Craig Baldwin directs the 7 PM June 6 reading at Shetler Studios, which features Noll (Chaplin, Ragtime), Joaquina Kalukango (Hurt Village) and Charlie Plummer ("Boardwalk Empire," Far from Heaven at Williamstown).

Each work presented in the festival represents one of the five cannons of rhetoric: style, arrangement, memory, delivery and invention. C.O.A.L. represents the cannon of style.

Here's how it's billed: "C.O.A.L. (confessions of a liar) takes us on a journey through the mind and life of a confessed sociopath known to us only as Coal. Coal, a disenfranchised survivor of abuse comes to terms with the steps he took to escape his lot and change his truth, in a small, small town and brings to light the questions, 'What is the truth in a society built on little white lies?' 'At what lengths will one go to change the truth?' 'Does the truth even matter?' Well...Does it?"

The festival also includes a reading of the new musical adaptation of Benjamin Button, featuring Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, Daniel Reichard and Melissa Van Der Schyff.

Shetler Studios Penthouse 1 is located at 244 West 54th St. General admission is $12 online ($15 door). Students tickets are also available for $10 online ($12 door). For tickets visit massrhetoric.brownpapertickets.com. Seating is limited. For more information visit fundamentaltheaterproject.com.