NewSCRipts Reading Series

The NewSCRipts play-reading series—part of The [email protected]—has provided a forum for talented writers for more than 35 years. NewSCRipts gives patrons the opportunity to be a part of SCR's play-development process during three Monday evening readings. NewSCRipts readings are free and open to the public.

Past NewSCRipts readings include Donald Margulies' Collected Stories, Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain and Amy Freed's Freedomland—all of which went on to New York productions and were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize—as well as Wit, which won the Pulitzer for author Margaret Edson. Other notable NewSCRipts readings from recent seasons include Nomad Motel by Carla Ching, A Doll's House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath and Office Hour by Julia Cho.

2022-23 NewSCRipts dates:

FANTASMA
by Benjamin Benne
Monday, September 12, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
It’s Christmas Eve in Southern California and Rosa’s family gathers in her newly-renovated kitchen to make chuchitos. She has been preparing the traditional Guatemalan food her whole life. Her grandchildren are eager to learn the recipe and document each measurement. But Rosa’s daughters know their mother’s cooking has more to do with intuition than metrics—and that recording and remembering are entirely different things. This imaginative, bittersweet journey spans two decades as it explores what we keep, what we lose and the cost of letting go.
JOAN
by Daniel Goldstein
directed by David Ivers
Monday, December 5, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
How many female comedians managed to stay on top for 60 years? Just one—the pioneer who opened the door for all the funny women who came after. From Greenwich Village comedy clubs to The Tonight Show to Hollywood’s red carpets, Joan Rivers made and remade her career through triumph, tragedy and the rollercoaster ride of motherhood. Get up close and personal with the famously edgy, fearless and loving legend in this hilarious and heartbreaking account of an American icon.
Presented with permission from Mills Entertainment in association with Sheboygan Productions and Larry Amoros
THERE ONCE WAS A HOUSE
by Charly Evon Simpson
directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg
Monday, March 13, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Once there was a house, a great big old house that rattled in the wind and swelled in the heat. A house that creaked and groaned and whistled in the wind. This was the house that Nina grew up in—and tried to forget. Years later, the house still stands, and Nina has returned, ready to begin a new life in her old home. For a time, that life seems like a happy one. But then, strange events begin to occur.

See the list of plays included in SCR's NewSCRipts series since its 1985 inception.

Photo: Actors prepare for the NewSCRipts reading Going to a Place where you Already Are by Bekah Brunstetter. Photo by Ben Horak.