OPEN BOOK
A Play Reading Experience
East Alabama Arts is pleased to announce a new programming initiative, OPEN BOOK, a grassroots play exploration group led by Melaine Bennett and Steve Bice.
OPEN BOOK is a group of local community theater artists and enthusiasts who have come together in shared interest to read plays and spend time discussing them. From their first meetings in January of 2023, they have explored plays from ancient to contemporary, and plays in progress, discovering how they relate to current everyday experiences and cheering on the creation of new works for the stage, staged readings, performances by visiting artists, and hosting new play workshops.
A recent OPEN BOOK project included the reading of WATERSPIRITS, by Alicia Kester, a story set in post-Katrina New Orleans in which a woman returns home following heartbreak and discovers that spirits are speaking to her to influence her soul’s journey and destiny. OPEN BOOK cast the reading and led the conversation with the participants that was critical in developing the upcoming staged reading just announced by Auburn Area Community Theatre (AACT) at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art (Auburn University) in June 2023.
OPEN BOOK regular meetings will start up again on January 15, 2024, and meet each Tuesday night, from 6 - 7:30, in Room 104 at Southside Center for the Arts, 1103 Glenn Street, Opelika.
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Summer Programming, 2024
** “HOORAY FOR HARRY WOOD” by Kristy Meanor and Doug Seagrest
Join us for a staged reading on Thursday, June 20, 2024 at Southside Center for the Arts Auditorium. Time TBA.
** We will host a second staged reading on Thursday, July 18. Check back for details.
- past Events -
“Page to Stage”
an east Alabama arts open book event
Join us for an evening meet & greet with playwright James Harris and director Rick Rose. Wine and light hors d'oeuvres served at 5:30.
WHEN: Tuesday, August 22, nibbles at 5:30, discussion at 6:00
WHERE: Southside Center for the Arts. 1103 Glenn Street, Opelika.
To purchase tickets to “We’ll Meet Again” on Feb. 28, visit our Ticket Page.
two exciting productions from June, 2023.
A STORM CAME UP
Southside Center for the Arts
Thursday, June 1, 2023, at 7 p.m.
JUST A GIANT CINDERELLA
Southside Center for the Arts
Thursday, June 22, 2023, at 7 p.m.
A STORM CAME UP
It’s the summer of 1963 in a small Alabama town and three young boys find themselves caught up in a complex crossfire between George Wallace, the KKK, the desegregation of the local school system and memories of a murder they witnessed five years earlier. Narrated by the town’s gravedigger, who knows all the skeletons in the closets of this small town, the play examines the relationships of the boys and their families against the volatile backdrop of the Jim Crowe South.
This event will feature a conversation with playwright Kristy Meanor and author Doug Segrest about creating their new work followed by a staged reading by the cast of OPEN BOOK. A STORM CAME UP made its debut at Wetumpka Depot in 2023 and is currently an AACT FEST 2023 (American Association of Community Theatre) finalist, being performed at nationals in June 2023.
Story content includes references to violence, adult situations, and racial slurs/language; and is recommended for mature audiences only.
JUST A GIANT CINDERELLA
Please join us for a funny, moving, and uplifting one-woman show. Called, “a dark comedy about dying (almost) to fit in,” Martina Shabron’s play explores the challenges of mental illness with an abundance of humor. Fresh from performances in Toronto and the Denver Fringe Festival, Martina is bringing JUST A GIANT CINDERELLA to Opelika, June 22.
A Swiss-American citizen, former police officer, competitive swimmer, playwright and actress, Martina has created a work that so many of us can relate to … exploring one of the big questions of our time: Where to I “fit” and belong in this world?
This play is for mature audiences. It includes references to mental health struggles and adult themes.