If there was any doubt about the myth that theater becomes sparse and moribund during the summer, it’s certainly debunked this year. Get an early look-and-listen to works in progress by local playwrights every Monday night for 18 weeks beginning June 3 at theater across four counties through the South Florida Theatre League/WLRN ‘s Summer Theatre Fest Reading Series. Admission is free and reservations are not needed to the works offered up by unknown newcomers, oft-produced writers like Christopher Demos-Brown, Juan C. Sanchez and David Sirois, as well as folks with day jobs as directors, journalists, critics and actors.
First up is the Stages of the Sun series at 7:30 p.m. every Monday beginning June 3, at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW 5th Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. For eight weeks, a different one-act play will be offered from local writers Mary Damiano, Anne Dichele, Barbara Fox, Marsha Meyers, Catherine Pearson, Michael Rutenberg, Tere Starr and David Victor.
Other plays slated in other venues are:
June 10, 8 p.m.
The Road To Remsenburg by Carol White
hosted by Main Street Players, 6766 Main Street, Miami Lakes
June 17, 7:30 p.m.
Buck Fever, by Juan C. Sanchez
hosted by YoungArts Campus, 2100 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami
A Carbonell-nominated play first produced by Promethean Theatre along with his Red Tide.
June 24, 7:30 p.m.
A Palm Beach Story by Jack Staub
hosted by The Plaza Theatre, 262 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan
A fun-filled valentine to the Palm Beach of just a few years ago, when madras and Lilly were king and queen, mothers were much married, and young hearts were powerfully susceptible to the subtle urgings of a pink and gold Palm Beach sunset. Set against such iconic backdrops as The Breakers, The Society of The Four Arts, The B&T, and The Everglades Club, things turn out to be not exactly as they seem as Palm Beach wedding bells begin to chime. But, as in the best of tales, all ends well, floated atop a giddy cocktail of wit, love, and laughter.
June 24, 8 p.m.
Crashfest: A collection of One Act Plays which at 20 meters becomes the portrait of a Vampire Hunter by James Carrey
hosted by Crashbox Theatre in Association with Empire Stage, 1140 N Flagler Drive, Fort Lauderdale
James Carrey’s CRASHFEST explores love, perspective, desire, women’s health, infatuation, You Tube, government espionage, musical numbers, bank heists and ice cream. All of these plays were written between 2010 and 2012 and feature of variety of different genres and styles, yet at their heart all have the Crashbox Theatre Company mission statement at their core: Providing theatre goers with work that is meant to enlighten, educate, and entertain.
July 1, 7:30 p.m.
The Gift by Michael Leeds
hosted by Parade Productions, The Studio at Mizner Park, 201 Plaza Real 2nd Floor, Boca Raton.
A young man and woman are stuck in adjoining elevators only to discover that they might actually be trapped in each other’s dream. Sometimes nightmares can be A Gift!
July 1, 8 p.m.
Moment of Grace by Bob Bowersox
hosted by TheatreXP, performing at Red Barn Theatre, 319 Duval Street, Key West
When three life-long friends meet at an Irish pub to toast the passing of a fourth, they find themselves confronted with a surprising and unexpected truth about the man, and each is forced to consider what love is to him and how he relates to it.
July 8, 7:30 p.m.
Timmins Children by Mark Perlberg
hosted by Palm Beach Dramaworks, 201 Clematis Street, West Palm Beach
The time is October, 1992. Malcolm Bundage, a Canadian physician, has just received a lifetime achievement award and Yvette Bergeron, a renowned reporter for the Vancouver Sun, visits his Toronto home ostensibly to interview him for a syndicated story about the award. During the course of the play, we learn that Bergeron and Bundage share an unfortunate past. They force each other to explore and attempt to resolve issues that arose decades earlier. Although they will ultimately fail in their resolution efforts, their connection enables them to find common ground and uncover emotions they each thought had been buried long ago. Perlberg has just ended his chairmanship of Dramaworks’ board of directors.
July 8, 7:30 p.m.
Heavenly Hands by Ricky J. Martinez
hosted by New Theatre at The Roxy Performing Arts Center, 1645 SW 107th Avenue, Miami
Martinez is artistic director of New Theatre and the author of several plays including Road Through Heaven now playing at the theater.
July 15, 7:30 p.m.
Women Always Win by Marj O’Neill-Butler and Roger Martin
hosted by Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, 280 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables
This is a collection of eight short plays (four each by Miami Artzine editor Roger Martin and veteran actress Marj O’Neill-Butler), described as “15 women and 6 men and a ton of smiles and sighs.”
July 22, 7:30 p.m.
