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Please attend our Annual Meeting on Tuesday, September 8, at 10 am in the Lakeside Commons Classroom. Learn about our group, our plans for the season, and how you can participate as an actor or supporter. We’ll also share the advantages of membership ($10 per season) in Readers Theatre.
Plan to audition on September 15 for Murder, Mystery, and Stranger Things, dramatic readings of spooky poems and scary short stories that will be presented to the public in the Chapel on the evening of October 27. The director is looking for a multi-cultural cast of five men and five women who will be stationary readers, so residents with mobility issues are welcome to try out.
On February 23, 2027, Readers Theatre will present Is It Love? An Evening of One-Act Plays exploring the comedy and poignancy of human relationships. The final play of the season will be Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls, a politically charged drama with seven women in the cast.
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Our 2025-2026 Season
The director, cast, and crew of Fireflies, presented on May 19 with full staging, props, andcostumes.
On the evening of March 10, twelve actors read the parts of some 53 different characters in A. R. Gurney’s play, The Dining Room.
Our first play of the 2025-2026 season was 12 Angry Jurors, based on the classic 12 Angry Men. Readers of both genders performed the play in the Chapel on the evening of November 18.
Other Dramatic Opportunities
In September of 2025 Readers Theatre sponsored seven sessions for reading aloud The Great Gatsby in celebration of its 100th anniversary. Without auditions or rehearsals, about two dozen residents participated, some of whom were then cast in 12 Angry Jurors. A short discussion followed each session, along with a party at the end.
On December 8, 2025, four Readers Theatre actors performed a dramatic reading of O. Henry’s short story, The Gift of the Magi, for a group of Arbor Ridge residents. We hope to make other presentations there every three months or so.
All About Readers Theatre
Do you enjoy reading plays? Have you ever performed in live theatre? Maybe, like many folks our age, you’d like to play a role, but you’re afraid you’ll forget your lines. Not to worry. Readers Theatre is an open group of Riderwood residents who enjoy choosing plays, working with directors to audition for roles and rehearse them, performing them with full vocal characterization, and then discussing our productions. We hope that our subtitle for the group, “The Play’s the Thing” (borrowed from Hamlet), conveys the idea that we want to have some fun with our shows, even when we do serious drama.
Our History
We began Readers Theatre in the Fall of 2022. Our opening production was The Skin of Our Teeth, a comedy by Thornton Wilder, followed the next February by The Mousetrap, an Agatha Christie mystery. The third play we presented was Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler in May of 2023.
Our second season began with a public performance of Under Milkwood. Next we tackled Arthur Miller’s classic play, The Crucible, followed by Jean Giraudoux’s satirical comedy, The Madwoman of Chaillot. That summer we gave a public performance of The Revlon Girl, by Neil Anthony Docking.
For 2024-2025 we began with Continuity, by Bess Wohl, in another public performance. Our winter play was Appropriate, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. We put on Noël Coward’s Hay Fever in the spring, in Maryland Hall before an audience that enjoyed “high tea” during the intermission.
See above for a recap of the 2025-2025 season.
Where Are We Now?
Lately Readers Theatre has been performing in the Riderwood Chapel before a limited audience of invited guests, due to acoustic considerations. When practical, a performance may be open to the general public. For each play there’s a Tuesday morning audition to choose cast members. Then the cast rehearses for the following two months, usually on Tuesday mornings. As Readers Theatre has gained more experience, some of our directors have introduced blocking (having actors move about the stage), more elaborate costumes and props, and even a semblance of a stage set. But the actors always have their scripts in-hand!
A volunteer Steering Committee together with our Artistic Director head the Readers Theatre group. They select the plays we are doing, choose the directors, and determine our policies. We are committed to racial- and gender-flexible casting to ensure a broad choice of plays and maximum participation.
Please contact Bruce McConachie, Artistic Director,or Maggie Hayes, Steering Committee chair, for more information.