True Colors Theatre Company will hold its annual spring play reading series April 3-5 at the Southwest Arts Center. It’s your chance to help choose work for the company’s upcoming season (these are new dates for the series). The True Colors readings, which feature professional actors, begin at 7 p.m. Admission is free. The schedule:
Fraternity by Jeffrey Stetson. Wednesday, April 3. The story: Three weeks after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, a bomb destroyed an Alabama church, killing four young girls and shattering the dream that had inspired so many. Set in a private club in 1987, Fraternity explores the journeys of seven successful black community leaders whose lives were forever changed by that tragedy. What happens to those who seek power, privilege and inclusion, while abandoning the sacrifices that made their success possible? Director to be announced.
The Dance of the Holy Ghost by Marcus Gardley. Thursday, April 4. The story: Oscar Clifton prefers to live his memories rather than his life. But when his estranged grandson comes calling after 18 years, Oscar must face a very different version of his past. What future can they make together when they are so alike they can’t stand each other? A poetic family drama that waltzes from the hilarious innocence of a childhood crush to the heartbreak of a ruined marriage. Gardley is an award-winning midcareer playwright, whose name is popping up more frequently on the national stage. Horizon Theatre Company stages his Every Tongue Confess beginning July 12. Andrea Frye directs Dance.
Smart People by Lydia Diamond. Friday, April 6. The story: In a whirlwind of crackling dialogue and tricky questions, an actor, a doctor and a pair of academics navigate the complexities of race, class, friendship and the human brain. A new McCarter Theatre commission. Diamond and Kenny Leon co-direct.
The Southwest Arts Center is at 915 New Hope Road in southwest Atlanta. For details go HERE or call 404.532.1901.
