Online Play Reading Group

By 2000, Jeffrey Skilling had turned a regular Houston oil-and-gas company into the first great American corporate engine of innovation – meaning the company traded energy, hid its debt and buffaloed the banks and the business media into believing it wasn’t a con. But now people are beginning to suspect the emperor has no cash flow.

Characters:

• Ken Lay: Enron CEO
• Jeffrey Skilling: Enron president
• Andy Fastow: Enron CFO
• Claudia Roe: Enron Executive
• Skilling's Daughter
• Arthur Andersen: Accountant
• Ramsay & Hewitt: Law Firm (one male, one female)
• Sheryl Slowman: Analyst - Citigroup
• Lawyer
• Irene Gant
• Analysts: J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers
• Lawyer
• Reporter
• Congresswoman
• Security Officer
• Senator
• Court Officer
• Police Officer
• Employees/Market
• Traders
• The Board
• Press
• Raptors
• Passers-by: Two men, one woman

The script will be displayed during the reading. If you would like to dibs a character, please do so in the comments below. If you are not able to attend the day of, please change your RSVP. Two no shows will result in being asked to leave the group.

This Broadway hit about the trial of two Marines for complicity in the death of a fellow Marine at Guantanamo Bay sizzles on stage. The Navy lawyer, a callow young man more interested in softball games than the case, expects a plea bargain and a cover-up of what really happened. Prodded by a female member of his defense team, the lawyer eventually makes a valiant effort to defend his clients and, in so doing, puts the military mentality and the Marine code of honor on trial.

Characters:

• LANCE CPL. HAROLD W. DAWSON
• PFC LOUDEN DOWNEY
• LT. J.G. SAM WEINBERG
• LT. J.G. DANIEL A. KAFFEE
• LT. CMDR. JOANNE GALLOWAY
• CAPT. ISAAC WHITAKER
• CAPT. MATTHEW A. MARKINSON
• PFC. WILLIAM T. SANTIAGO
• LT. COL. NATHAN JESSEP
• LT. JONATHAN JAMES KENDRICK
• LT. JACK ROSS
• CPL. JEFFREY OWEN HOWARD
• CAPT. JULIUS ALEXANDER RANDOLPH
• CMDR. WALTER STONE
• MARINES, SAILORS, M.P.s, LAWYERS, et al.

The script will be displayed during the reading. If you would like to dibs a character, please do so in the comments below. If you are not able to attend the day of, please change your RSVP. Two no shows will result in being asked to leave the group.

A 19-year-old man has just stood trial for the fatal stabbing of his father. "He doesn't stand a chance," mutters the guard as the 12 jurors are taken into the bleak jury room. It looks like an open-and-shut case—until one of the jurors begins opening the others' eyes to the facts.

Characters:

• FOREMAN - A small, petty man, who is impressed with the authority he has
• JUROR NO. TWO - A meek, hesitant man who finds it difficult to maintain any opinions of his own
• JUROR NO. THREE - A very strong, forceful, extremely opinionated man within whom can be detected a streak of sadism
• JUROR NO. FOUR - Seems to be a man of wealth and position
• JUROR NO. FIVE - A naive, very frightened young man, who takes his obligations in this case very seriously but who finds it difficult to speak up
• JUROR NO. SIX - An honest but dull-witted man
• JUROR NO. SEVEN - A loud, flashy, glad-handed salesman type who has more important things to do
• JUROR NO. EIGHT - A quiet, thoughtful, gentle man, who sees all sides of every question
• JUROR NO. NINE - A mile, gentle old man, long since defeated by life
• JUROR NO. TEN - An angry, bitter man, who antagonizes almost at sight
• JUROR NO. ELEVEN - A refugee from Europe, who speaks with an accent
• JUROR NO. TWELVE - A sick, bright advertising man, who thinks of human beings in terms of percentages, graphs, and polls
• GUARD - A bit part, can be any age, offstage voice
• JUDGE - A bit part, offstage voice
• CLERK - A bit part, offstage voice

You can find a copy of the script here: https://fischersoph.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/12-angry-men-script.pdf

The script will be displayed during the reading. If you would like to dibs a character, please do so in the comments below. If you are not able to attend the day of, please change your RSVP. Two no shows will result in being asked to leave the group.

In 1986, Chinese American playwright David Henry Hwang read a news story about a French diplomat who carried on a twenty-year-long affair with who he believed was a female Chinese opera singer. In a huge scandal, the diplomat’s lover was revealed to be both male and a spy, and the pair was each sentenced to six years in prison for espionage. This story, combined with inspiration from the classic opera Madame Butterfly (1904), inspired Hwang’s play M. Butterfly (1988).

Characters:

• Kurgo
• Renee Gallimard
• Song Liling
• Marc
• Man #1
• Man #2
• Consul Sharpless
• Renee
• Woman at Party
• Girl in Magazine
• Comrade Chin
• Suzuki
• Shu Fang
• Helga
• M. Toulon
• Judge

You can find a copy of the script here:
https://cdn.vaultofthewace.xyz/english-lit/books/M.%20Butterfly%20-%20David%20Henry%20Hwang.pdf

The script will be displayed during the reading. If you would like to dibs a character, please do so in the comments below. If you are not able to attend the day of, please change your RSVP. Two no shows will result in being asked to leave the group.