Join us for a live reading of Sarah Ruhl’s Dear Elizabeth: A Play in Letters from Elizabeth Bishop to Robert Lowell and Back Again.
This reading will support the United Academics of Philadelphia’s Solidarity Fund, which addresses needs and financial burdens arising from emergency hardship. All proceeds contributed will go to the Solidarity Fund and be earmarked for UArts Union Faculty and Staff.
The reading is directed by Jessica DalCanton and performed by celebrated actors Jennifer Summerfield and Paul Guerin. The reading honors the ensemble's long history with Ruhl, including productions of Three Sisters, In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play), Eurydice, and Dead Man’s Cell Phone.
Dear Elizabeth intimately reimagines a correspondence between two of the greatest poets of the 20th century, shedding light on the vulnerability of artistic creation and the enduring power of friendship.
The reading will take place at 7pm on December 13th. Preshow refreshments at 6pm at the Park Avenue Community Center.
*This event is a pay-what-you-can with a suggestions donation of $25 per person. PLEASE RSVP below
Jessica DalCanton (Director) Jessica has been working as a professional actor, director, and theatre educator for twenty years. National credits include:Philadelphia Artists Collective, Passage, Hedgerow, Act 2, InterAct, The Covina Center, Maples Repertory, Dallas Theatre Center, Quintessence, Shakespeare in Clark Park, Simpatico, Revolution Shakespeare, Theatre Arlington, and others. TV/Film: Sprout, QVC and various commercials. Jessica's proudest role is that of Assistant Professor of Theatre at Montgomery County Community College where she recently directed Jenny Jacobs’ translation of Moliere’s Tartuffe.
Jennifer Summerfield (she/her) (Elizabeth) Jennifer is a Philadelphia-based performer who has appeared in Shakespeare in Clark Park (Comedy of Errors,) Curio Theatre (Marie Antoinette,) New York’s The Actor’s Temple (Out of the Apple Orchard,) and is the writer and performer of Mary Shelley: Strange Star, a play commissioned by the Rosenbach Museum. As co-producer with Laurel Tree Theatre, she has performed in site-specific productions of Hedda Gabler and The Yellow Wallpaper and the films A Doll’s House 20/20 and Mary Shelley: Strange Star.
Paul Guerin (he/him) (Lowell) has delighted in reading these letters with his distinguished colleagues and Laurel Tree Theatre. A Philadelphia area performer, he was recently seen as Mr. Price in Kinky Boots at New Light/Delaware Theatre and has recently appeared in: Philadelphia Women's Theatre Festival (Pancake Queen), Quintessence (Major Barbara), English Theatre of Rome (Eurydice), Arcadia University (Dancing at Lughnasa).