The American Theatre Wing, co-presenter of the Tony Awards and an organization dedicated to supporting the growth of American theater, has teamed with the Drama Book Shop to launch the Playreaders Club, a meetup for reading and discussing plays. The monthly meetings will be held virtually via Zoom and in-person at the Drama Book Shop, a midtown Manhattan independent bookstore dedicated to plays, theater-related books and other works of dramatic literature.
The club is open to anyone, and offers tiered levels of membership, ranging in price from $5 to $35 per month. The first tier offers members access to the Zoom meeting, the title of the month’s reading selection and exclusive Wing content, such as extended interviews of the Wing’s “Working in the Theatre” video series. Tier two allows participants to attend in-person, as well as additional benefits like a 25% discount on a BroadwayHD subscription. Tier three provides a physical copy of the month’s play plus access to in-person meetings in addition to special benefits like invitations to a separate Wing artist series and an exclusive T-shirt.
Each play will be selected by a committee made up of members of the Wing’s board and advisory committee. This includes Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori, Tony-winning playwright David Henry Hwang, Tony-winning costume and scenic designer Clint Ramos, influencer, journalist and producer Ayanna Prescod, Tony-winning director Leigh Silverman, journalist and author Patrick Pacheco and talent agent Ben Sands.
The selection for February is Ntozake Shange’s Tony-nominated “for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf.”
Additional information, including how to join the Playreaders Club and detailed benefits of each membership tier, can be found here.
