2024 Read and Rant

Athena Project’s Read & Rant program seeks to combine the sharing of theatrical work with the wider public and the new play development aspects of our former Plays In Progress Series while also fostering collaboration between playwrights and dramaturgs. Think book club for plays! Learn what makes a good script, discuss how it affects us, and explore the ways it links to the larger world. This monthly free offering to the community aims to raise awareness of the under-representation of women’s stories on stage.

Each month, we read two new and unproduced scripts selected from a nationwide call for submissions and typically meet every third Monday online via Zoom to discuss the works. Join us to converse with invited playwrights who bring an in-depth knowledge of the works and theatrical writing at large. Guided by a dramaturg, we also invite you to share your constructive comments, thoughts, and affirmations in order to aid in the development process of the pieces.

This month we will be featuring two playwrights selected from our Read & Rant lottery:

Kara Emily Krantz’ s InValidated

In the wake of an unfulfilling marriage, Katherine returns home to be confronted by the realization that something is terribly broken within the family. Desperate to be heard, Katherine pulls from her stores of memories and pain to vocalize a new identity, both for herself and her family – to finally use her powerful, poetic voice to pave a better way.

Melinda Gros’s MS. OCTOBER

MS. OCTOBER is the tale of two developing personalities – one politically astute, one not – as they arrive as unfertilized eggs at their new studio, greet visiting sailors, go on first dates (sadly, the sailors’ life spans are too short for a second date), are fertilized by two lucky winners, grow from one cell-wonders through nine months of mis-hearing and mis-understanding what they hear, until they are ejected from paradise and are born as burping, peeing, crying babies. They each develop distinct personalities, talents and world-views, and one of them – but only one – discovers that being born erases their memories and all the songs and stories they have learned – and even erases their intimacy as ‘besties’.

After you register for a session, you will receive information on how to access our featured scripts. We want everyone to participate who would like to learn more about these talented playwrights and their plays.