Jane Kaczmarek, Kate Walsh and Michael Ian Black in Ridgefield

The Mark Twain Library’s Pudd’nhead Festival in September will once again feature the celebrated series Selected Shorts. This year, the performance will take place at the legendary Ridgefield Playhouse.

Selected Shorts is produced by Symphony Space and broadcast on 150 radio stations across the country, as well as via podcast. The premise of Selected Shorts is to pair great stories by well-known and emerging writers with readings by renowned actors of stage and screen. The show tours throughout the year and often performs to sold out audiences.

The Mark Twain Library’s Pudd’nhead Festival—the brainchild of Redding resident, comedian and author Michael Ian Black, which started in 2014 as a humor prize and has grown into a four-day literary festival—was a natural fit.

“When I co-founded the Pudd’nhead Festival five years ago, I wanted to honor Twain’s humor and literary legacy,” said Black. “We wanted to do more to honor the literary (often humorous) side. What better way than by bringing one of the best radio shows in the country to Pudd’nhead?”

Likewise, this collaboration offers the radio series a chance to flaunt its funny side. "The Mark Twain connection allows us to curate a comedy program, which is always fun to do,” said Jennifer Brennan, producer of Selected Shorts and Director of Literary Programs at Symphony Space. “So much fiction being published today is serious and topical, so it's a nice change to get to read stories that make you laugh out loud."

This year’s readers:

Michael Ian Black is known for such seminal television programs as The State, Stella, and Michael and Michael Have Issues, all of which he co-created, wrote, and starred in. In addition to performing stand-up across the country, Black has appeared in many films and television shows, including Ed, Burning Love, The Jim Gaffigan Show, and Inside Amy Schumer. He has written best-selling books for both children and adults, and is the host of the podcast How to Be Amazing. He can currently be seen on Comedy Central's Another Period and Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later.

Jane Kaczmarek is best known for her roles on TV shows Malcolm in the Middle, St. Elsewhere, and Hill Street Blues, as well as Broadway and Williamstown Theatre Festival productions. Kaczmarek is a longtime Selected Shorts reader and host, and appears throughout the country in the touring show.

Kate Walsh, second-time Selected Shorts reader, was the star of Private Practice and a featured cast member of Grey’s Anatomy. Walsh also has appeared in numerous films, such as Kicking & Screaming and Under the Tuscan Sun.

“We were eager to work with Kate again because of her acting chops and perfect comic timing,” Brennan commented. “Kate and Michael are mutual admirers, so this was a perfect opportunity for us to bring them together.”

“If you’ve listened even to a single episode of Selected Shorts, you know that a good short story can pull you in so quickly and deliver a huge emotional payoff in such a short time,” said Black. “Plus, with Kate and Jane reading, I know we’re going to have an incredible program.”

Tickets are $30 each, and are available at The Ridgefield Playhouse box office, online at https://ridgefieldplayhouse.org or by phone at (203) 438-5795.