Looking for opportunities to act?
Want to hear a play out loud?
Interested in newer plays?
Sign-Up for one or both of Elmwood’s Reading Series!
Those interested in reading or viewing can sign up by emailing readings@elmwoodplayhouse.com. Everyone and anyone is invited to participate. Both series are FREE.
For more information on Cold Reading or Public Domain Players,
contact our Readings committee via our Contact form
21st Century Plays
Elmwood Playhouse started the Cold Reading Series in 2018, giving actors the opportunity to continue working on their craft and also allowing us all the chance to hear works published after the year 2000.
Over the last year, due to the global pandemic, readings switched from in-person readings at the Tarson Studio to Zoom. Elmwood Playhouse will now revert back to in-person readings while following CDC guidance.
The readings require no rehearsal, no auditioning. Just the desire to get on your feet and play. Casting is at the discretion of the reading coordinator but mostly first-come, first-cast.
NEXT READING: TBA
The series is curated by member Tiffany M. Card.
Public Domain Readings
Elmwood’s Public Domain Players conducts occasional readings of plays in the public domain for which there is no longer copyright protection (generally meaning that they were written prior to the mid-1920s). The focus is on presenting plays that were probably well-known long ago, but are lesser-known today. Some plays are familiar (Shakespeare, Shaw, Ibsen and other great playwrights), Some plays have only familiar titles, and some are revivals of plays that are almost completely unknown. Reading these plays is not only fun, but is a reminder of how many classic yet still relevant plays are out there. Casting is at the discretion of the reading coordinator.
There may be a rehearsal or two for difficult material.
Next Reading: “The Schoolmistress” by Arthur Wing Pinero
August 1, 2026 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm in the Tarson Studio at Elmwood Playhouse
“The Schoolmistress” involves a social-climbing woman who runs a school to raise money to support her spendthrift and insolvent aristocratic husband – but who secretly earns money as a music hall performer. Meanwhile, one of her charges, Dinah, has eloped with a poor but jealous young man, of whom her father, Admiral Ranking – whose sole distinction is that he has never collided his ship into another ship – completely disapproves. So her friends, including the outgoing, clever, and opportunistic teaching assistant, Peggy, plan a party for the young couple to give them a chance to be together and persuade/bribe the spendthrift aristocrat to pretend to be the girls’ uncle so they can invite a lot of young men to the party. Mistaken identities, an appearance by the Admiral (who doesn’t recognize his own daughter), a rumor about an inedible “lark pudding,” and the eruption of a fire in the school (and some loquacious firemen) all lead to hilarity.
The play was written in 1886 by Arthur Wing Pinero, who was the equivalent of Neil Simon or Alan Ayckbourn of his time, and wrote a number of very popular comedies.
The series is curated by member Derek Tarson.
