Category Archives: Staged Reading

HERE’S TO LIVING
Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative
Feb. 22
Aronoff Center Fifth Third Bank Theater [Downtown]

CPI New Voices Series presents a reading of Here’s to Living by local playwright Dr. Leo Bradley.

Living and enjoying a full and satisfying life while growing old is proving to be a challenge to Jesse Kincaid as he grapples with the challenges of retirement.  Everyone around him, both family and friends, seems to feel he is “losing it” and is in dire need of advice as to how to live out his life.

His daughter is worried about both his health and how to preserve his life-long accumulated wealth. The fact that Jesse thinks love can still happen at any age only increases the family tensions.

Jesse’s friends, ranging from former professional colleagues to financial, legal, real estate advisors, and golf partners, all have different perspectives on needed changes in Jesse’s life.

Helping Jesse to navigate this labyrinth is Glenn, his life-long friend and soul mate. Together they attempt to convince themselves and others to not stand on the shoreline and watch the river flow by, but to sail their vessels until the river runs dry.

1/20/22 – Health and Safety Guidelines

• Tue, Feb. 22 at 7:30pm

Official page |

THE CIRCLE
Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative
Jan. 11
Aronoff Center Fifth-Third Bank Theatre [Downtown]

CPI New Voices Series presents a reading of THE CIRCLE by local playwright Michael Defrancesco.

A new inmate is assigned a prison cell. He is dominated by his cellmate who controls everything about their habitation, and who learns information dangerous to the newcomer–who has lived with his increasingly concerned mother as she observes his personality change from that of a passionately committed young man to a furtive alcoholic. The Circle reveals details of his downward spiral and desperate grasping at some sort of salvation.

12/10/21 – COVID-19 Policy

• Tue, Jan. 11 at 7:30pm

Official page |

PLANTING GRANDMA by Liz Coley
Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative
Nov. 9
Aronoff Center Fifth-Third Bank Theater [Downtown]

Gathered home to their father’s deathbed vigil, middle-aged siblings Bran and Roni plan to undertake his last unfinished business, laying Grandma’s long-neglected ashes to rest. Taking a shovel to the past creates a deeper hole than they bargained for, unearthing family history and exposing personal fears the siblings and their mother have kept buried.

About the Playwright: Liz Coley writes novels (Pretty Girl-13, HarperCollins), short stories, and plays. She manages Next Stage Cincinnati Playwrights, a local critique group, and is producing an upcoming showcase of tens. Her work has been performed in San Diego, Cincinnati, and the Boston area. Follow LizColeyBooks on social media and visit LizColey.com.

10/8/21 – COVID-19 Policy

• Tue, Nov. 9 at 7:30pm

Official page |