Playwright and actress Ellen McLaughlin will hear her Days and Nights Within read Dec. 4 in St. Petersburg at the American Stage. The company's new Monday night reading series is dedicated to new and emerging playwrights.

Days and Nights Within concerns the interrogation of a woman accussed of spying against Germany's communist governmen in the 1940's. McLaughlin, best known for playing the Angel in Tony Kushner's Angels in America, authored Tongue of a Bird, A Narrow Bed, Infinity’s House, Iphigenia and Other Daughters and The Party, a theatrical adaptation of three Viriginai Woolf stories.

The rest of the New Visions series follows:

Jan. 22: White Picket Fence by Michael Grady: an examination of race relations during the inception of the Apollo Space program
Feb. 12: Best American by Michael Slade: a retarded man is put on trial for the bombing of a family planning clinic
March 5: The Way-Weary by Chris Weikel: Ned Lawrence comes home with two Arab companions and begins his transformation into Lawrence of Arabia
April 23: A Clockwork Orange: a new adaptation of Anthony Burgess' novel
May 7: A new project by Bill Leavengood, author of the musical Webb's City, which received its world premiere in FL in June, 2001
May 21: Darkfall by David Davalos: a New York couple becomes embroiled in a new millenium battle for the universe

With the completion of the readings, audience feedback will be used to choose one of the shows for a summer run Aug. 17-Sept. 2, 2001. Tickets to the series are $48 for the entire set or $5 per show. One show, Ten Percent of Molly Snyder by Richard Strand, was read Nov. 27. The American Stage is located at 211 Third Street South. For reservations, call (727) 823-PLAY.

— By Christine Ehren