(CRANFORD, NJ) -- The Theater Project will present a script-in-hand performance of The Debate (Act 1) by Joseph Vitale on Saturday, November 18, 2023 at the Cranford Community Center. The presentation will be followed by a discussion with the playwright, director, actors and audience. The reading begins at 2:00pm. Admission is free.
In late 1947, the British Broadcasting Corporation invited the most famous philosopher of the time, Bertrand Russell, and Britain’s most celebrated young theologian, Fr. Frederick Copleston, to debate the existence of God on the radio. Their encounter took place on a cold January night in 1948 with the country still coping with the aftermath of World War II. Act 1 of The Debate explores who these men were and the events and people who shaped their lives and set the stage for their memorable confrontation.
New York actor and director Mary Linehan will direct the reading.
Joseph Vitale’s plays have been produced by The Theater Project and by theaters around the country. He was a finalist for the Woodward-Newman Drama prize in 2020 and a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theater/National Playwrights conference in 2012. His last play, Sunset Park, was produced by The Theater Project this summer. In 2024, Murrow, his one-man show about the life of broadcasting legend Edward R. Murrow, will be performed at the AT&T Performing Arts Cener in Dallas, TX. Vitale was a 2021 recipient of a Fellowship in Playwrighting from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
The reading of The Debate will take place at the Cranford Community Center, 224 Walnut Avenue. It is part of Cranford Library's monthly September through May reading series, which showcases works-in-progress from the The Theater Project's Playwrights Workshop. Admission is free.
The monthly series of new play presentations is hosted and supported by the Friends of the Cranford Library, and is made possible in part by a 2023 HEART (History, Education, Arts Reaching Thousands) Grant from the Union County Board of County Commissioners.
The Theater Project, a leading incubator for new work and rising local artists, is a professional theater company in its 29th year. The company believes that a more thoughtful, inspired and creative community on both sides of the curtain can be stimulated by its unique brand of professional, high-quality and theatrical programming. It is dedicated to the presentation of powerful and relevant productions that explore long-standing values and contemporary topical issues in an intimate and engaging setting.
