Free readings of works by Brooke Berman, Crystal Skillman, Alex Lewin and Blair Singer will offer audiences the chance to experience new works in development. Talkbacks will follow each performance. The playwrights are part of MCC Theater's Playwrights' Coalition.
Berman's My New Best Friend will be staged April 16 at 7 PM. "Newly minted BFFs Claire and Sevrin take a breezily thrilling walk in each other's shoes when they agree to swap apartments for the summer — Claire's in New York for Sevrin's in San Francisco. The breeziness turns sour, though, as Claire begins to suspect that her captivating new friend is taking over not only her apartment but her entire New York life."
Evan Caccioppoli will stage Skillman's Wild, which will be presented April 23 at 7 PM. "Bobby and Peter work together, live together and sleep together. But when one of them cheats with a woman, their relationship is shaken to the core. Wild is a savagely funny Chicago story of intermingled love and desperation that asks: Is love always something we'll recognize when we see it?"
Lewin's The Interview will be directed by Mike Donahue April 30 at 7 PM. "It was to be a simple interview where Sheila determines Jake's worthiness to be a Big Brother in her youth program. But they steer into murky waters when the subject of Jake's sexuality comes up. And this turns out to be only the tip of the iceberg, as they discover startling and overlapping threads in their private lives."
Jenn Thompson will direct Frauds, by Singer, on May 7 at 7 PM. "Susan was once a hopeful young woman who dreamed of being an actress. Ten years later, those dreams have given way to a stalled career and an unhappy marriage. When her former grad school boyfriend, David, a celebrated Jewish playwright, asks her to participate in a reading of his adaptation of The Three Sisters — recasting Olga, Masha, and Irina as Hassidic women — Susan sees it as an opportunity to find out if there's any substance to her youthful ambitions." For free reservations, visit mcctheater.org. The Lucille Lortel Theatre is located at 121 Christopher Street.