WCT Reading of Rosabelle, Believe, Explores Relationship Between Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

May 22 and 23: Westchester Collaborative Theater’s Reading of Rosabelle, Believe, Explores Complex Relationship between Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Ossining, NY – On Friday, May 22 at 8 pm and Saturday, May 23 at 2 pm, The Westchester Collaborative Theater (WCT) will present its first reading of 2015, a full-length play, Rosabelle, Believe, by Joseph Lauinger, directed by Alan Lutwin, executive director of WCT. The reading takes place at the Budarz Theater in the Ossining Public Library, 53 Croton Ave, Ossining, NY. Saturday’s reading will be followed by a talk-back with the playwright, director and cast. Tickets, $10, which must be purchased in advance, are available through Brown Paper Tickets, http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1337292

Rosabelle, Believe, a delightful and provocative meditation on cultural ethos, sexual gamesmanship and the afterlife, revolves around the decades-long, unlikely relationship forged between Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the cross-currents that affected the women in their lives.

The playwright, Joseph Lauinger, Professor of Dramatic Literature at Sarah Lawrence College, holds a master’s from Oxford and a PhD from Princeton. He has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

The cast, all WCT members, features: Deacon Hoy (Houdini) who recently played the lead in a NYC Fringe Festival entry produced by WCT; Michelle Concha (his wife, Rosabelle) a Juilliard graduate who has appeared in NYC at Pan Asian Theatre, Gene Frankel Theater and Teatro La Tea and in WCT productions; Ward Riley (Doyle) who has appeared in numerous WCT productions, written plays for the company and has appeared with and acted for Axial Theatre; and Sharon Rowe (Doyle’s wife, Lady Jean) an Emmy award winner and SAG member. Erik Langner and Jim Brownold, who will also be featured, were both last seen in the WCT 2014 Fall Play reading of Marshall Fine’s On the Frontiers of Scientific Discovery. Lutwin (director), Concha, Rowe and Langner are Ossining residents.

The Westchester Collaborative Theater is a multicultural, cooperative theater company located in Ossining, NY, dedicated to developing new work for the stage and bringing live theater to the community. WCT is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and a recipient of production grants from ArtsWestchester and New York State Council on the Arts.

This reading is also part of ArtsWestchester’s ARTSEE program for promoting the arts throughout the region. From March through July 2015, Westchester comes alive with vibrant cultural events in celebration of ArtsWestchester’s 50th anniversary. ARTSEE is a five month showcase of the creative spirit in Westchester County packed with dance, film, theatre, art exhibitions, concerts, open studios, poetry readings and more. https://artswestchester.org/50th-anniversary/artsee-a-festival-of-new-work/

www.wctheater.org

# # #

Photo caption: Michelle Concha will play the role of Houdini’s conflicted wife in Rosabelle, Believe, WCT’s Spring Play Reading. Photo credit: Lina Sarrello.

Q