A reading and optional talkback of Alien(e), a new play by Ella Talerico. Featuring the wonderful Sydney Duncan, Vi To, Erin Mee, Juniper Shelley, and Maggie Young.
Doors will open at 6, and the reading will begin at 6:30. Located in the Streep Studio in the Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film. Chairs provided :)
Wondering what an "optional talkback" is? At the end of the reading, all audience members are invited to stay to ask and answer questions regarding the play and it's next iteration. Ella wants to hear what you have to say and let that inform the next part of her process! However, the talkback is certainly not required. :)
About the show: Alien(e) is inspired by Ella's late grandmother, Elaine, who struggled with mental illness, childbirth, child loss, and memory loss later on in her life. The play follows Elaine as she struggles to subdue the unrelenting ghosts of her past, maintain a loose grip on the present, and run away from the ever escaping and utterly terrifying entity known as the "future". The multitudes within her unfold before us in the form of a real-but-also-imaginary beach and a nest of just-about-to-hatch sea turtles. What do we do when the equal and opposite forces of love and fear are constantly at odds within us? How do we heal the unhealable? How do we fight and cope with the unbeatable? Where do we find hope in an unraveling world? Where do we find truth in an unraveling reality? And most importantly, how do we remember and honor that which has been lost?
Content Warning: this play deals heavily with themes of death, loss, grief, and mental illness.