Safehouse: The Axial Playwrights Series of readings of original plays by metro area playwrights will present In the Cervix of Others by award-winning playwright Alice Eve Cohen on Saturday, September 7 at 4 pm in Pleasantville. The cast includes Ossining resident Susan Ward and River Journal Editorial Director Bruce Apar.
In the Cervix of Others follows a woman named Jessica through a gynecological exam in 2018, during the Supreme Court hearing where Christine Blasey Ford accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, and at an exam that took place over 30 years earlier, in 1991, when the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearing made headlines. Woven into this dark comedy is a mother-daughter tale, a true account of pharmaceutical corruption, and the story of a woman urgently trying to find her voice. With emotional force and pointed wit, the play explores the many ways women are silenced, the misogyny that taints women’s healthcare, and the transcendent power of love between mother and daughter. In the Cervix of Others is a riveting journey, funny, painful, and absurd.
The play will be followed by a talk-back with Cohen, guest moderator Susan Miller, a two-time Obie-award winning playwright, and Axial Artistic Director Cady McClain, a three-time Emmy-winning actor and director. McClain is directing the reading.
The cast includes Axial Ensemble members Susan Ward (Ossining), Lev Harvey, Marisa Lowe (Beacon), Bruce Apar (Yorktown Heights), Nicole Arcieri (Yonkers) and Ruben Caballero. Stage directions will be read by Rofa Abayon (Peekskill).
Suggested donation is $20; $10 for students — or all may pay what they wish. The Safehouse reading will take place at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 8 Sunnyside Ave., Pleasantville, NY.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Alice Eve Cohen is a playwright, solo theatre artist, and author. Winner of the Jane Chambers Feminist Playwriting Award, the National Jewish Playwriting Contest, Elle Literary Grand Prix for Nonfiction, and Oprah magazine’s 25 Best Books of Summer, her works have been performed nationwide and on four continents, at theatres including: the Kitchen Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, New Georges, Cherry Lane Theatre, Here, Women’s Project, and many more. Recipient of fellowships and awards from NYSCA, NEA, VCCA, The Orchard Project, Poets & Writers, and an Emmy Award Special Commendation, Cohen teaches playwriting at The New School, where she received the University Distinguished Teaching Award. www.AliceEveCohen.com
ABOUT THE GUEST MODERATOR
Susan Miller is a two-time OBIE award winning playwright and Guggenheim Fellow whose work includes the critically acclaimed one-woman play, My Left Breast (Obie), which premiered in Louisville’s Humana Festival. Her play A Map of Doubt and Rescue won The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, as well as The Pinter Prize. A recipient of two NEAs & a Rockefeller Grant, Miller received her first Obie for Nasty Rumors and Final Remarks. She’s been produced at The Public Theatre, Second Stage, Naked Angels, New York Stage & Film, and The Mark Taper Forum, with developmental support by The O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Ojai Playwrights Conference, and The Playwrights Center, among others.
ABOUT SAFEHOUSE: THE PLAYWRIGHTS SERIES
The SAFEHOUSE program was created and developed by Axial Artistic Director Cady McClain, playwright and Artistic Director of Shades Repertory Theater Samuel Harps, Axial Associate Artistic Director/director Nate Flower, and playwright Evelyn Mertens.
ABOUT AXIAL THEATRE
Axial Theater is an ensemble-based not-for-profit theater company currently in its 24th season. We are dedicated to supporting the professional development of playwrights and actors through presenting staged workshops, development readings, and full productions. axialtheatre.org
