Salon Reading Series

The Silver Theater Project – Everything Old Is New Again!

The Silver Theater Project is proud to announce their third in a monthly series of Salon Style play readings by local performers, 40 and over, of plays written by local playwrights, also 40 and over.

The next play on the roster will be Mother Tongue by F.J. Hartland.

When Bertie’s husband leaves her, she seeks closure (at the advice of her therapist) by becoming a stand-up comedian. But she has no idea how her new-found profession affects her gay son Matt, a struggling artist, and Matt’s new-found love interest Cale. This modern comedy juxtaposes Bertie’s comedy club routines with scenes of the budding relationship of twenty-something Matt and the forty-something Cale. The reading is being directed by Allison Weakland.

This event continues the brainchild of Michael McGovern, who felt that there is a need in Pittsburgh to create opportunities for older writers and performers to have their voices heard, both literally, and by the pen (or in this age, the computer word processing program). There is a lack of material that engages the older generations, as well as a lack of opportunities for the mature performer to show that they still have the chops, and The Silver Theater Project’s aim is to fill that void. The project has been accepted for fiscal sponsorship by New Sun Rising.

2016. J. Hartland has made a record-setting sixteen appearances in the Pittsburgh New Works Festival, winning “Best Play” four times (for Postcards from a Dead Dog, Shaving Lessons and Half-Windsor Knots, Funeral in the Rain, and The Perhaps). His newest full-length play Rust just had its world premiere at Duquesne University. His play Games of the Mind was the winner of Pittsburgh’s Throughline Theatre’s 2015 New Play Contest. Other Pittsburgh venues where F.J.’s plays have been produced include Bricolage, Pittsburgh Playwrights, Cup-A-Joe, South Park, Future Ten, Rage of the Stage, Pridefest and Pyramid Productions.   Be Our Guest had an Off-Off-Broadway run in 2016.  Other NYC theatres where his work has been performed include Emerging Artists Theatre, Quaigh Theatre, 13th Street Theatre, Lincoln Center Library Theatre,  Lovecreek Productions, and Gayfest NYC.    In 2008 he was the recipient of a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Playwriting Fellowship.

Allison M. Weakland is a director, performer/writer, and teaching artist based in Pittsburgh, PA. She made her New York City debut in the fall of 2011 when she directed Take Two Aspirin and Call Me in the Morning for The Manhattan Theatre Source’s Estrogenius Festival. Locally, she has directed for various companies including The Rage of the Stage Players, South Park Theatre, Old Schoolhouse Players, Little Lake Theatre, Throughline Theatre Company, and Prime Stage Theatre. Allison had the wonderful opportunity to assist Tracy Brigden on two City Theatre productions including the Broadway hit Seminar and the world premiere of Hope and Gravity. When not in the director’s chair, Allison is honing her playwriting skills with her comedy partner Adrienne Fischer. Their one act play Hit or Miss was produced at the Pittsburgh New Works Festival, and their sketch show Ginger Binger played to packed houses at Arcade Comedy Theatre. Since 2014, Allison has been teaching a variety of acting classes for Point Park University’s Community Arts Program. Allison earned her BA in Performance and Technical Theatre from Seton Hill University, and is a proud member of The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Michael McGovern received his BFA in Theatre from Point Park College and his MFA in Playwriting from Carnegie-Mellon University. While at Carnegie-Mellon his play IRELAND’S SHAKESPEARE won the Bud Yorkin Award.

The reading will be held at The Glitter Box Theater located at 460 Melwood Avenue, in Oakland. Doors will open at 7 pm, and the readings will begin at 7:30.  As admission, the Salon readings have a suggested donation of $10.

For more information, connect with The Silver Theater Project on Facebook.