Premiere reading of new work by John Christian Plummer
Cold Spring writer and director John Christian Plummer has a new play, A Ship To Cross the Sea of Suffering, that will be read by a cast of local favorites at the Depot Theatre, Wednesday Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. Admission is free and a talkback will follow the reading. “A Ship To Cross The Sea of Suffering is very much a mystery story – several mysteries, actually,” Plummer explained. “It’s set in August 2007 in New York City, and tells the story of 24 hours in the life of two FBI agents, an artist and a psycho-linguist, as they wrestle with terrorism, the role of art, the dangers of language and the power of love. Walt Whitman and Osama bin Laden are also prominently featured as off-stage presences. It’s not your average night of theater.”
John Plummer
Plummer’s ensemble cast will be familiar to local theatergoers: two actors were seen in the recent World’s End Theatre production of The Seagull – Maia Guest and Gregory Porter Miller; and two are in the currently-running Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival production of Around the World In 80 Days – Jason O’Connell and Vaishnavi Sharma; Susanna Stahlmann, also in 80 Days, will read the stage directions. “I’d written an early draft of this script two years ago,” Plummer noted, “and had an informal reading of it in my living room. Jason was one of the actors I asked to read it, and a few weeks ago he said to me ‘I’d love to read that again.’ So I did some further rewriting, and we pulled this cast together and read it at Go-Go Pops after Greg Miller [co-proprietor of Go-Go Pops] closed for the day. The cast was just fantastic, and at the end, everyone said, ‘Hey, let’s do this for an audience.’ Plummer contacted Depot Theatre’s Artistic Director Nancy Swann and Managing Director Amy Dul, and pitched the idea to them. The Depot Theatre had produced Plummer’s original play Rendition in Damascus in 2009, featuring both Guest and O’Connell, and quickly agreed to the reading.
Parents should be aware that the play contains adult themes and language that may not be suitable for children under 13. Admission is free, but reservations are requested and can be made by calling the Depot Theater box office at 845-424-3900 or online at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/191991.
