Monthly Readers Theatre Series presents five plays on September 3

THE September instalment of the Playwrights Workshop Trinbago (PWT) Monthly Readers Theatre Series (MRTS), held the first Wednesday of every month, will feature a smorgasbord of experiences, with five short plays being read over the course of the evening.

A media release said the reading takes place on September 3 at 7 pm at the Trinidad Theatre Workshop, 6 Newbold Street, Port of Spain

In Judith Theodore’s latest play All is Fair, a spurned woman is trying to get revenge in an unorthodox way. She is confronted by an environmentally conscious young woman. Events take a further negative turn for the love spurned woman. There is a man who seems somehow to always be in the midst of events.

Theodore is an author and poet who is a long-term member of the PWT. She has had several of her plays read at MRTS and staged in the New Play Festival.

Screenwriter Cecile George is another returnee to MRTS. In her script, Fine Dining, Colin, a sweet everyman and Rasheeda, a wanna-be upscale woman arrive seeking dinner at the Savannah Food Track after their first date at Queens Hall.

Rasheeda, unimpressed, wants to dine at a sit-down restaurant, but a ravenous Colin insists that they eat here, despite the long lines. But when an emergency news broadcast that an unfed escaped lioness is roaming the Savannah interrupts their argument, Rasheeda gives an ultimatum. And since Colin's shallow pockets can't afford fine dining after paying for the tickets, they must negotiate how to safely procure a meal without also becoming dinner.

Drama teacher, playwright and performer Britni Brooks’s work reimagines Caribbean folklore through a contemporary lens. In her script The Last Jog, John Doe stalks a female jogger whose slight limp paints her as an easy target. However, he encounters a terrifying nightmare and becomes trapped in an unending loop of terror as the tables are turned.

Terah Blandin, a theatre and culture practitioner and enthusiast is a multimedia creative whose work largely explores themes of culture and heritage and interpersonal/wider social issues. Her play Savannah Dust is a slice-of-afterlife story that follows the events of a typical night in the Peschier Cemetery for its occupants.

Tricia Apping is a poet and mother who is venturing into playwriting for the first time. Her play, A Night Out with a Narcissist, takes place at a vibrant steelpan competition, where a talented but abused woman's attempt to find solace in her community band is shattered when her violently jealous partner publicly humiliates her, forcing her to choose between his cycle of manipulation and the protective family she's found in her art. A family she never knew she had.

The MRTS is a vital part of PWT's commitment to developing new talent. This monthly event provides a crucial platform for playwrights to share their work, whether it's a new script or one undergoing revision for a range of platforms – from stage and screen to radio and even site-specific or street performance. It's a crucial step in the development process, with selected plays often moving on to further refinement and potential staging.

Whether you're an actor, a theatre enthusiast, or just curious, come lend your voice, as readers are often pulled from those present at the reading, and help shape these stories in real time. The reading and discussions offer a unique insight into the play development process, the release said.

Admission is free.

For further information or to submit a script for reading in the MRTS, e-mail playwrightsworkshoptt@gmail.com; call/text/WhatsApp (868) 351-6293; find us on Facebook and Instagram @playwrightsworkshoptt; or on NDATT’s website https://iamndatt.org.tt /playwrightsworkshoptt/.