"BOTANICUM SEEDLINGS"
THEATRICUM'S DEVELOPMENT SERIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS
EXPLORES THREE NEW WORKS ON JUNE 1, 8 & 15

Topanga, CA - As the classical repertory season takes the stage at The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, three new works will receive public readings on June 1, 8 and 15 through Theatricum's ongoing development series for playwrights, "Botanicum Seedlings."  The plays presented are Henry Murray's Monkey Adored on June 1; Which One's Tommy? by Kurt W. Thum on June 8; and Diane Grant's The Last of the Daytons on June 15.

 The playreadings take place Sundays at 11 am, and admission is free.

 

"Over the past six years, 'Seedlings' has truly taken root and grown," says Theatricum Artistic Director Ellen Geer.  "Each year it becomes more and more an integral part of what we do here. While we will never lose touch with the classics, we're finding that new plays help to keep us alive and stimulated. These works feed our actors and artists in a different way, and in turn, our support nurtures the writers, which is the most important thing."
 
Theatricum Playwright-in-Residence Jennie Webb created and runs Botanicum Seedlings, a program structured to focus on the needs of writers with scripts at various stages of development. 
 
The Botanicum Seedlings spring playreadings open on June 1 with Monkey Adored, a polyamorous comedy by award-winning playwright Henry Murray. Directed by Free Association Theatre's Katherine James (Olympus), this philosophically-charged, cross-species love story is an "Animal Farm" for the 21st Century, where the creatures in question regularly gather at an urban cafe. And in Monkey Adored, it doesn't take long for witty conversations about animal urges and the need for companionship to evolve into compelling arguments against social injustice and for radical activism. Dramaturg at the newly-formed Rogue Machine Theatre, Henry Murray's plays include The Hearing Trumpet, adapted from a novel by Leonora Carrington, and Treefall, winner in the All Original Playwright Workshop and the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Henry's short play Down for the Count was a finalist for ATL's Heideman Award.
 
On June 8 is Kurt W. Thum's Which One's Tommy? Ronnie Clark (L.A.'s Moving Arts and Arizona Shakespeare Company) directs the cast headed by Theatricum's Katherine Griffith (Skin of Our Teeth).  A nasty and dark comic tale about two damaged brothers and their so-called mother, Which One's Tommy? takes a very skewed look at blood bonds, boundaries and betrayals. Which came first, the maternal push into downward mobility, or a sibling rivalry which sabotages every possible means of escape? Kurt W. Thum is the author of several screenplays and plays including Circus Dreams, What a Character (Tamarind Theatre), Doctors Like Boats (produced and published as part of the New Plays Festival at Gardner-Webb University, North Carolina), Breakthrough (winner of Sacramento's New Voices Playwriting Festival), and Thing or Thingy? (Tangled-up Festival, Santa Monica's Promenade Playhouse).
 
The readings conclude on June 15 with The Last of the Daytons by Diane Grant, directed by Ann-Giselle Spiegler, an award-winning director for theater, film and music video based in Los Angeles. The Last of the Daytons focuses on a wonderfully complicated family who may not fit into our traditional definition of "normal." Not that the quirky assortment of shotgun-yielding, pajama-clad, graveyard-loving characters seem particularly concerned - they belong to each other. But when a stranger arrives and questions their relationship with the past, their carefully-constructed reality may have reached its limits. Diane Grant is a playwright and screenwriter whose film Too Much Oregano was the recipient of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.  Plays produced and published in the U.S. and Canada include What Glorious Times They Had, Sunday Dinner, Sex and Violence, The Piaggi Suite and A Dog's Life. Also a director and actress, she was a co-founder of Toronto's Redlight Theatre.
 
Initiated in the fall of 2002, the Botanicum Seedlings series acts as an adjunct to the Theatricum Botanicum's Summer Repertory Season, commencing yearly before the summer activities are underway with its winter playreadings, continuing with spring playreadings as the season opens, and culminating after the season winds down with a fall workshop production or playreadings.
 
The Botanicum Seedlings spring playreadings take place Sundays at 11 am on June 1, 8 and 15. Admission to the playreadings is free and open to the public; donations to support this series will be gratefully accepted. The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum is located at 1419 North Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Topanga, midway between Malibu and the San Fernando Valley. For further information, the public should call (310) 455-3723 or visit www.theatricum.com. The theater is outdoors; in case of inclement weather, please call for alternate performance times.
 

DETAILS FOR CALENDAR LISTINGS
"BOTANICUM SEEDLINGS" SPRING PLAYREADINGS

WHAT:
Botanicum Seedlings: A Development Series for Playwrights furthers new works and new voices, presenting public readings of new plays.
 
WHEN:

Sunday, June 1 at 11:00 am

Monkey Adored by Henry Murray, directed by Katherine James - A polyamorous comedy, this philosophically-charged, cross-species love story is an "Animal Farm" for the 21st Century. The creatures in Monkey Adored regularly gather at an urban cafe where talk of animal urges and the need for companionship evolves into a cry against injustice and for radical activism.

 

Sunday, June 8 at 11:00 am

Which One's Tommy? by Kurt W. Thum, directed by Ronnie Clark - A dark and nasty comic tale about two damaged brothers and their so-called mother, Which One's Tommy? takes a very skewed look at blood bonds, boundaries and betrayals. Which came first, the maternal push into downward mobility, or a sibling rivalry which sabotages every possible means of escape?

 

Sunday, June 15 at 11:00 am

The Last of the Daytons by Diane Grant, directed by Ann-Giselle Spiegler - The wonderfully complicated assortment of gun-yielding, pajama-clad, graveyard-loving characters in The Last of the Daytons may not be "normal," but they do belong to each other. Until a stranger arrives and questions their relationship with the past, threatening their carefully-constructed reality.

 WHERE:
 The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum
 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd.
 Topanga CA  90290
 (midway between Pacific Coast Highway and the Ventura freeway)
 
 HOW: 
 No reservations necessary.  Information: (310) 455-3723 or www.theatricum.com
 
 TICKETS:
 Free
 
 OTHER:
 The theater is outdoors; dress warmly, and, in case of inclement weather, please call for alternate performance times.