By Kenneth Jones
23 Nov 2009

Amelia, a Civil War-set romance in which two performers embody separated lovers — and a diverse wider society — will get a private Manhattan reading Nov. 23.

Award-winning screenwriter-director Alex Webb, a veteran of Off-Broadway's Aquila Theatre Company, wrote and acts in the reading of what's billed as "an epic Civil War love story" that travels from rural Pennsylvania to the horrors of the Andersonville Prison Camp. Webb's recent short film, "Hove," featuring Olympia Dukakis and Shirleyann Kaladjian, had its world premiere at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and has gone on to be an official selection at festivals in Los Angeles, Boston, Toronto and Montreal.

Kaladjian will be featured opposite Webb in the Amelia reading, playing the title character, who disguises herself as a Union soldier to reunite with her husband in wartime.

Webb and Kaladjian are former members of the critically acclaimed Aquila Theatre Company.

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Webb told Playbill.com that while doing research at the Library of Congress for a role in the Civil War drama, The Andersonville Trial, he stumbled across a single line in a Union soldier's Andersonville camp diary.

"This rather highly charged multiple character, two-person play is the result of that discovery," Webb said, adding that the diary vaguely referenced a rumor among Union troops "that a woman has come in here after her man."

Webb explained, "Amelia is the story of one woman's odyssey across the battlefields of the American Civil War in search of her husband, Ethan. Amelia's story reaches a crescendo at the gates of Andersonville, the notorious prisoner of war camp in Georgia where thousands died."

The 90-minute reading will take place at the Manhattan Theatre Club's rehearsal spaces, 311 W. 43rd Street, 8th Floor.

There is limited seating available. For reservations to this industry reading, or for more information, e-mail ameliatheplay@aol.com.