Westchester Collaborative Theater (WCT) kicks off its

2017 Play Reading Series with The Maltese Babka,

 award-winning playwright C.J. Ehrlich’s tickling homage to film noir

Ossining, NY – On Thursday, May 18^th, Westchester Collaborative Theater (WCT) will kick off its 2017 Play Reading Series with The Maltese Babka by award-winning playwright C.J. Ehrlich.  Directed by Westchester veteran director Christopher Arena, this original full-length play will keep the audience guessing at every turn. The production runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 18, 19 and 20 at 8 pm through Sunday, May 21 at 3 pm at WCT’s new home, at 23 Water Street, Ossining, NY.  The Sunday, May 21 performance will be followed by a talk-back with the playwright, director and actors.  The rehearsed reading has been developed and dramaturged through WCT’s ongoing workshop process which enables member actors and writers to bring new pieces to life.  Limited seating; advance purchase is strongly suggested.  Tickets are available individually to each production or through subscription to the 2017 series.  All tickets are general admission with discounts available for WCT members, seniors, students and groups of 5+.  Purchase tickets online at wctheater.org. 

The femme fatale in Ehrlich’s The Maltese Babka hires Private Investigator Jake Pantograph to find her missing sister. His search leads him through a twisting maze of mysteries wrapped in danger. How far will a socialite go to break up her son's engagement? Who's blackmailing the billionaire? How many sides are there in a love triangle? Will the last will and testament be read on time? Can Jake make it through the tangle of suspects, seductions, red herrings and off-kilter theories, to punish at least one bad guy? There won't be any black-and-white answers in this homage to the shapely characters and snappy innuendos of film noir.   

The ensemble cast includes: Susan Bond, Eileen Elliott, Jackson Gautreau, Violet Gautreau, Taku Hirai, Maiysha Jones, Joe Albert Lima, Tom Lloyd, Pat O'Neill, and Marci Stearns.

C.J. Ehrlich's award-winning plays have enjoyed dozens of productions in 27 US states and on five continents. Full-length comedies: The Cupcake Conspiracy: Terrorism is Easy. Marriage is Complicated (w/Philip J. Kaplan: Rover Dramawerks, TX, Florentine Players, NE, Readers Theatre, WA; APAC, HI; finalist Charles Getchell Award, Mountain Playhouse International Comedy competition); Zane To Gate 69 (Overtime Theatre, TX). C.J.'s plays are published in The Best American Short Plays of 2014-15 (Applause/Hal Leonard) and five of the last six Smith & Kraus’ annual Best Ten-Minute Plays anthologies. 

Former executive director of White Plains’ Fort Hill Players, director Christopher Arena’s credits include work in various venues in Manhattan as well as such local theaters as: Center Stage Playhouse, The Acting Company of Greenwich, ACT, and many more. In the early 2000’s Arena founded and ran The Moonlight Theatre where he produced, designed and directed many rarely performed plays including, the Westchester County premieres of As Bee’s in Honey Drown and an acclaimed production of Quills. 

WCT’s 2017 Play Reading Series will be comprised of four productions that will each run four performances over one weekend.  A variety of play genres, such full length, monologues and one acts will be included as part of the company’s commitment to develop new works. Each piece will have been developed in WCT workshop labs and will participate in the collaborative dramaturgy process. Audience feedback during each of the talk-back performances will facilitate further development of the work.  The next reading in the series takes place July 20 – 23^rd.

The Westchester Collaborative Theater is a multicultural, cooperative theater company located in Ossining, NY, dedicated to developing new work for the stage and bringing live theater to the community. It is comprised of local playwrights, actors, and directors who employ a Lab approach in which new stage works are nurtured through an iterative process of readings, critiques, and rewrites. When work is ready for production, it is produced for the public at various local venues.

WCT is committed to furthering theater arts in our community. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and a recipient of production grants from ArtsWestchester and New York State Council on the Arts.