 Pelham, NY - The Pelham Art Center is the new home of a professional theatre ensemble dedicated to developing original plays for public performance. The Supporting Characters will present a monthly series of free readings for an invited audience, followed by discussion of the unproduced works, all developed by the group.
The series kicks off on Monday, January 21, with readings of plays by Pelham playwrights Rosemary Foley and Kathy Kafer.
Monstrous Love by Ms. Foley and The Lincoln Continental by Ms. Kafer are the first plays to receive public readings by The Supporting Characters at the Art Center. The group, formed this summer, had offered a reading of Lloyd Pace’s New Orleans at the Pelham Library and a subsequent production of the play in New York City in November. Monstrous Love is the story of Prince Hohenstauffen, who is in dire pain from the realization that his wife has been deliberately cheating on him with a number of questionable partners. A secondary, and no less painful, source of his afflictions is the fact that no one will accept him as a frog. Ms. Kafer’s The Lincoln Continental takes place in and around a 1974 Lincoln Continental Mark IV, and it tells the story of the car’s owner and his daughter. It begins when the father tries to teach his daughter how to drive, and it ends some 30 years – and a few hundred thousand miles – later.
Winner of the Havemeyer Award, for Ophelia’s Mother, which was also a finalist in the 2003 Samuel French Short Play Festival, Ms. Foley is a noted playwright who has had her work produced in numerous theaters around the country. Ms. Foley was also a finalist in the 2004 Playwrights First Contest for her play, Kerry Dancers.
Another accomplished playwright, Ms. Kafer has seen her work produced in the New York area. The Stash was performed in the 2007 Samuel French Festival, and The Chosen Wife was a finalist in the 2005 Stanley Drama and Dorothy Silver competitions. Ms. Kafer also serves as Managing Director of The Supporting Characters.
The Supporting Characters’ actors, directors, and writers gather from around the tri-state area for regular meetings at the Art Center to read and critique works-in-progress. According to Artistic Director Cynthia Granville, readings for an audience are a vital next step in the development process.
“We’re delighted to partner with the Art Center to bring new work to a diverse audience whose response will help writers ready these plays for eventual production. We hope to reach out into the community, not only to those who often attend new plays, but also to many who have never had the chance to see a play at this exciting stage, when audience response invites changes which will become part of the play forever.”
The Supporting Characters’ next two readings are scheduled for February 11 and March 10. To receive information about upcoming readings through email or Art Center postal mailings, email
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or call the Art Center at 914 738-2525.
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