2023 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: Courtney Taylor and Ruoxin Xu.

Courtney Taylor’s No Entrance

No Entrance is an experimental comedy about sex, gender, and trauma. The play follows the strange and queer journey of Charlotte, a chronically-ill recent college grad with vaginismus, a condition that makes penetration difficult. She turns to an offbeat, DIY lab that creates genital attachments to aid with intimacy, run by Victoria, a trans inventor from Charlotte’s past, and Victoria’s two zany sidekicks. The play riffs on common tropes in queer storytelling as chaos and self-discovery ensue.

Ruoxin Xu’s Orphans in China 

Yue Ran is ghosted by her boyfriend. But her little tragedy pales compared to the sudden lockdown of Shanghai and the ensuing chaos. People face a food shortage, are not allowed to leave their residential compounds, or are even forced to a quarantine camp if they test Covid positive. Most importantly, the bubble of Shanghai, the most liberal city in China, breaks. Later, when the Chinese president takes a groundbreaking third term in power, Yue Ran and her friends all know the crisis is no longer the virus. As the strict “zero-Covid” policy carries on, Yue Ran reveals her secret of pregnancy and is surprisingly informed of her boyfriend’s whereabouts.

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.