follows two couples from China living in New York City following World War II. One couple lives uptown, obsessed with a past of poetry, painting and gardens, while the other couple faces the day-to-day reality of keeping their Chinatown restaurant in business. Their worlds come together when the two women find each other in Central Park.
The Fridays@3 Reading Series will conclude August 4 with Aurora Real de Asua's Wipeout, directed by Maggie Burrows. Featuring Emily Kuroda and Becky Ann Baker, the play follows 77-year-old Gary, whose only birthday wish is to go surfing, though she doesn't know how. Her two best friends plus a teenage surf instructor step in to give her the ride of a lifetime.
This Williamstown season will focus on minimally staged productions in order to focus the company's resources on reimagining the Festival's operations in light of current and former employees speaking out against the festival's work culture.
For more information, visit WTFestival.org.
