Each week Williamstown offers audiences the chance to see a new play in development, staged by up-and-coming directors and featuring performers from the Festival. Plays involved in the readings series last year, The Blue Deep by Lucy Boyle and WHADDABLOODCLOT!!! by Katori Hall, are being presented as part of the 2012 WTF season.
Admission to Fridays @ 3 is free with a $5 suggested donation.
Here's a look at the works:
The Few
By Samuel D. Hunter
Directed by Adam Rapp
July 13
"Four years ago Bryan abandoned his labor of love, a newspaper for truckers. Now he's returned – with no word of where he's been – and things have changed. His former lover is filled with rage, his new coworker is filled with incessant adoration, and his paper is filled with personal ads. As he considers giving up for good, Bryan searches for what he couldn't find on the road: a way to keep faith in humanity."
The Body of An American
By Dan O'Brien
Directed by Davis McCallum
July 20
"Autobiography and documentary collide in this incredible journey from Africa to the Arctic. In 1993, while famously photographing the desecration of an American soldier in the streets of Mogadishu, Paul Watson heard the dead man speak to him: 'If you do this, I will own you forever.' The play searches for the meaning of this haunting refrain through the story of a playwright named Dan and a war reporter named Paul as they confront their own demons in pursuit of the truth behind the facts." A Hatful of Rain
By Michael V. Gazzo
Directed by Greg Naughton
July 27
"A fresh look at the play that inspired the classic film, starring Don Murray and Eva Marie Saint. World War II Veteran Johnny Pope has fought to keep his desperate addiction to morphine secret, even from his pregnant wife and father. Only Johnny's brother Polo knows the truth, and when their many lies and loans can't keep a vicious pusher nicknamed 'mother' at bay, Johnny's whole world—and life—are threatened: will he confess and reach out for help, or will he lose everything at the hands of those who feed his debilitating habit?"
Abundant Acreage Available
By Angus MacLachlan
Directed by Gordon Edelstein
Aug. 3
"Set in November in a tobacco field in East Bend, North Carolina, a brother and sister confront the change their aged father's death brings to their lives and ask themselves: if we cannot hold on to anything around us, what else is there when we let go? Angus MacLachlan's tale of one woman's transition into the unknown begins as Jesse and Tracy find three elderly brothers sleeping in their field one dawn. But when a long forgotten promise surfaces, all five are forced to discover what it truly means to finally know their past, family, hopes, and most of all, love."
The Thing About Air Travel
By Max Posner
Directed by Kerry Whigham
Aug. 10
"A quirky, poignant look at the mechanics of language and loss, the play follows twenty-something Marie, who is on the longest flight of her life — returning home from Kenya for her brother's funeral. Miles up in the air, she must contort and confront her frustrating parents, her abandoned lover, and her recently departed brother. Come take a peak behind the seats into a world where brothers bark like dogs, seatmates make improbable pals, and no one is ever allowed to pee."
One Day When We're Young
By Nick Payne
Directed by Kate Whoriskey
Aug. 17
"It's 1942 in the city of Bath. Violet and Leonard share an unforgettable night together before the war rips them apart, for what seems to be forever. But as the years pass on, and their memories have faded like whispers over the fields of Bedfordshire, Violet and Leonard must revisit their long-forgotten feelings on that fateful day—one day when they were young. Nick Payne's achingly beautiful play depicts love’s unbreakable bonds in the wake of a world at odds."
