A Reading of 'Concordance' at Munroe Saturday Nights

The following information was provided on behalf of Munroe Saturday Nights.

John Minigan’s “Concordance,” a play about obsessions of faith, passion and affection set in eighteenth century London, will be featured in a play reading that headlines the next Munroe Saturday Nights event on May 18.

The drama focuses on 18th century Bible scholar Alexander Cruden who – armed with only a butter knife -- attempts to cut his way to freedom from London’s notorious Bethnal Green madhouse. Interrupted when Christiana, a 16-year-old blind girl, invades his cell to avoid the sexual advances of the madhouse under-keeper, Christiana discovers that the roots of Alexander’s madness reach back to a haunting secret he has worked for decades to escape. 

The reading features actors Margaret Dunn, Dev Luthra, Richard McElvain, Karen MacDonald, and Ross Macdonald, and will be presented at the Community of Christ, 1386 Massachusetts Ave. (across the street from Munroe Center for the Arts) in order to accommodate a larger audience. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. and is free (donations gratefully accepted). Reservations are strongly encouraged: Saturdays@munroecenter.org.

John Minigan was named “Best Playwright of 2011” in the 8-Minute Madness Festival in New York City and won the Firehouse Theater New Works Contest in 2010 and 2012 and the KNOCK International Short Play Competition in 2010. His plays have been produced in New York City by the Circle Repertory Company, Turtle Shell Productions, Quaigh Theatre, Gran Mal Theatre and Shelter West and by theaters throughout the country and in the United Kingdom. Recalling the roots of “Concordance,” Minigan remembers, “About five years ago, I read a review of a biography of Alexander Cruden and knew --  even before I finished the review -- that I was going to write a play about him.”

Director Patrick Swanson began his career in London as an actor at the Arts Theatre in the West End. In 1969, he toured Europe with La MaMa Plexus and subsequently got his world theater education from Ellen Stewart at La MaMa E.T.C. in New York. His numerous directing projects include opera, ensemble, music theater and circus. He was a founding stage director of Circus Flora and is currently Artistic Director of Revels, Inc. He resides in Lexington.

The reading of “Concordance” continues Munroe Saturday Night’s acclaimed practice of offering staged readings of new plays. Earlier in the season, Deirdre Girard’s “Widow’s Walk” and a group of short new works were presented; the final production of the season (June 1) features a staged reading of a new musical production.  This program and others in the Munroe Saturday Nights series is supported in part by a grant from the Lexington Council for the Arts, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Munroe Saturday Nights is a performing arts series for the Lexington and greater Boston community. Audience members may also make reservations now for the June 1 final Munroe event of the season, a staged reading of playwright Joyce VanDyke’s new musical production, “To Reach the Golden Door,” focusing on the American immigration experience, set in contemporary Boston.  Lexington-based conductor and musician Mary Neumann is music director.