The reading cast will include Fred Applegate (Young Frankenstein, The Producers), Meg Gibson (Human Error, Ride Down Mt. Morgan), Salvatore Inzerillo (Dutch Heart of Man, Pretty Chin Up), Stephen Kunken (Rock 'n' Roll, Frost/Nixon), Sarah Lord (Bhutan, Fifth of July), K.K. Moggie (Grace, Richard III) and Jay Patterson (August Osage County, Inherit The Wind).

According to Irish Rep, "The Electric Century is an historical fantasy set in Gilded Age New York. The play imagines that Thomas Edison, on the verge of a breakthrough discovery, met Belle da Costa Greene, the curator of JP Morgan's Library. Set in a New York where the Bowery B'Hoys rule the five points and Henry Clay Frick rules uptown, the play follows Tom and Belle as they struggle to leave their mark on the century to come — Tom through his inventions, Belle through the paintings that she chooses to hang on the walls of the Morgan library. As the two grow ever closer entwined, and Tom learns some of Belle's deepest secrets, he finds she may have been the better inventor after all, because she had invented not just a trinket but herself."

Case's plays include The Rant, which will be produced in 2008-09 at InterAct Theatre in Philadelphia and the New Theatre in Miami; Pacific, produced at Steppenwolf Theatre; and a number of plays read and developed at Primary Stages through their New American Writers Group.

Kara Manning, Irish Rep literary manager, hopes that the reading series will "give playwrights, both emerging and more established, the invaluable opportunity to develop their new work in a supportive, safe environment and will also introduce some Irish playwrights, especially those who might not yet have the New York recognition they merit, to an American audience."

The reading is at The Irish Repertory Theatre (132 West 22nd Street). To RSVP call (212) 727-2737. For more information visit www.irishrep.org.