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.
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