Fresh produce 2023
A Celebration of New Plays ABOUT Women
August 16-28, 2023
All readings are at 7:30pm
Location: Rivendell Theatre Ensemble
5779 N. Ridge, Chicago
Kara & Emma & Barbara & Miranda
By Ariel Stess
Director: Azar Kazemi
Public Reading: Wednesday, August 16
Honey Bee Baby
By Erlina Ortiz
Director: Latrelle Bright
Public Reading: Monday, August 21
No Such Thing
By RTE Member Lisa Dillman
Director: Malkia Stampley
Public Reading: Sunday, August 27
you know, that Bakery out in Bensonhurst
By Gina Femia
Director: Georgette Verdin
Public Reading: Monday, August 28
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All prices are a SUGGESTED DONATION.
We have suggested two price levels - $10 and $25, but please feel free to offer any amount you'd like.
We are thrilled to announce the return for 2023 of Fresh Produce Festival: A Celebration of New Plays About Women. Originally launched in 2004, Rivendell has long cultivated the notion that thoughtfully planting new artistic seeds wields the richest harvest.
Our Fresh Produce series is known for risky, innovative, and compelling new work. During each series, exciting new projects about women are curated and nurtured through an intensive, developmental workshop process.
Each project culminates in a public reading that features the opportunity for a moderated dialogue between artists and audience. We hope you will join us as we sow the seeds of original new work
about women once again!
Kara & Emma & Barbara & Miranda
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Ariel Stess
Playwright
Azar Kazemi
Director
Kara wants to spend the evening with her husband in their new house. Emma wants to make something out of her life. Barbara wants to get her ex-lover out of her bed. And Miranda just wants to find a safe place to sleep for the night. Isolated in their domestic lives, they face the same conundrum. How do you get yourself out of a life that stifles your agency and your voice?
A comedy-drama that follows four women trying to break free from the forces in their lives that are holding them back.
CAST:
KARA: Mary Cross *+
BARBARA: Meighan Gerachis *+
MIRANDA: Cassidy Slaughter-Mason *
EMMA: Kennedy Waterman
DENNIS: Jacob Alexander
GEORGE: Alex Gillmor
MATT/DOUG: Christopher M. Walsh
PRODUCTION TEAM
PLAYWRIGHT: Ariel Stess
DIRECTOR: Azar Kazemi
DRAMATURG: Tanya Palmer
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Mia Maccarella
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Chase Barron
ARTISTIC PRODUCER: Georgette Verdin +
CASTING: Glenn-Dale Obrero +
*= member of Actor's Equity Association
+= Rivendell Theatre Ensemble Member
READING: Wednesday 8/16 at 7:30PM
Honey Bee Baby
Erlina Ortiz
Playwright
Latrelle Bright
Director
Melisa is a kind-hearted follower of rules. She desperately wants a child, if only she could pass the government-mandated test that will allow her to do it. Young Clarisa knows nothing except the perfectly curated life her parents have carved for her in their fortified underground mansion. The bees are gone, the resources are scarce, and everyone must earn their place in this world where the lines between right and wrong are blurred with blood.
CAST
RAY: Terry Bell *
ENSEMBLE 1: Kamille Dawkins
MARIA: Cheryl Hamada*
ENSEMBLE 2: Sierra Phan
MELISA: Aila Ayilam Peck
CLARISA: Winona Slater
JOY: Hilary Williams
PRODUCTION TEAM
PLAYWRIGHT: Erlina Ortiz
DIRECTOR: Latrelle Bright
ASSISTANT DIRECTORS: Kashara Bennett & Sophia Urban
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Mia Maccarella
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Chase Barron
STAGE DIRECTIONS: Jerry Dye +*
ARTISTIC PRODUCER: Georgette Verdin+
CASTING: Glenn-Dale Obrero+
*= member of Actor's Equity Association
+= Rivendell Theatre Ensemble Member
READING: Monday, 8/21 at 7:30PM
To be rescheduled at a later date.
No Such Thing
Lisa Dillman*
Playwright
Malkia Stampley
Director
A middle-aged married woman takes an anonymous lover and begins an affair that blends sex and storytelling. Fact and fiction collide. No Such Thing examines the question of what makes a story--and the sometimes perilous consequences of finding one's bliss. Winner of the Morton R. Sarett New Play Award.
CAST
OLIVIA: Jessica Ervin+
TED: Jim Leaming*
MARILYN: Felisha McNeal
PEN: Carmen Roman*
FALLON: Andre Teamer
PRODUCTION TEAM
PLAYWRIGHT: Lisa Dillman+
DIRECTOR: Malkia Stampley
DRAMATURG: Sarah Slight+
ASSISTANT DIRECTORS: Kashara Bennett & Sophia Urban
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Mia Maccarella
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Chase Barron
ARTISTIC PRODUCER: Georgette Verdin+
CASTING: Glenn-Dale Obrero+
*= member of Actor's Equity Association
+= Rivendell Theatre Ensemble Member
READING: Sunday, 8/27 at 7:30PM
you know, that Bakery out in Bensonhurst
Gina Femia
Playwright
Georgette Verdin*
Director
photo credit: Joe Mazza
Dell and Micki are sisters who work in a bakery their mom owns. Dell is sixteen going on sixty, an old soul struggling to understand why their father died – he definitely didn’t kill himself, even if that’s what they all say. Micki is twenty going on sixteen, excited to be embarking on a new relationship – even if she ain’t supposed to. When Micki leaves the family, the girls’ lives are twisted into a turmoil neither could’ve ever predicted.
CAST
ADELINE: Sophie Ackerman
DELL: Katherine Mallen Kupferer+
MICKI: Jourdan Lewanda
CHRISTINA: Lisa Troi Thomas
PRODUCTION TEAM
PLAYWRIGHT: Gina Femia
DIRECTOR: Georgette Verdin+
DRAMATURG: Caroline Uy
ASSISTANT DIRECTORS: Kashara Bennett & Sophia Urban
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Mia Maccarella
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Chase Barron
ARTISTIC PRODUCER: Georgette Verdin+
CASTING: Glenn-Dale Obrero+
READING: Monday, 8/28 at 7:30PM