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Be the first to know about readings and workshops at Spooky Action!
Join Our Mailing List
2022-23 Readings:
March 2023 - Syrena Workshop/Presentation

Feb. 6 at 7pm - Dawn by Tuyết Thị Phạm
Feb. 13 at 7pm- The Magician's Daughter by Lila Rose Kaplan


Nov. 12 at 3pm - Lumin by Emma Gibson
Nov. 19 at 7pm- Eat Me Not by Robert St. John
WINTER 2022
We Are Not Alone  
In-person short play reading series

​
We searched for plays about ISOLATION and CONNECTION, come see what we found!
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MARCH 5 @ 7PM at Spooky Action Theater

i didn't think it would look like this

By Emma Swain
Directed by Charlotte La Nasa
​Synopsis: Near dawn on an old city bus; the sunrise is imminent. Only college students, early-morning commuters, and people without ordinary sleep schedules are awake. Carolyn and Jodie are friends and maybe more. Layla is drunk. Tequila and secrets don't mix well. And growing up is hard.

Yolk

By Alaina Messineo
Directed by Charlotte La Nasa
Synopsis: ​A young couple and their eggs.

Rest

By Jeff Carter
Directed by Robert Bowen Smith
Synopsis: ​Marilyn returns to visit the house she lived in as a young girl.  With Jim and Ethel, who now reside in the house, they share their painful secrets with each other. The two accounts soon merge into a new reality, and the two “pasts” resolve themselves into an unexpected “present.”

MARCH 12 @ 7PM at Spooky Action Theater

Elbow

By Sohyun Kim
Directed by Ashley Mapley-Brittle
Synopsis: ​A high-powered Asian American woman executive has been put in charge of a hiring initiative for an internship experience especially for young people of color. A timely story of the intersection of feminism, racial identity, career, and “diversity.”

Undiscovered Country

By Dana Leslie Goldstein
Directed by Ashley Mapley-Brittle
Synopsis: Elizabeth's husband Teddy has recently passed away. She takes herself through a series of poignant, magical and tender moments that help her process her past and present with Teddy as she prepares to lay his ashes to rest. ​

Things Stalin Never Said

By Maximillian Gill
Directed by Aria Velz
Synopsis: ​Parker fears a total loss of empathy and goes to a specialist, who has an unusual remedy.

137

By ​Rachael Carnes
Directed by Aria Velz
Synopsis: ​A meeting of an online Extraterrestrial-Curious Social Club has surprising outcomes.

MARCH 19 @ 7PM at Spooky Action Theater

Grief Containers

By Robin Berl
Directed by Shana Laski
Synopsis: ​Ashley is at a loss and her husband Barrett is struggling to help her find the way home. In a situation when neither of them can be “right,” they struggle to bridge the emotional gap. Caught between grief and celebration, Ashley seeks comfort and answers from a bird nesting in the backyard.

Hold On

By Cary Pepper
Directed by Jen Jacobs
Synopsis: ​“A” and “B” are in an unspecified place in an unspecified time waiting their turn to be “called in.” Though they have come to this place by different means, they are both in the same scenario, waiting, with so many unknowns — knowledge and power out of their control. All they have is an opportunity to connect with each other. 

Stef and Arno

By Alina Rios
Directed by Jen Jacobs
Synopsis: ​​Stef, a single woman in her 30s, lives alone with herself and her thoughts -- which can be both helpful and harmful. One late night when she can’t sleep, she tries to return to some of her old ways of coping with the thoughts in her head. She hopes finally to see the brightness of the world on the other side. Is the world really as scary as it seems?

Summer 2021

HAPPY BEYOND ...happy  
Short play virtual reading series

​
“Untranslatable words possess power and potential. They introduce us to phenomena previously veiled to us, that we hadn’t suspected could exist.  Such words expand our horizons, usher in new worlds.” – adapted from Happiness Found in Translation

Our next New Works in Action challenge is to explore the complexity of feelings we cannot quite name. Our fodder for theatrical thinking is a list of “happiness words” in other tongues that do not directly translate into English.
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LEARN MORE ABOUt THE CHALLENGE WE PROPOSED TO PLAYWRIGHTS

SEPTEMBER 21-26, 2021

I'VE SEEN IT ALL 
by Canadian playwright Olivier Sylvestre
directed by Jeremy Keith Hunter
​with Nicole Ruthmarie and Austin Farrow
sound design by David Crandall
videography by Lisa Hodsoll
choreography by Robert Bowen Smith
Happiness Word: Frisson (French) – A spine-tingling shiver.  A sensation of thrill, combining fear and excitement.  The ambiguous pleasure of the “chills”.
Synopsis: Ten year-olds Suzy and Alex meet that day, while playing in a snowdrift. In a second, Suzy sees it all : what their life will be, over the next century, frightening and filled with promises. A tale of anticipation, led by kids who see what love and life have in hand for them. Will they accept to go on with it?

