The Montgomery Davis Play Development Series
ABOUT THE SERIES
Be the first to hear original stories from your own backyard—and get to know regional artists at work!
Since 2007, with the exception of a pandemic delay, MCT has proudly showcased two Wisconsin playwrights every season through the Montgomery Davis Play Development Series. Writers workshop and rehearse new plays in progress with a cast and director before inviting an audience to hear music stand readings of their works in progress and offer their responses.
All readings are open to the public via suggested donation. Seating is unreserved general admission.
24/25 READINGS
ANATOMICAL HEARTS
by L.C. Hovey
Monday, October 7, 2024 at Zao MKE Church
Doors at 7 pm, Reading at 7:30 pm
Pay-what-you-choose General Admission
Lucie Sharpe’s dreams came true when she was granted permission to attend lectures at Harvard Medical School, so when the opportunity is snatched away, she’ll do anything to get it back. Medical student Elijah Campbell keeps the world at arm’s length; as a trans-masculine person in 1850, solitude is safety. But when his life collides with Lucie’s schemes, he’s confronted with the terrifying possibility of intimacy. A queer historical dramedy about love, purpose, and medicine.
L.C. Hovey (they/them/theirs) is a Madison-based non-binary playwright, costumer, and musician whose work investigates intersections of time, body, and gender. Their plays include MURDERBALLAD (2022 Eleanor Frost Award), a folk music infused ghost-story, and ANATOMICAL HEARTS (this play!), a queer historical dramedy about love, purpose, and medicine. L.C. is a graduate of Dartmouth College, receiving degrees in engineering and theater. They currently work in technology to support their two very spoiled cats.
STEADY SHE GOES
by Erica Berman
Monday, February 3rd, 2025 at the Broadway Theatre Center, Studio Theatre
Doors at 7pm, Reading at 7:30pm
Pay-what-you-choose General Admission
Welcome to the Golden Age of Sail! Join a crew below deck as they spin a yarn filled with sea shanties, danger, and ultimately, triumph. STEADY SHE GOES is the unbelievably true tale of gale force winds around Cape Horn, an ailing captain, a mutinous mate, and the woman who made history trying to save them all.
Erica Berman (she/hers) is a playwright, director, and theater educator. Her plays have been produced at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, The Winnipesaukee Playhouse, Ensemble Stage, Four Seasons Theater, Children’s Theater of Madison, Kohl’s Wild Theater (Milwaukee County Zoo), St. Olaf College, Interlochen Arts Camp, Kent Place School, and this fall, at Artist's Ensemble Theater and Third Avenue Playworks. Her plays have been developed at many of the theaters listed above, as well as Forward Theater Company and The Growing Stage: The Children’s Theatre of NJ. She was awarded residency to the National Winter Playwrights Retreat in Colorado, the Everwood Farmstead’s Artist Retreat in the Driftless, and the Wisconsin Dramatist's Retreat at the iconic Ten Chimneys. BA Mount Holyoke College, MA Emerson College.
SUBMISSIONS
At MCT, we think home is where the art is. The Montgomery Davis Play Development Series seeks to explore the stories of local artists so that we may know, and grow, our community and its diverse voices. To that end, MCT considers previously unproduced work by Wisconsin-connected playwrights for the Series.
Watch here for a call for submissions soon!
Please email Josie Trettin with questions and inquiries.
MDPDS ARCHIVE
The following is a chronology of MDPDS readings at MCT by season.
To inquire about one of the titles, please contact Josie.
*Indicates a reading which subsequently premiered on the MCT mainstage
2023-2024
THIS JUST IN by Malaina Moore / October 23, 2023
NATTIE AND GOOGIE: THE LOVE AFFAIR OF GEORGE BURNS & GRACIE ALLEN by Tami Workentin / May 6, 2024
2022-2023
VIRAGOS - A PLAY WITH FOUND TEXT by Katherine E. Norman / October 17, 2022
2021-2022
EENY MEENY MINY NO! by Lachrissa Grandberry / August 15, 2021
IRON COUNTY by Gaetano Marangelli / April 18, 2022
2020-2021
THE YEAR WITHOUT A SUMMER by Greer DuBois / May 17, 2021 (online)
2019-2020
LE/LA by Liz Shipe / October 21, 2019
2018-2019
THE PECULIAR DISTRACTION OF MR. LINCOLN'S SOCIAL MEDIA by Andy Bayiates / October 21, 2018
’NEATH THE HILLS OF BASTOGNE by Zach Thomas Woods / April 28, 2019
2017-2018
THE PRISONER OF ZENDA by Anthony Hope, adapted by Dan Klarer and Ryan Schabach / October 15, 2017
NO WAKE* by Erica Berman / April 29, 2018
2016-2017
BLUE BULLETS by Alvaro Saar Rios / October 17, 2016
CHRISTMAS IN BABYLON* by James DeVita / March 20, 2017
2015-2016
AN EVENING WITH CARL SANDBURG by Jonathan Gillard Daly / October 19, 2015
FAITHLESS by Michael Proft / May 2, 2016
2014-2015
THE BOY INSIDE by Richard Kalinoski / October 13, 2014
500 YEARS by Michelle Lopez-Rios / May 4, 2015
2013-2014
WAITING by Kimberly Megna Yarnall / October 14, 2013
SILENT by Gwendolyn Rice / March 10, 2014
2012-2013
MORE LOSERS by James Fletcher / September 17, 2012
PLAZA HOTEL BALLROOM by Alice Austen / March 4, 2013
2011-2012
OCTOBER, BEFORE I WAS BORN* by Lori Matthews / September 19, 2011
THE TAVERN KEEPER’S DAUGHTER by Brett Ryback (A collaboration with Skylight Music Theatre) / February 27, 2012
2010-2011
HOT FLASHES, THE METAPHOR by Lynne Topping Farrell / September 20, 2010
AMONG THE SQUIRRELS by Eric Appleton / March 7, 2011
2009-2010
THE DESERT QUEEN by James DeVita / September 21, 2009
BROKEN AND ENTERED* by Kurt McGinnis Brown / March 15, 2010
2008-2009
NOT THE ARTIST by Kurt McGinnis Brown / September 22, 2008
A THOUSAND WORDS* by Gwendolyn Rice / March 16, 2009
2007-2008
THE DALY NEWS* Story, book and lyrics by Jonathan Gillard Daly; Music by Larry Delinger, Gregg Coffin and Jonathan Gillard Daly / September 10, 2007
BACKWARDS by Alice Austen / March 17, 2008