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The Montgomery Davis Play Development Series

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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.

23/24 SEASON READINGS

NATTIE AND GOOGIE:
A LOVE AFFAIR
by Tami Workentin
directed by Laura Gordon

Featuring James Pickering and Tami Workentin

Monday, May 6, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Location to be announced

Cost: Pay What You Choose​

Vaudevillians Gracie Allen and George Burns were pioneers of the sitcom alongside Lucille Ball and Jack Benny. Burns' seventeenth partner, Irish dancer Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen, stole his heart and those of their audiences whether in Vaudeville houses and movie theaters, on the radio, and then on television in the wildly popular "Burns and Allen" show of the 1950s. Gracie's "illogical logic" made its own sense and left audiences scratching their heads while delighting in her gentle skewering of prevailing sacred cows and social mores of the times. NATTIE AND GOOGIE: A LOVE AFFAIR is a sidesplitting and touching celebration of George and Gracie's remarkable career and equally remarkable four-decade marriage.

THIS JUST IN

by Malaina Moore

directed by Dimonte Henning

After the tragic murder of his close friend by the police, Tyree finds himself filled with sadness and rage and searching for answers as the media picks apart his friend's integrity. Originally written as a one-act for MCT's Young Playwrights Festival and now expanding to a full-length play, THIS JUST IN by Milwaukee playwright, actor, director, and producer Malaina Moore explores the way the media's response to the killing of civilians by police affects how families and friends grieve the loss of their loved ones.


Featuring Nathan Berry, Joseph Brown Jr., Dimonte Henning, Cambryelle Getter, Ashley S. Jordan, and Katie O'Regan

 

Monday, October 23, 2023 at 7:30 PM

Bradley Symphony Center, 4th Floor Studio, 212 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53203

(Enter via Office Tower/Employee Entrance to the right of the main marquee)

 

Cost: Pay What You Choose

Sponsored by Mary Jo and Guy McDonald

The cast of THIS JUST IN.  From left to right: Dimote Henning, Nathan Berry, Joseph Brown Jr., Cambryelle Getter, Malaina Moore, Ashley S. Jordan, and Katie O'Regan.

Joseph Brown Jr. and Nathan Berry in rehearsal for THIS JUST IN

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

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

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