SEPTEMBER 14-19, 2021

CHICKEN IS CONDEMNED TO BE FREE
by Jesse Jae Hoon
directed by Jeremy Keith Hunter animation by Taylor Verrett.
Sound design by David Crandall with the voices of Zoe Walpole and Ryan Sellers
Happiness Word: Charmolypi (Greek) – Sweet, joy-making sorrow.  Sad, mourning joy. Happiness & sadness intermingled.
Synopsis:  Two recently beheaded chickens, one an optimistic nihilist and the other completely freaking out, have just ten minutes to make and find peace.  Hilarious and touching, this flight of visual magic reflects our brief time upon earth.
CINDY THE DREAMER 
by Julia Izumi
directed by Gillian Drake, animation by Taylor Verrett.
​Sound design by David Crandall with Robert Bowen Smith and voices by Annie Ottati.
Happiness Word: Magari (Italian) – The wistful hope of “if only”.  Maybe, possibly.  In one’s dreams.
Synopsis: Cindy is a dreamer, with dreams that know no bounds.  She is also a potato, but she doesn't know that yet.  Discovering what she really is, remaining faithful to her imagination and the power of dreams, Cindy earns a surprising and satisfying fulfillment in this animated odyssey.

JULY 15-18, 2021

COLLECT CALL
by Marie-Claude St-Laurent and Marie-Ève Milot
directed by Jose Zayas
with: Jacqueline Guillen and Olivia Jampol. 
Happiness word: Etterpaklosksap (Norwegian) – After wisdom. The knowledge you gain from making a mistake. 
Synopsis: Without warning, Jo and her problems once again land in the life of Anne, her sister. Just like the fable of Blue Beard that left its mark on their childhood, there will be blood and images impossible to erase. How do you help someone close to you who is going through a period of deep trouble and dependance? Will Anne finally succeed in freeing herself from her sister’s mistakes?
ADAM + ROSE
by Emma Gibson
directed by Jose Zayas
with: Maribel Martinez and Reynaldo Piniella.
Happiness word: Charmolypi (Greek) _ Sweet, joy-making sorrow. Sad, mourning joy. Happiness and sadness intermingled.
Synopsis: Adam is gone and Rose needs to speak to him. Even if it means lying on the forest floor. Sometimes, we just need to find new ways to communicate. A new play about the pain of separation and the love that will get us through.

JUNE 24-27, 2021

ARTICHOKE COUNTRY
by Laura Shamas
directed by Gregory Keng Strasser
with: Raven Lorraine Wilkes and Yesenia Iglesias
Happiness word: Kintsugi (Japanese) _ The art of repairing broken pottery using gold lacquer. Rendering an object's fault lines beautiful and strong.  Metaphorically, finding value, meaning, and even beauty in our vulnerability and flaws.
Synopsis: in the future, an isolated military leader has a therapy session. 
FINAL CONTACT
by Alexandra Lin
directed by Jacob Janssen
with: Deanna Myers
Happiness word: Hugfanginn (Icelandic) _ Mind-captured.  To be enchanted and enthralled by someone or something.  Become transfixed, possibly involuntarily.
Synopsis: Astronaut Penny Leung is tasked with the mission of a lifetime: decommissioning the ISS after decades of groundbreaking service. That would all be hunky-dory if it weren't for the fact that she hasn't heard from Mission Control in over three weeks... And if she weren't all alone. With no one else thousands of miles above the Earth's atmosphere, Leung is left to confront her own worst enemy: herself. The great thing about space is that no one can hear you have an all-consuming nihilistic crisis full of existential dread.

IN JANUARY, 2021

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THE IMPOSSIBLE PLAY CYCLE
​Short play virtual reading series

This past Summer, we asked playwrights to send us their most impossible short play, those that they thought could never be put on stage. We received 115 scripts!

We have selected nine scripts that will be presented digitally in November and January as part of our New Works in Action festival, ​“THE IMPOSSIBLE PLAY CYCLE.”

