The black box theatre at 5 Gregory Boulevard in Norwalk will vibrate with laughter, fun, compassion, insight, and irony when the Theatre Artists Workshop (TAW) presents a staged “Classic Night” reading of the comedy, “Lovers and Other Strangers,” Friday and Saturday Dec. 8 and 9 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 9 at 3 p.m. Joseph Bologna and Renee Taylor wrote “Lovers” just as the sexual revolution was getting underway, and the piece still has bold relevance today.
Admission is free, but a $15 donation is suggested at the door to support the Workshop, a non-profit organization of professional actors, writers and directors founded in 1983 by stage and screen star, Keir Dullea.
Directed by Martin West (Westport), “Lovers And Other Strangers” features TAW actor-members Mike Massimino (Easton), Mark Hamilton (New Haven), Melody James (Westport), Samantha Pattinson (Westport), Alexandra Perlwitz (Westport), Frank Piazza (Bridgeport), Katie Sparer (Stratford), Nadine Willig (Stratford), and Clayton Wheat (Norwalk).
The five separate vignettes that comprise the play explore the wilder shores of love, sex, marriage, family, and New York apartments, with the plot revolving around the wedding of Mike, who’s hilariously getting cold feet before his impending wedding to Susan. The couple has “fixed up” bridesmaid Brenda with nebbishy usher Jerry, who imagines himself a playboy and spends the weekend trying to "score." Meanwhile, Susan's Wasp-ish father, married to Bernice, has been having an affair with Bernice's sister, Kathy, who’s afraid of ending up a spinster. Then there’s Susan’s sister, long wed to ad salesman Johnny, who misses the passion in her marriage, and Mike’s Italian-American parents, Frank and Bea, who are trying to persuade Mike’s brother Richie and his wife Joan not to divorce.
The Theatre Artists Workshop is the only professional theatre of its kind in Connecticut. Each Monday night, actors, writers, and directors put up scenes, audition pieces, and new written scripts and receive the support and critique of other members, develop work, and hone the craft, and then several times a year share their talents in public performances such as the “script in hand” Classic Readings series. The popular Playwrights Festival is coming up next, in Spring, 2018, featuring original plays written by TAW’s playwrights.
“Lovers and Other Strangers” is produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
For more information or to reserve your seat for any TAW event, call the box office at (203) 854-6830, or visit taworkshop.org.