The reading, which was directed by Leigh Silverman, benefits TDF Open Doors (tdf.org/opendoors), a mentoring program co-founded by Ms. Wasserstein and Roy Harris that "matches dozens of distinguished theatre and dance professionals with small groups of high school students with no prior exposure to theatre."
The reading starred Celia Keenan-Bolger as Kate Quin, Ari Graynor as Samantha Stewart, Merritt Wever as Holly Caplan, Lisa Joyce as Muffet DiNicola, Aya Cash as Rita Altabel, Lisa Kron as Mrs. Plumm, Jenni Barber as Susie Friend, Tracee Chimo as Carter and Rachel Brosnahan as Leilah with Byron Jennings as The Male Voice and Melissa Ross as Narrator/ Stage Directions.
Brosnahan, currently seen on Broadway in The Big Knife, replaced the previously announced Cristin Milioti, who withdrew from the event due to a scheduling conflict.
Set amidst the second-wave feminist movement of the 1970s, Uncommon Women and Others, according to press notes, "follows the lives, loves, and losses of a close-knit circle of friends at Mount Holyoke College (itself Wasserstein’s own alma matter.) As the women reunite six years after graduation, the story flashes back to the seminal moments in their lives as classmates to examine what inspired them, what affected them, and ultimately what shaped them." The evening was produced by The Indigo Theatre Project (Nick Gereffi and Rachel Sussman, co-founding artistic directors), a theatre company that strives "to unite passion with purpose by producing high-profile readings of notable plays to benefit charities aligned with the work being read."
