(RAHWAY, NJ) -- American Theater Group (ATG) will present the premiere reading of Erik Kahn's new play Moses in Berlin as part of its free Monday Night Play Reading Series on December 2, 2024 at Hamilton Stage in Rahway, NJ.  Joseph Discher will direct the reading. The reading is scheduled for 7:00pm.

Moses in Berlin opens in an upscale apartment building in 1933 Berlin, where a group of young friends play a game.  As the game progresses, the players face decisions with life-or-death consequences. Meanwhile, the Landau family begins to feel the tightening noose of the Nazi party. After a series of unexpected turns, the friends are forced into the adult world. When young Harold Landau is sent to prison, he must make a difficult choice between self-preservation and sacrifice.  Moses in Berlin explores the themes of survival, betrayal, and the true definition of family in a unique and powerful fashion.

A Q&A discussion with the director and cast will follow the reading. While the event is free, donations will be gratefully accepted. Hamilton Stage is located at 360 Hamilton Street in Rahway, NJ and is independently operated under the governance of Union County Performing Arts Center.

Leading the cast will be Collin Kelly-Sordelet (Broadway: The Last Ship) in the role of Harold, James Michael Reilly (TV: Succession, Bull) in the role of Joseph Landau and Laura Ekstrand (TV: Ray Donovan, Sex in the City) in the role of Alma Landau. Additional casting to be announced shortly.

ATG presented the world premiere of Kahn’s Canned Goods in May of 2024. The play will move to London this January for a run at the Southwark Playhouse before returning to the US.

"ATG was so proud to produce Erik’s exceptional Canned Goods this year,” noted Producing Artistic Director Jim Vagias, “and we are delighted that our Reading Series can provide a platform for his newest work."

Playwright Erik Kahn is an intellectual property attorney in New York City representing artists, musicians, writers, and corporate clients. Before practicing law, he taught history to gifted high school students in NYC.  His other works of fiction include Canned Goods and The Waiting Room Painted Black. Mr. Kahn is also an accomplished artist. His work is sold in galleries in East Hampton and Piermont, NY.

Joseph Discher has worked off-Broadway and with regional theatres across the country. The New York Times has called his work “devastatingly effective,” “enchanting,” and “beautiful.” Off-Broadway: Butler (NYC premiere at 59E59) and world premieres of The Violin (59E59) and Vilna (St. Clement’s Theatre).  He is the former Associate Artistic Director of Shakespeare Theatre of NJ. Selected credits include The Diary of Anne Frank, To Kill a Mockingbird, Our Town, Henry IV: Part One, The Tempest, Amadeus, Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet and Wittenberg. Other regional directing credits include Butler (Gloucester Stage), Antony and Cleopatra, starring Michael Dorn (Orlando Shakespeare Theatre), Julius Caesar (Shakespeare Festival St. Louis), As You Like It, Red, and The Weir (Theatreworks, Colorado). He is the Artistic Director and co-founder of Knock At The Gate, which creates immersive audio experiences of Shakespeare’s work. Knock At The Gate productions: The Tempest: A Surround Sound Odyssey Sound Odyssey, Caesar: A Surround Sound Experiment and Macbeth: A Surround Sound Experiment, which was featured on Good Day New York and NPR, and in American Theatre Magazine.

American Theater Group (ATG), founded in 2012, produces new and classic works primarily by American playwrights with an emphasis on the development of new works and the reimagining of undeservedly neglected older ones. The company also focuses on offering quality arts-in-education programming, including its New Works/New Voices high school play writing program. ATG programming is made possible in part by an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support general operating expenses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Made possible by the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.