The Power of the Staged Reading

The Truro Playwright Collective's mission extends beyond our monthly readings at the Truro Public Library. We provide Cape Cod playwrights with a crucial development opportunity: the chance to hear their work performed by professional actors in front of live audiences, receive feedback, and refine their scripts before pursuing full production.

This developmental process has proven successful. Several plays that premiered as TPC staged readings have gone on to full productions at respected regional and international theaters, demonstrating the value of our collaborative approach to new play development.

Individual Success Stories:

Rubbing the Beads → Grani fra le Dita

Playwright: Fermin Rojas

Developed at: Truro Playwright Collective staged readings and the Provincetown Theater's 24 Hour Plays

International Premiere: 10 Minuti a Roma, Il Cantiere, Rome, Italy — September 12–13, 2026

Director: Mario Migliucci

Italian translation: Cecilia Pagani

An earthquake traps three strangers in a hospital stairwell: a young man, a wealthy man, and a Catholic priest. Divided by class, belief, and suspicion, they have to depend on one another to get out — and what they find in the stairwell turns out to matter more than the rescue.

A short play that began in a Truro library reading room was performed in Italian in Rome. Fermin Rojas's Rubbing the Beads was selected for the inaugural edition of 10 Minuti a Roma, Italy's first festival devoted entirely to ten-minute plays, founded and produced by Allie Leigh and staged at Il Cantiere. The program brings together writers from several countries around short-form work on identity, belonging, memory, and faith.

The play was developed through the Truro Playwright Collective's staged reading process and the Provincetown Theater's 24 Hour Plays, where Outer Cape writers test new work in front of live audiences. Cecilia Pagani's Italian translation keeps the play's central image intact — grani are rosary beads, told between the fingers.

This is the first international production to come out of a Truro Playwright Collective reading.

Liberty Talks: A Colossal Satire

Playwright: Fermin Rojas
TPC Staged Reading: November 19, 2022
Full Production: Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, September 14 - October 6, 2024
Director: Janice L. Goldberg

After a monumental lifetime lighting the way to America's shore, Lady Liberty finds her voice, steps off her pedestal and ventures out to tell her story. When she accidentally walks into a theater full of people while looking for a bathroom, she decides to spend a few moments ruminating about her experiences, memories and hopes for our nation's future. A thoughtful comedy exploring the origins of one of our nation's most enduring symbols.

Impact: World premiere production featuring professional Equity actors at one of Cape Cod's most prestigious theaters. The production ran for nearly a month with performances Thursday-Sunday.

Reviews & Press:

• Cape Cod Times/AOL Review - "The show is frenetic but fun and packed with fascinating historical facts"

• Provincetown Magazine Review by Steve Desroches

• Production Photos & Cast Info at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater

The Fade Away Advantage

Playwright: Meryl Cohn
TPC Staged Reading: December 16, 2023
Full Production: Provincetown Theater, October 2024
Director: Rebecca Berger

A new comedy by Provincetown playwright Meryl Cohn, author of such hits as "And Sophie Comes Too" and "Reasons to Live." The play welcomes audiences into a beach cottage in Provincetown where two lifelong friends reunite to discuss an emergency plan they made many years ago…but which plan is it? The plan to live together for the rest of their lives? Or the plan that would separate them forever? And how far would you go to keep a promise to a friend?

Impact: Full production at Provincetown Theater, one of Cape Cod's premier professional theaters, featuring professional actors and full staging. The production was highlighted in The Ptownie as "Friendship, and Then Some."

Reviews & Press:

• The Ptownie Feature - "Friendship, and Then Some: The Fade-Away Advantage"

4 A.M. Friends

Playwright: Charlene Donaghy

TPC Staged Reading: March 16, 2024
Regional Premiere: Endangered Species Theatre Project, April 18 - 28, 2026 Director: Rikki Howie Lacewell

Inspired by the Marlene Dietrich line, "It's the friends you can call at 4 a.m. that matter," the play follows Becca, Tammy, and Kim across five decades of friendship — from their teens in the 1970s to their sixties in the present day. Through six interconnected short plays, the three women fight, argue, support, and love each other through some of life's most challenging hurdles, with humor and heart and the ties that bind.

Impact: Following its TPC reading, 4 A.M. Friends has moved into productions across three states. Cone Man Running Productions presented the world premiere in Houston from April 25 to May 10, 2025, directed by Debra Schultz. Brownville Village Theatre in Nebraska followed with a run October 10 - 12, 2025. The regional premiere at Endangered Species Theatre Project in Frederick, Maryland, ran across two venues — the ESPloft and Sky Stage in downtown Frederick — with a Pay-What-You-Can model and a post-show discussion with the playwright on April 21. Donaghy's "localization touch" format allows producing theaters to insert references unique to their region, giving each production a community-specific feel.

Reviews & Press:

• TheatreBloom Review by Amanda N. Gunther - "really poignant glimpses of heartfelt and humorous moments"

• BroadwayWorld Baltimore Announcement - Regional premiere coverage

• BroadwayWorld Houston Announcement - Rolling world premiere coverage

• Brownville Village Theatre Production Listing - Nebraska production