Live Reading April 7: “She Wrote Plays” Audio Drama Series
Date: 04/07/2024
Time: 5:00 pm
What if women wrote great plays but everyone forgot about them? Even though their themes remain super relevant?
WTJU 91.1 FM and UVA Drama present “She Wrote Plays” – new takes on works from a century ago by forgotten women playwrights. Charlottesville-based playwrights, tech producers, and actors have taken these old scripts and adapted them into modern radio dramas.
Join us for a live kick-off event on April 7th at 5 p.m. at UVA’s Helms Theatre. Actors and a foley producer will perform a live enactment of two plays by Alice Gerstenberg, best known for her experimental, feminist dramas of the 1920s & 1930s. Talk-back to follow.
This event is free and open to the public.
“These playwrights are largely forgotten now, not owing to the quality of their work, but because the feminist themes they explored seemed of only passing interest to male-dominated producers, critics, and even audiences,” said Doug Grissom, UVA Drama professor. “However, these are lively, vibrant plays. They deserve to be rediscovered.”
These two performances and six more plays will be released by WTJU as an audio drama podcast this summer.
“America is undergoing an audio storytelling resurgence, and podcasting has opened up audio storytelling to new creators pursuing new forms to reach new audiences. We’re excited to share the work of important women playwrights from a century ago – and their themes that still resonate today,” said Nathan Moore, WTJU General Manager.
The audio drama series serves as a hands-on learning opportunity for UVA students. Alongside professional staff & faculty, students have been involved in this project as actors, writers, and assistant technical producers.