JANUARY 14-17

Water Doesn't Kill by Alaina Messineo
Directed by Craig Baldwin
With Beth Hylton, KenYatta Rogers, Joe Mucciolo and Ariel Russell

A mother yearns to communicate with her dead daughter through dreams and dives deep -- maybe too deep.

​*Warning: This play deals with death and suicide
 

JANUARY 21-24

The Devil Exclusive by Jeff Dunne
Directed by Samantha Wyer Bello
With Nat Cassidy and Kelley Rae O'Donnell

A simple, overworked journalist thinks, at least initially, that he is interviewing a mentally disturbed person in jail until he finds out that the person is actually the Ruler of Hell, Satan...you know, that guy.​ 

Welcome to Hell!: An Orientation by Bridget Grace Sheaff
Directed by Samantha Wyer Bello
With Holly Twyford, James Finley, Jacob Yeh, Ashley Buster, Temadaiyo Moriamo, Victoria Reinsel, Lauren Lawrence

A new group of The Damned are welcomed into Hell. A Lesser Demon gleefully gives them a tour.

JANUARY 28-31

The World Is Sand by Jacob T. Zack
Directed by Elizabeth Dinkova
With Marium Khalid and Aysha Khalid

​Two Muslim women have tea in a mass grave.

History of Love by Robert Bowen Smith
Directed by Shanara Gabrielle
Cast Keith Tyrone Williams, Ashleigh King, Da'Von Moody, Solomon Parker, Erica Chamblee, Mya King

A man struggles to document how love changes him into a friend, husband, and father. His figurative struggle becomes literal.

IN NOVEMBER, 2020

​NOVEMBER 19-22

By A Lady by Laura Shamas 
Directed by Kathryn Chase Bryer
With Colleen Delany and Emily Sucher

​The Very Furious Kugel by Clare Bierman 
Directed by Kathryn Chase Brye
With Sasha Olinick and Molly Shayna Cohen 

Jane Austen delivers an oration on the dangers of vampirism, complete with free garlic cloves.
Your grandfather was visited by a malevolent demon yesterday, and they really  did not hit it off. Worst of all, now you don't get to have any leftover kugel. 

​NOVEMBER 27-30

Run Out of Sky by Leslie Bramm
Directed by Alec Wild
With Shanara Gabrielle

A Dog Is a Creature of a Nose by Emma Gibson
Directed by Craig Baldwin
With Jaysen Wright, Kimberly Gilbert and Megan Huynh

A poem for theater.  Like an air traffic controller, a woman navigates her married love.  A jetliner in sudden danger becomes a marriage on course to crash and burn.
​​Beth has a dog.  A fantastic casserole of a dog. The spaniel makes her loyal. The pit bull makes her fierce, and the bloodhound makes her hunt.  
And today she’s onto a passionate scent.

IN OCTOBER, 2020

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Meet our cast:

October 29 - November 1, 2020
TO THE EARTH by Brett Abelman 
Director: Kelly Colburn

Cast: Kyosin Kang, Lolita Marie, Mary Myers, Tuyet Thi Pham, Alejandro Ruiz, and Jacob Yeh.

A large crew drawn from all the peoples of the Earth embarks on a unity mission, reaching far into space.  Then, in an instant, one catastrophic encounter sends five survivors reeling, escaping in a desperate struggle together to reach home.
​
Please be advised, this production contains references to self harm.


Kyosin Kang
Lolita Marie
Mary Myers
Tuyet Thi Pham
Alejandro Ruiz
Jacob Yeh

IN AUGUST, 2020

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August 16-19 

​ZERO by Ian August 
Director:
Craig Baldwin
Cast: Em Grosland, Dylan Fleming, Shubhangi Kutchibotia, Alejandro Ruiz, and featuring Rick Hammerly.

Three miscreant students discover a rift in the floor of the forest surrounding their reform school.  Beyond the chain link pale, a bottomless pit promises danger and deliverance.  Whatever goes in can never come out -- with one possibly impossible exception.

Read our review from the Maryland Theatre Guide

MAY/JUNE 2020

MODERATION by Kevin Kautzman
Director:
Brandon McCoy
Cast: Robert Bowen Smith and Amanda Forstrom

A darkly comic drama about social media content moderators losing their minds at work as they deal with the very worst content humanity throws online, while they struggle for advancement within an inscrutable technocratic bureaucracy.

