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2025 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 :
The Ninth Annual Hemlock Avenue Barbecue by Katie Kirk
Dramaturg Facilitator: Dalyla McGee
Corey’s just bought a house in the suburbs, ready for a new start. Life’s great! Except…turns out Corey’s next-door neighbor Adam has been harboring a grudge against his twin brother Thomas, and he’ll stop at nothing to achieve retribution. Even if it tears the whole neighborhood apart. Loosely inspired by Seneca’s grisly revenge play Thyestes, The Ninth Annual Hemlock Avenue Barbecue is part dark comedy, part bleak horror-tragedy—set in the most terrifying place imaginable: modern American suburbia.
Katie Kirk
Katie Kirk is a Brooklyn-based playwright & screenwriter. Most recently, their screenplay The Thallium Murders was awarded a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and selected as a semifinalist for the Humanitas 2024 Carol Mendelsohn College Drama Award. Full-length plays include The Ninth Annual Hemlock Avenue Barbecue (Carnegie Mellon New Works), EGGMAN (Mary Marlin Fisher Playwriting Award), and Centripetal Force (NormalAve NAPSeries semifinalist, 2023). Katie’s short plays have been adapted for the screen and published by Concord Theatricals/Samuel French.
Miss Moonlite BBQ Pageant by Sage Martin
Dramaturg Facilitator: Kara Emily Krantz
The Miss Moonlite BBQ Pageant is half barbecue cook off, half beauty pageant. Marnie doesn’t know a thing about her family history, small towns, or beauty pageants, but she does know something about barbecue. Following the recent death of her mother, Marnie and her estranged grandfather confront their fractured history the only way they know how: entering the Miss Moonlight Barbecue pageant for the very first time.
Sage Martin
Sage (she/her/Mx). As a playwright, Sage has been commissioned by Lower Depth Theater, named a finalist for the Carlo Annoni Prize, and awarded the 2024 Al Smith Fellowship. As a screenwriter, Sage’s work has been seen at the Austin Film Festival, drive-in theaters across the US, and in 11 countries. She also presented at the Statera National Conference, testified before congress, and spoke for Bernie Sander’s tour. She is a proud graduate of Paul McCartney’s Institute for Performing Arts. www.Sage-Martin.com
Evening hosted by Athena Project’s Literary Manager, Emily Perez, and we are joined by Read & Rant’s Resident Dramaturg, Samara Siskind.
After you register for a session, you will receive a confirmation email that includes information on how to access our featured scripts. You must click the link in this email, and it will take you to the scripts. We want everyone to participate who would like to learn more about these talented playwrights and their plays.
When you register for the event on Eventbrite, you should receive a confirmation email.
- Email subject line will say “Order Confirmation for Athena Project: Read & Rant [month, year]”. This initial email has a synopsis and the links to both scripts.
- Two days prior to the event, you should receive another email with the subject line “Reminder for Athena Project: Read & Rant [month, year].” This email also includes the synopsis and links to both scripts.
- Plan to read scripts well in advance before the Zoom meeting
Please note that the scripts don’t come as attachments, they are .pdf links. So the body of the email will contain two paragraphs with the details of that month’s scripts.
For example:
Mak Shealy’ s Victorian Psychedelic Sleepover Play
On the eve of a 16th birthday, four teens meet after their writing is rejected by the school lit mag to create a Literary Zine of their own. Seeking editorial guidance, they conjure the ghosts of writers past and find themselves possessed by the spirit, chaos and conflict of the Victorian Era radicals they have long admired.
Content Warning: bullying, blood/bodily fluids, discussion of IVF, birth, substance use, disordered eating implied
You must click the link, and it will take you to the script.
If there are any questions or concerns please contact [email protected]
