By Matt Roush

Live theater returns to Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church this fall when the Theatre Fellowship presents a weekend’s worth of free staged readings in November.

Three stage readings, set for Friday through Sunday, Nov. 11-13, will mark the first in-person theatrical event on the Jones stage since the initial wave of the pandemic shut down the Theatre Fellowship production of Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit midway through its run in March 2020.

Staying true to the “show must go on” philosophy—which kept the Theatre Fellowship connected during the long hiatus through Zoom meetings and online play readings—the three plays chosen for this occasion provide a wide range of “Laughter and Tears,” the weekend’s theme. These readings include:

• Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias on Friday, Nov. 11, at 7 pm;
• Ancestral Voices, by A.R. Gurney, on Saturday, Nov. 12, at 7 pm; and
• Noël Coward’s Waiting in the Wings on Sunday, Nov. 13, at 2 pm, with a talk-back following the performance.

If the latter sounds familiar, it’s because the Theatre Fellowship performed this play—a dramatic comedy set in a home for retired actresses—online during the pandemic shutdown in March 2021. Many of the same actors will return for a reprise, once again directed by Catherine Ann Taylor and produced by Phyllis Cox.

Steel Magnolias, previously presented as a full, main-stage production by the Theatre Fellowship in 2003 and directed by Margo Martindale (who appeared in the original Off-Broadway production) and the late Bob Brennan, is a raucous tale of Southern female friendship set in a Louisiana beauty parlor.

Kathy Henderson, a member of Fifth Avenue’s Arts and Our Faith Committee, will direct Ancestral Voices, a bittersweet coming-of-age story, produced by Janet Luhrs. Playwright A.R. Gurney, nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for his 1988 play Love Letters, wrote more than 60 plays during his extensive theatrical career.

Theatre Fellowship is delighted to report that more than 20 Fifth Avenue members are involved in these readings, with the hope for more to come. All performances are free of charge, but reservations are requested. Please mark your calendars, and plan to attend!

Matt Roush is a member of Fifth Avenue’s Theatre Fellowship. For more information about Theatre Fellowship, contact [email protected].