May 24 at 3:00 PM
​
​
WE VICTORIANS by Matthew Kelly
Director:
Tyler Herman
Cast: Octavia Chavez-Richmond, Gwen Grastorf, Jordanna Hernandez, Aidan Hughes, Matt Pauli, Rosemary Regan and Noga Wind.
A 21-year-old assistant brings a sexual harassment suit against a respected white-glove attorney. Queer empowerment and old-school privilege collide in this radical interrogation of power in the Me Too Era, blurring distinctions between reality and myth, past and present, victimization and liberation.

May 31 at 3:00 PM
CIRCULAR by Laura Shamas
Director: Kathryn Chase Bryer
Cast: Jonathan Holmes and Lisa Hodsoll

Circe's island. A strange warrior approaches. Or is it modern day Afghanistan, and an officer approaches? A young army doctor becomes entangled in the world of "The Odyssey" on her first tour in Afghanistan. What is real? What actually happened in combat between a soldier and her commanding officer is gradually revealed, on the road to healing.
​
June 14 at 3:00 PM
TRANSFERAL by Jack Novak
Director: Bridget Grace Sheaff
Cast: Linda Bard, Terrance Fleming, Bob Pike, Toni Rae Salmi, Jon Reynolds and Aron Spellance

Kora is a young woman with a strong connection with death. When her partner, Cato, dies in a plane crash, Kora tries to bring him back. While her mother is trying to reconnect with her, Kora's father returns unexpectedly and they have to face their fears about moving on. But is it possible to make the transferal from one phase of our lives to the next?

June 21 at 3:00 PM

2019-2020

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Reading Series Success!

Nov 12, 2019
We would like to extend a huge thank-you to everyone in our Spooky Family for coming out to support our Staged Reading Series this past month! The New Works in Action program's main mission is to provide playwrights with a testing ground for their works while they're in their final stretch, which would be impossible without your support! 

Thanks to everyone who submitted a script for Round 12! We are reviewing the scripts for our upcoming stage readings.

Want to be the first to know when readings and workshops are happening at Spooky Action?
Join Our Mailing List!
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The Lady from the Village of Falling Flowers
by Tennessee Williams

directed by Natsu Onoda Power
​
Preview: September 21, 2019
Premiere: Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival 2019
Performances at Baby Wale Bar and Restaurant:
December 9, 10, 15, 17-18, 22, 2019
​Performances at Spooky Action Theater: January 12th & 19th, 2020

Cast: 
Dylan Arredondo
Melissa Carter
Jared Graham

Set Design - Natsu Onoda Power
Puppet Design & Construction - Natsu Onoda Power, Melissa Carter
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The Kennedy Center 2019 Page-to-Stage Festival
​
Bread

​by Jaclyn Enchin

directed by Shanara Gabrielle
August 31, 2019 

Cast:
Michael Russottoo
Christopher Crutchfield Walker
Brandon McCoy
Maya Jackson
Katie McDonald
Megan Graves
Matt McGee
Joseph Delguste
Jonathan Holmes
Tro Shaw
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Torgus and Snow
​by Christine Evans

directed by Kathryn Chase Bryer
March 23-24, 2019

Cast:
Kathryn Zoerb
Omar Cruz
Julia Capizzi
Mary Myers
Matthew Aldwin McGee
Nanna Ingvarsson
Matthew Pauli
​Michael Kevin Darnall

2018-2019

The Kennedy Center 2018 Page-to-Stage Festival

Torgus and Snow 
by Christine Evans

directed by Kathryn Chase Bryer
September 3, 2018

Cast:
​Robert Bowen Smith
Tia Shearer
Gianna Rapp
Ashley Nicholas
Jessica Lefkow
Matt Bassett
Tyler Herman
Gwen Grastorf
Drew Kopas
Emily Whitworth
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The Demon Hunter
​by Nat Cassidy

directed by Samantha Wyer Bello
​June 23-24, 2018

Cast:
Dan Crane
Natascia Diaz
McLean Jesse
Greg Ongao

Assistant Director - Alex Pipe
Lighting Design - Max Doolittle
Projection Design - Kylos Bannon
Sound Design - David Crandall

2017-2018

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Shoah Business
by Jennie Berman Eng

directed by Kate Bryer
December 2-3, 2017

Cast:
Daniel Westbrook
Taylor Robinson
Emily Whitworth
Megan Dominy
Jimmy Whalen

Stage Manager - Brittany Truske
Set & Costume Design - Deb Sivigny
Lighting Design - Max Doolittle
Sound Design - Gordon Nimmo-Smith
Choreographer - Rachel Dolan
Props Master - Liz Long
​Dramaturg - Gillian Drake

