The University Theatre will be performing two staged readings of new works written by two TV/Theatre/Film professors from The University of Texas-Pan American. Dr. Jack Carroll from South Texas College (STC) and Dr. Marian Monta, UTPA professor emeritus, have been given the opportunity to direct the readings.
Carroll will direct Dr. Jack Stanley’s latest stage play, “The Designated Widow,” while Monta will direct David Carren’s new project, “Dead Day.” The two directors held casting for both shows this week in the Studio Theatre at the communication building.
Unlike a regular play, the works will require little rehearsal, explained Carroll. The scripts are going to be read, not memorized. Both readings will be held at the Studio Theatre, CAS 107, next to the Albert L. Jeffers Theatre. Stanley’s “The Designated Window” will be read Friday night at 8 p.m., while Carren’s “Dead Day” is to be done Sunday at 2 p.m.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to cast those who have only a little time to spare, who hate to memorize or who may sound like a character even if they don’t look like the character,” said Monta, a long-time leader of the theater program who is retired but still teaching part-time.
Stanley and Carren came up with the idea to hold the stage readings. They imagined that hearing the lines gives the writer a better idea of what direction to take the scripted work when it comes to stage.
“Writers hear the characters’ voices in their minds, but need to hear the lines spoken by actors in order to know if they have truly captured the voices of the characters,” Stanley said. “These readings are rarely of the final script. Usually a writer will go back after the reading and make changes based on what he or she heard.”
Stanley’s script is based on a new wife who becomes a widow shortly after marriage on a honeymoon in the Caribbean. Carren’s story is set locally, 19 years ago, where a 3-year-old was kidnapped and never found. The story explores what happens to the girl who was thought to have never been found.
Carroll and Monta discussed how to go about auditioning actors for two different readings. An actor may be cast in both productions, Carroll explained. But because they’re two different productions, the directors didn’t collaborate on much.
Carroll has directed a number of staged readings in the past, and he said that most of his plays have been done this way ahead of time.
“I know the value of readings because my plays are always revised after a staged reading,” the former Rhode Island Playwrights Theatre general manager said.
Carroll hopes the community will come out to support the productions as well.
“It’s an opportunity to be in on the creative process as it happens,” he said. “Audience feedback can often be very helpful.”
He’s working on two other projects, including a musical, “Working,” and Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” both set to premiere at UTPA in the spring.
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