New Plays Aloud is a reading group for actors and playwrights meeting monthly, facilitated by playwright Kate Rich. All are invited to read or listen.

To participate, email Kate at identifyalaska@gmail.com
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BREAKOUT by Tom Moran
3 M, 2F
10 min

CHARACTERS:
JOEL 20’s-early 30’s. Idealistic, dressed in business casual.
RENEE, 50’s. Dumpy, irritating middle manager in business casual. Frequently talks in confused analogies, often accompanied by equally confusing hand gestures.
TRACY, 20’s. Attractive, earnest, desperate-to-get hired intern, slightly overdressed.
CLAW, 30’s-40’s. Large, terrifying, dressed in camo fatigues and, possibly, a bandolier. Talks in a growl.
MR. (MARK) ANDERSON, 40’s-50’s. Everybody’s boss, immaculately coiffed, dressed in nice suit.

SYNOPSIS: A progressive-minded worker at an educational software company is horrified to find out some of the side business the firm engages in.
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WINNER by Amy Berryman
1M, 1F
15 min

CHARACTERS:
TORI WALKER – early 30s, black playwright, a nobody who just became a somebody
CHARLIE HARVARD – early 60s, white playwright, a somebody

SYNOPSIS: Tori Walker has just become the first Black woman to win a prestigious play writing award, and is thrilled to meet her hero at the after party, legendary playwright Charlie Harvard (whose play did not win). A play about play writing, privilege, and claiming space in 2019.
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DONE THERE, BEEN THAT by Kathy Rucker
2M
12 min

CHARACTERS:
ED male, black, older than Torch
TORCH male, white, young

SYNOPSIS: Torch, a San Quentin prisoner, is convinced he is a monster and deserves to be where he is. But that changes when he is asked to do the unthinkable – take care of Ed, a fellow prisoner who is slowly losing his mind to dementia.
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COUNTING in SHA’AB by Emma Goldman-Sherman
3M, 1 F

CHARACTERS:
ABU OMAR --An Iraqi businessman who works in a Baghdad neighborhood. 40s or older.
ALI --A young man who works in Abu Omar’s computer store. Teens to early 20s.
KOURESH--A Kurd who works in the carpentry shop beside Abu Omar’s supermarket. Mid to late 20s.
SHAIMA--Wears a hijab. Late 20s.

SYNOPSIS: After a deadly car bomb explodes in the Sha'ab neighborhood of Baghdad, grocery store owner Abu Omar and his neighbors attempt to clear the rubble and assess the damage. Is this the new normal?