SquareWrights group presents short-play festival of staged readings at Stratford Library

STRATFORD – March 17, 2016 – SquareWrights Playwright Group will present “Quickies in the Stacks: Quoth the Bard,” six original short one-act plays, on Saturday, April 2 at 2 p.m. at the Stratford Library, 2203 Main Street, Stratford. The staged reading festival, which will take place in the Lovell Room, is free and open to the public.

“Quickies in the Stacks: Quoth the Bard,” features works inspired by a quote from Shakespeare in honor of the Bard’s birthday later in April and the 400th anniversary of his death on April 23, 1616. The plays, all by Stratford playwrights, are “A Wise Man” by Beatriz Allen, “To Thine Own Self Be True” by Steven Otfinoski, “The Vexed Ear” by Jack Rushen, “The Stuff That Dreams Are Made On” by Mark Lambeck, “An Honest Tale” by J. Sibley Law and "Nothing is Good or Bad, but Thinking Makes it So" by Orna Rawls.

Directors for this festival are Tom Rushen of Stratford, Robert Watts of Milford, Rachel Babcock of Branford and Marlana Rugg of Hamden. Actors include Stratford residents Nadine Willig, Dena Lagonigro, Andy Byrne, and Julia Allen. Also featured are Andrea Garmun, Barry Hatrick, and Richard Warren, all of Milford; Larry Greeley and Sam Mink of Norwalk; Bruce Spiewak of Orange, Albert Burton Glassman of Branford, and Fredda Takacs of Trumbull.

While inspired by Shakespeare, the plays cover a range of themes including a family struggling with what to do about an aging grandfather, a playwright whose anticipation for support for his new work doesn’t match reality, two older women who meet in a doctor’s office and find common ground, an older couple with a failure to communicate, a writer whose eclectic collection of short stories becomes a surprise best seller, and an unusual posse of thieves who pull off a heist.

Though reservations are not required, space is limited. Doors open at 1:30 p.m.

Since its inception in 2004, the Stratford-based SquareWrights Playwright Group has had more than 80 productions and staged readings including short-play festivals, the 24-hour Fast Forward Theatre Festival and fundraisers for Katrina and Tsunami victims, the Stratford Library and the historical Perry House. The group has been represented multiple times at the Stratford Summer Arts Festival on the grounds of the Shakespeare Theatre. In addition, they’ve collaborated with the Stratford Arts Commission, The Temple Players, the Stratford Arts Guild, Eastbound Theatre of Milford, Two Roads Brewery and Bridgeport’s Playhouse on the Green.