Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Sunday with Friends: Peter H. Luce Play Readers

On Sunday, January 21st 5:30pm, the Peter H. Luce Play Readers will perform a free reading of the one-act play "Face to Face" by David Williamson. The reading is presented by special arrangement with Cameron's Management, Sydney. This free performance is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Vineyard Haven Public Library and the Martha's Vineyard Mediation Program, and refreshments will be served. Doors will open at 5pm for the 5:30pm performance at the library.

"Face to Face" is a moving and powerful play about lies, betrayal, sex and bullying in the workplace. This dramatic and character-driven play takes its format in a realistic setting of 'community conferencing,' an alternative method of justice which celebrates the strength of community over our "rigid and often seemingly unfair court system." When young construction worker Glen rams into the back of his boss’s Mercedes in a fit of anger, he is given the opportunity to discuss his actions in a community conference, rather than going straight to court. This face-to-face confrontation between the young man, his boss, his boss's wife, co-workers, and others lifts the lid not only on his dysfunctional life but on their workplace dirty laundry.

David Williamson is Australia’s most enduringly popular social comedy writer. As one of Australia's best-known dramatists and playwrights, he has been the recipient of four Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Screenplay. His play "Face to Face" was adapted into a film in 2011, directed by Michael Rymer. Reviewers for the Daily Telegraph have said "The emotional twists and turns the script takes to reach the end point are alternately subtle, disturbing and occasionally hilarious as Williamson takes us into an exploration of conflict in the workplace and the humanity and compromise required to overcome it."

For more than 15 years, the Peter H. Luce Play Readers have met every Wednesday of the year at the Vineyard Haven Senior Center from 9AM to Noon to read plays of every era and of every genre, from the Greek and Roman classics to the cutting-edge works of contemporary playwrights... and everything in between: Shakespeare, Shaw, Checkov, Moliere, Miller, Ibsen Albee, O'Neil, Pinter and Neil Simon. The group is named for its founder, Peter Luce, who died in 2007. This reading will be directed by John Brannen, and cast includes Mike Adell, Bob Aldrin, Sophia Anthony, Joe Corbo, Paul Doherty, Marianne Goldsmith, Roberta Hurtig, Kathy Hochberg, Louis Pashman and Jay Sigler.

The Friends of the Vineyard Haven Public Library encourage public understanding of the Library's vital role in the community, support activities for both adults and children, and provide various other volunteer services. Their mission is to support the Library, to build a partnership between the Library and the community and to advocate for exemplary library service. All volunteers and those who are interested in knowing more about the Friends meet at 10:30am on the first Saturday of every month at the library.

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