The 2 PM reading of A.R. Gurney's The Guest-Lecturer will feature Tony winner Frances Sternhagen. Antony Marsellis directs. "Mona begins the play by addressing the audience," according to press notes. "Right after she introduces herself she adds, 'Please don't applaud. We don't have time.' In fact it seems that Mona, who is delightfully unprepared and inappropriate, has plenty of time. The Guest Lecturer, a young man who has come to discuss the future of the American theatre (which is the topic of his thesis), is distracted when Mona mentions that one of the lecturers in the past was murdered. The rest is history or rather Gurney, a clever engaging one-act play."

A seminar at noon will precede the reading, which will be followed by a reception.

The reading will be held at The Paley Center for Media, which is located at 25 West 52nd Street (between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue). For tickets, priced $40-$65 (including the reading, a reception and a Q & A), call (646) 366-9340 or visit www.foodforthoughtproductions.com.