Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Arts Council Launches 2009-10 Readers’ Theater Season

It’s time to mark your calendars for the 2009-10 Readers’ Theater season, where actors read new local plays and the audience weighs in afterwards. The series is now in its ninth year.

This season offers something for everyone. Topics range from cell phone addiction to Flower Children, from unemployment to the TV rumor mill. In a true story, one woman explores her struggle with chronic illness.

The lineup includes plays by regional authors Stefani Priest, Cheryl Victoria Richardson, Nicola Pearson, John Ruoff, Leonard Goodisman and George Savage Jr.

All readings are 7 p.m. Monday nights at Shoreline Center and are free. After the show, audience members share ideas on the script with the playwright and enjoy cookies and coffee. The Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Arts Council sponsors the series.

The 2009-10 selections are:

7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26
“Between You and Me” by Stefani Priest
This lively collection of monologues and short pieces delves into unemployment, the loneliness of summer camp, cell-phone dependence, the gossip mill at a beauty parlor and ladies who lunch.

7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25
Double feature:
“One Woman with Multiple Sclerosis” by Cheryl Victoria Richardson
“The Messenger” by Nicola Pearson

In “One Woman with Multiple Sclerosis,” Richardson uses poetry, improvisation, dance and music to present her personal battle with multiple sclerosis. Her work shows the strength and hope of a young woman who refuses to let disease get the best of her.

In “The Messenger,” a talk-show host mentions casually that his answering machine is sending messages from God about a coming disaster. The play examines the power of TV to create controversy.

7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22
“An Anonymous Legend,” by John Ruoff
Ruoff’s play transports the audience back to the hippie era, as a group of Flower Children are re-united when one of them gets out of rehab.

7 p.m. Monday, March 22
“Herstory-Equal Rights: How the West Was Really Won" by Leonard Goodisman
Set in Laramie, Wyoming in 1868, the lawlessness of cowboys is pitted against the women who had the courage to fight them. The play is based on the true story of Louisa Ann Sawin, who at age 77 led a struggle for women’s rights.

7 p.m. Monday, April 25
“The Mules of Dry Diggins” by George Savage Jr.
Based on history, this imaginative work spins the tale of a group of would-be-world-famous robbers called "The Rattlesnake Dick Gang." The gang’s leader is harmless, but its members may not be.

For information on these and other Arts Council programs, see www.shorelinearts.net, call 206-417-4645 or e-mail info@shorelinearts.net.