The Roundtable Ensemble



Roundtable Readings 2008

June 23 - October 20, 2008

The Sol Goldman Y of The Educational Alliance
344 East 14th St

A free series of live theater readings where professional actors will read both time-honored and modern plays, bringing theater directly into local neighborhoods.

THE MINOTAUR by Anna Ziegler, Directed by Linsay Firman
The Minotaur is a loose adaptation of the myth in which Theseus, with the help of Ariadne, kills the Minotaur and steals Ariadne away with him, off Crete, and into an uncertain future. Poetic, quirky and about the vagaries of storytelling, The Minotaur is set in a timeless present where Ariadne dreams of her wedding to Theseus being listed in The New York Times and a chorus consisting of a rabbi, priest and lawyer take on themes of love, loss, our primal selves and forgiveness. With Shawn Fagan, Effie Johnson, John Krupp, Michael Milligan, Morgan Rosse and Mike Shaprio.

FORCE OF NATURE by Steven Dietz, Directed by Jesse Edward Rosbrow
A play of extravagant romance and combustible desire, FORCE OF NATURE brings together the "perfect couple" — Edward and Charlotte — with two persons from their past: a beautiful young woman and an older man, Edward's best friend. Beneath the placid exteriors of their lives, a storm is awakening - a rush of dangerous passions which shall alter their lives forever. Freely adapted from Goethe's Elective Affinities, FORCE OF NATURE is a lush, eloquent drama about the consequences of desire and the power of destiny. With Lyndsay Becker, Nathan Brisby, Devon Caraway, Bryan Close, Rich Lovejoy, Kent Meister, Caitlin McColl, Max Woertendyke and Morgan Anne Zipf.

12th NIGHT PROJECT, Directed by Miriam Tobin
An all female tongue-in-cheek, high style comic remix of Shakespeare's classic tale of mistaken identity. Influenced by Commedia del'Arte, British Pantomime, and Kitchen Sink, five women play all the characters, sometimes onstage with themselves at the same time! With Ruthie Bornstein, Liz Eggers, Mikaela Feely-Lehmann, Miriam Tobin and Arden Waletowski.

THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH by Thorton Wilder, Directed by Andrew Grosso
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the play is a hilarious romp through human experience, taking in many of the prominent voices in literary history. A timeless statement about human foibles ... and human endurance. With B. Brian Argotsinger, Arthur Aulisi, David Barlow, Lethia Nall, Susan Louis O'Connor, Liv Rooth and Tommy Schrider.

TRUST FOUND Written & Directed by Aaron Gonzalez
with original composition by Felix Ventouras
A young woman loves a man, labors his child and is left to fend for herself; three times. Finally, she finds a way out and takes it, leaving her three children with only each other. Will the adage "blood is thicker than water" hold true for these three? Or will the blood of their different fathers thin their trust? With Judy Alvarez, Jessica Angleskhan, Garrett Clapp, Matteo Eckerle, Rand Guerrero and Jared Morgenstern.