Needham Community Theatre will be hosting play readings in January of two pieces authored by members of First Parish. On January 15, 2023, NCT will host a reading of Nancy Temple’s “A Letter”. When a woman is contacted by the son she gave up for adoption at birth, she must decide whether meeting him is worth the risk of alienating the daughter she adopted from South India.
Update: Nancy’s play has been postponed until sometime in February. Details to follow
Nancy has been writing short and long plays since 2015. Her short plays have been performed in various festivals throughout the US and Canada. Most recently her 30 minute play “Shangri-La” was selected for production in the Festival of Playwrights and Artists by the KNOW Theatre, Binghamton, NY. Her play “Victoria for President! 1872” for high-schoolers was published by Next Stage Press. Her full-length play “The Caregivers” was published in the ARTemis Anthology of Wisdom. Her short story “Riverbend Blue” was recently published in riverSedge, the literary journal of the University of Texas Rio Grande. Nancy received her MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University in 2021
On January 29th, NCT will host a reading of Tad Staley’s “An Atheist in Hell”, which takes place in the fleeting moments after the death of Bertrand Russell, a towering thinker in 20th century mathematics and philosophy, in which he is joined at the threshold of eternity by a trio of characters who will usher him to a moment of truth and decision.
This play actually began as the first draft of a paper for a course on mysticism at BU School of Theology. The course culminated with Nicholas of Cusa, a 15th century mystic and mathematician, so it seemed relevant to invoke Lord Russell and put him in dialogue with his mystically oriented early collaborator Alfred North Whitehead, along with a few others. The term paper was judged “impertinent” by the professor, but provided an opportunity to play with a whimsical and alternative view of the afterlife.
Each reading will take place at the Presbyterian Church in Needham at 7:30 pm. For more information, please contact Nancy or Tad.