Read and Rant (5/17)

Read & Rant is Athena Project’s book club exploring plays written primarily by women. We read one or two scripts or ancillary materials during the month and meet every third Monday online via Zoom, to discuss the works. Learn what makes a good script, discuss how it affects us, and explore the ways it links to the larger world. Converse with invited guests who bring an in-depth knowledge base. This monthly free offering to the community aims to raise awareness of the under-representation of women’s stories on stage.

As summer approaches with the start of May, so does our newest Read & Rant discussion! This month we will be celebrating the work of award-winning playwright, lyricist, and librettist Jenny Stafford, whose works have been heard on Broadway, regionally, and internationally. Our discussion will focus on her script, Eleanor and Dolly, a story of an ambitious high school senior and her quest to marry her high school sweetheart (despite not having one at the moment). Also joining us to Read & Rant will be Heather Beasley of Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company, who will help facilitate the discussion. We hope to see you there!

Playwright Bio:
Jenny Stafford’s is an award-winning playwright, lyricist, and librettist.  BROADWAY: Cirque du Soleil’s Paramour (Broadway/Hamburg).  OFF BROADWAY: The Artist and the Scientist (CAP21), Two Bugs  are Better than One (New York City Children’s Theatre). REGIONAL: The Homefront (Village Theatre Originals, Beta Series), Extended Stay (Florida Festival of New Musicals, Rhinebeck Writer’s Retreat),  Prodigy (CCU, CDP, Two Rivers, Indiana University), Awakening, Beating a Dead Horse (Reva Shiner Comedy Award Winner, Bloomington Playwrights Project), Secret Hour (Prologue Theatre, Virtual New Works Festival).  INTERNATIONAL: Some Kind of Weasel (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Alive (The Space UK Edinburgh, published with Pioneer Publishing), Paramour (Hamburg).  Her work has been featured at Lincoln Center (The Lyrics of Jennifer Stafford), Joe’s Pub, Ars Nova, 54 Below, Prospect Theatre, Barrington Stage, and elsewhere. AWARDS: The 2017 Reva Shiner Comedy Award, an ASCAP Plus Award, two-time finalist status for the Kleban Prize, and finalist for the Yale Institute for Music Theatre, the Eugene O’Neill Musical Theatre Conference, and the Ronald M. Ruble New Play Competition.  ARTIST IN RESIDENCE: Rhinebeck Writer’s Retreat, Goodspeed Musicals, Johnny Mercer Writer’s Colony.  Dramatists Guild member; MFA NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

OBTAINING THE SCRIPTS: 

To access this month’s Read & Rant, please register through the link below  You will gain access to the Zoom link and the play we are reading by registering for the event here:

Please be sure to check your Eventbrite confirmation email for the Zoom link to join this month’s meeting as well as the links to this month’s material.

FOLLOWING THIRD MONDAY READ & RANTS of 2021
Next date: June 21, 2021