2016-2017

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The Orbit of Mercury
​by Bob Bartlett

directed by KenYatta Rogers
March 25-26, 2017

Cast:
Justin Weaks
Elliott Bales
Desmond Bing
Matthew Alan Ward
Kashayna Johnson
James J Johnson
Clayton Pelham, Jr. 
​
Stage Manager - Katie Bucher
Lighting Design - E-hui Woo
Sound Design - David Crandall
Props Design - Elizabeth Long
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The Yellow Bird
by Randolph Curtis Rand

based on the works of Tennessee Williams
directed by Randolph Curtis Rand
​December 3-4, 2016

Cast:
Elizabeth Anne Jernigan
Scott Sedar
Hilary Kacser
Desmond Bing
Lynn Sharp Spears
Matthew Marcus
Lisa Galperin
Rafael Sebatian
Annie Houston
Mary C. Davis

Stage Manager - Max Frost
Lighting Design - E-hui Woo
Sound Design - David Crandall
Costume Design - Hiram Orozco
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Motherless Children
by Jenn Tash

​August 27-28, 2016

Cast:
Dallas Millholland
Amy Horan
Kelly Armstrong
Joe Brack
Liz Dutton

Stage Manager - Lena Salins
Set Design - E-hui Woo
Sound Design - Gordon Nimmo-Smith
Props - Becky Mezzanotte

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Jenn Tash, Playwright

2015-2016

Bell and Bliss
​by Fly Steffens

directed by Rebecca Holderness
November 23, 2015

Cast:
Elliot Bales
Jefferson Breland
Michael Kevin Darnall

The Bison Beast of DuBois
​by Mario Baldessari

directed by Lynn Sharp Spears
August 22-23, 2015

Cast:
Bill Aitken
Jen Bevan
Robert John Biedermann
Susan S. Porter
Melissa Robinson
Jonathan Lee Taylor

Stage Manager - Sarah Magno
Lighting Design - Autumn Caset
Costume Design - Rachael Knoblauch
Sound Design - Jess Hoover
Props Design  - Becky Mezzanotte

2014-2015

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Can't Complain
by Christine Evans

directed by Richard Henrich
August 16-17, 2014

​Cast:
Hilary Kacser
Caren Hearne
Natasha Gallop
Ron Heneghan
Wendy Wilmer

Stage Manager - Cody Whitfield
Lighting Design - Colin Dieck
Scenic Artist - Katie Wertz
Sound Design - David Crandall
Costume Design - Molly Abraham

Curiouser 
​by Brett Steven Abelman

directed by Jason Schlafstein
August 2-3, 2014

Cast:
James Flanagan
Genevieve James
Kari Ginsburg
Christopher Herring
Ann Fraistat
Katie Jeffries
Paul Resiman
Ryan Alan Jones

Composer - Bob Manzo
Stage Manager - Cody Whitfield
Scenic Artist - Katie Wertz
Lighting Design - Colin Dieck
Costume Design - Collin Ranney
Asst. Costume Design, Wardrobe - Molly Abraham
Props Consultant - Tim Jones


2013-2014

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Dire Wolves
​by Kristen LePine

directed by Kristy Simmons
September 21-22, 2013

Cast:
Noah Chiet
Katie Culligan
Ilona Dulaski
Melissa Flaim
Peter Orvetti
​Graham Pilato

Lighting Design - Christina Giles

Fisker Fights for His Life
​by Ernie Joselovitz

directed by Lynn Sharp Spears
September 14-15, 2013

Cast:
Amy Baska
Jamie Boyd
A.J. Whittenberger
Autumn Seavey Hicks
Alan Hoffamn
Andrew Ferlo
Bette Cassatt
Chad Fornwalt

​Lighting Design - Christina Giles

Klytmnestra
An Epic Slam Poem
​by Dane Figueroa Edidi

directed, choreographed, and performed by Dane Figueroa Edidi
August 23-24, 2013

where we are

Spooky Action Theater
1810 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
Phone: (202) 248-0301

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  • About Us
    • Our Team and Board
    • Plan Your Visit
    • Contact Us
    • Past Productions >
      • Professor Woland's Black Magic Rock Show
      • Stew Stewart in Concert
      • Frontieres sans Frontieres
      • Agreste (Drylands)
      • Sonnets for an Old Century
      • Maple and Vine
    • Join Our Mail List
  • Shows
    • Tickets
    • Current Show
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  • Support Us
    • Our Funders
  • New Works
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  • Community
    • Ukrainian Solidarity
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  • Education
    • Pig Iron Workshop
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  • News
  • Work with us