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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:
Tracking by Juliet Izon
Dramaturg: Kamilah Bush
TRACKING is a one act, two-hander that takes place during the present day at a small recording studio in New York City. EMILY, irreverent and evasive, is recording narration for a radio play: her very first gig doing so. Taciturn JACK is her sound engineer, who knows quite a lot more about her than he first lets on. Neither is in the role of which they dreamed, and both aren’t quite sure how they’ll ever get there. Over a series of sometimes-tense, sometimes-hilarious recording sessions one fall, Emily and Jack discover what happens when the secrets you keep—whether from others or yourself—are thrust into the light and can no longer be ignored.
Juliet Izon
Juliet Izon is a Filipino-Italian American journalist and author who has written for publications including the New York Times, Vogue, and Condé Nast Traveler. A graduate of Trinity College, she lives with her husband, daughter, and two Ragdoll cats in New York. When she’s not writing, you can usually find her at a show: Broadway, ballet, art, or a concert. Her debut novel, The Encore, will be published by Hachette in spring 2026. Tracking is her first play.
Rinsed by Felice Locker
Dramaturg: Lindsay Lutes
Rinsed tells the story of Angela, a minimum wage caregiver, and Clarissa, the client recovering from surgery that hired her, who confuse giving and taking. During a morning shift filled with chitchat and chores, Angela gives Clarissa the news that it’s her last day on the job, but Clarissa refuses to let her go. Class and privilege are probed as the two women suffer their pain and desires, manipulate truths, and reveal the darker side of compassion to remind us that we don’t know someone until we do.
Felice Locker
Felice Locker was co-creator/co-writer of SCARS:UNMASKED produced at Red Rocks Community College. The Skeleton Rep(resents) NYC developed and presented Mud Season. Other works produced by Theatre 29 Denver/The Three Leaches at Buntport Theatre, and at FEED:Après by The Catamounts. SHE PERSISTED: One Hundred Monologues from Plays by Women over Forty includes Felice’s monologue. Theatre 29 Denver CoLab Residency, 2020-2022. Finalist: Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Twice Semi-Finalist: O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. Up Next: Annual Gary Wideman Festival and INK & IMAGINATION.
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]
