The London venue has announced details of its season of plays and musicals which will get their world premiere as a series of read-through events.
Taking place on the first Tuesday of every month, each of the readings will be also streamed live online for a global audience.
Riverside Reads will première scripts by blazingly talented writers, performed by stars from the West End and well-known TV dramas. All – live and online – will be able to discuss the play with the playwright, actors, and director after the reading.
The first play ‘The Last Broadcast’ by Carey Crim is set to be read on the 1st September and set to feature Sandra Dickinson as a prominent barrier-breaking US talk radio personality, whose family come to realise that she needs to go into social care, leading to a shocking family secret being discovered. The season will be completed with a play-through of ‘StarBoy’, a new musical by West End legend Ray Shell and Christopher Van Cleave.
Riverside Reads will feature three works by women and three by men, each focusing on family relationships. The season is curated and directed by Hugh Wooldridge, with West End producer Sir Michael Codron as patron.
Other pieces in the season include: ‘Scattered’ by Megan Van Dusen, The In-Between’ and a fantasy musical by Laura Tisdall.
Each play and musical is rehearsed in advance and will be streamed live from one of the new spaces within the Riverside Studios complex. A limited number of tickets will be available to watch the reading live and in person, adhering to social distancing rules. Tickets cost from £15 to watch the play and the post-show discussion online (the stream is available for 28 days after purchase) and from £25 to watch in person at Riverside Studios.
Talking about the news, Hugh Wooldridge says: “The first read-through, with the cast and author, is one of the most exciting moments in the production process of a new play. This read-through is usually intensely personal and very private. A first reading – good or bad – can completely alter how a play is produced; many changes may be made because of it. I am excited to share an insight into what actually happens. And, given the current appalling state of affairs facing the theatre industry globally, I am so pleased that ‘Riverside Reads’ may be able to provide a platform for these exciting new plays and musicals, whilst bringing together many out-of-work freelance professionals from throughout the industry.”
For more information visit: https://www.riversidestudios.co.uk/book/theatre