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Western New York Regional Rep Donna Hoke and I launched the New York State Roving Reading Series in May with our first event, a staged reading of Guild Member Darryl Schneider’s play, Clean Break. The reading was held at The Kitchen Theatre in Ithaca, a lovely and recently renovated downtown theatre with a strong community following and a long history of supporting playwrights and new work. The reading was deftly directed by Samuel Buggeln and featured the acting talents of Dean Robinson and Jennifer Herzog; all three are veterans of the Ithaca theatre community and have also worked extensively outside of the area.

Unlike many reading series, all the plays in the New York State Roving Readings have had at least one production. As such, the mission of the Roving Readings is not so much to help playwrights develop new scripts as it is to provide valuable increased exposure for a play and its playwright in the wider New York state theatre community. By matching participating writers with theatres outside their own hometowns, we hope to serve everyone by fostering new relationships.

Darryl Schneider’s play, a taut two-hander about a gambling man’s up-and-down relationship with his grown daughter, originally received its world premiere at Road Less Traveled Productions in Buffalo, where it won the Emanuel Fried Award for Outstanding New Play. For the playwright, this was about revisiting the work from a fresh perspective as well as building community: “The Roving Reading Series let me hear my play read by actors outside of my comfort zone (Buffalo) and allowed me to build a new relationship with a theatre; always a great big plus.“

Certainly the reading of Clean Break at The Kitchen on May 20th provided an opportunity for Guild members and Central New York theatre practitioners to come together as a community. And they did. The audience drew from Kitchen Theatre regulars, out of town Guild members, local actors, writers and directors, and theatre professionals teaching at Ithaca’s two big universities.

After such an auspicious start, we’re excited to continue the momentum and keep building our state’s relationships with our next two readings: The Scavenger’s Daughter by Buffalo’s Gary Earl Ross, September 8 at Geva Theatre, Rochester; and Happy Birthday Tina Marie by Watertown’s Craig Thornton on September 15 at Road Less Traveled Productions in Buffalo.

Guild members and theaters have responded positively to the series and plans are already in the works for a second series next year. With several more theaters keen to join the program and plenty of Guild members excited by the idea of forging new connections and expanding their sense of community, we look forward to this program’s future. Meanwhile, if you are able to join us at either of the September readings, be sure to come up and introduce yourself.

astratford@dramatistsguild.com