The Secret of the Biological Clock by Andie Arthur
hosted by Lost Girls Theatre erforming at the Deering Estate, 16701 SW 72 Ave., Miami
Sixteen-year-ld Jasmine’s father has gone missing – but Jasmine just knows that she can convince former teen detective Eleanor Dawson to come out of retirement, she will be able to find him. The Secret of the Biological Clock is a whimsical riff on what happens to our favorite teen detectives when they grow up. Arthur, another veteran playwright, is executive director of the Theatre League and co-founder of the Lost Girls troupe.
July 29
The Death of Kings: An Encyclopedia by Vanessa Garcia
Cocktail reception at 6 p.m., reading at 8 p.m.; hosted by The Kane performing at PAXMiami, 337 S.W. 8 St., Miami.
It’s 2002 in New York City. A nimble, young man named Quin enters the office of a psychiatrist — Dr. Z. Sebastian. Quin’s face is painted all in white, and he’s wearing what seems to be the costume of a Harlequin. Immediately, Dr. Sebastian realizes Quin isn’t like any of her other patients. In fact, he’s like no one she’s ever met. She’s not even sure Quin is male. Quin, as it turns out, is a 21st century “wise fool,” whose gender is questionable, and whose story, as it unfolds in Dr. Sebastian’s hands and in the pages of Quin’s revisionist encyclopedia, takes us around the globe, zooming in on his journey from New Orleans to New York during the 9/11 disaster.
July 29, 7 p.m.
Flashing Lights by Edward G. Excaliber
hosted by Outre Theatre Company, the Studio at Mizner Park, 201 Plaza Real 2nd Floor, Boca Raton
Intertwined between the incessant flashing lights of a late night television program; Linda finds herself losing her fragile grasp on reality. Her marriage is falling apart, her sleeping patterns are non-existent; and most importantly, she cannot stop eating. After endless weeks of therapy, Linda is caught between trusting the man she married and sticking to her own baser instincts to find a cure for her addiction. Will logic win out or can the will of the clarified heart prove that self-affirmation means nothing without the right person by your side?
Aug. 5, 7:30 p.m.
Fate Motif by Christopher Demos-Brown
hosted by The Naked Stage at Barry University’s Pelican Theatre, 11300 NE Second Ave., Miami,
Aug. 5, 8 p.m.
Choreographing a Rape Scene for a Feminist Play by Ann Gillespie
hosted by GableStage at the Biltmore Hotel, 1200 Anastasia Ave., Coral Gables
Bill is an actor who needs something to believe in. Tina is a writer/director, and when she says, “Devised Theatre” it is NOT devised by a democracy. Bryn has been told she reads older onstage, so she is trying to transition from “rape victim” to “wife.” And Gordon is the fight choreographer who thinks only he can bring all these people together and save the show! Choreographing a Rape Scene is a dark comedy that examines the bizarre journey of a performance piece that will challenge the audience and its artists who are scared to challenge themselves. It is a play that looks at personal boundaries, blindness to pain, and asks, ‘are we doomed to become what we make art about?’
Aug. 12, 7 p.m.
A Part of the Family by Marla Schwartz
hosted by Sol Children Theatre, 3333 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton
This play is about a quintessentially assimilated non-practicing American-Jewish family. It takes place during the summer of 1988 in both Cherry Hill and Longport, N.J. (the Jersey Shore). The story revolves around the Liberstein family who own and operate a very popular delicatessen. The oldest daughter, Terri Liberstein is a celebrated photographer who became intimately involved with one of the African-American employees at the deli, Howard Dymond a few years back; and eventually they got married. Because of this union she was disowned by her parents so they left town. The youngest daughter Marci Liberstein is planning a 40th wedding anniversary celebration for her parents, but they don’t know that Terri and Howard will be the only one’s joining them for the occasion. In the meantime, the father, Ben Liberstein is having a late mid-life crisis and has taken to riding around town on a motorcycle, which terrifies his wife, Pearl Liberstein who is already a bit unhinged. There are many issues among family members and unexpected family secrets to be revealed.
Aug. 19, 8 p.m.
The Happy Ones by Kim Ehly
hosted by Thinking Cap Theatre performing at Empire Stage, 1140 N Flagler Drive, Fort Lauderdale
By the author of Baby GirL
Aug. 26, 7:30 p.m.
Off Center of Nowhere by David Sirois
hosted by Arts Garage, 180 NE 1st Street, Delray Beach
Jackie Trotula is a 17-year old from Brooklyn, and she has quite a secret to tell her parents. But in confessing her one secret, it unleashes a string of confessions that can destroy her whole family. As the story unfolds, the characters are faced with moral conundrums that deal with issues we all try to bury deep down inside. Enter the Trotula Family Livingroom where no one can hide, except for maybe under the dinner table. Had its first outing at Alliance Theatre Lab.