Original Playreading Series: Everybody's Hometown by Noah Mannix
Wednesday, November 13
Reading begins 7:30 PM
Tickets Pay what you wish - suggested $10
About the Play
On Easter weekend of 1964, civil rights demonstrations in Chester led to the imprisonment of many in the Media courthouse parking lot, exposed to the elements and without proper accommodations, behind a large iron gate. As Brother, Sister, Mother, and Broomall's Lake decide what to do and what is right, members of North Media's Black community past and present tell their stories of growing up in a place whose slogan is "Everybody's Hometown." A poetic ethnography, this play was built on recorded interviews with North Media community members at The Media Theatre in 2022 and community engagement with the congregation of Second Baptist Church of Media.
About the Playwright
Noah Mannix (they/them) is a playwright, theatermaker, and teaching artist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Noah is a founding artist of The AV Club ('24-current). They worked with Wise Possum Puppetry as a playwright to help write “Mr. Nutterbocker’s 7-Year Plan”, a family puppet show in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival (‘24). They were a New Strides commissioned playwright (The Strides Collective), where they wrote the first act of their play 3 Women (‘24). They are a member of Azuka Theatre’s Rising Writers program as well as Matchbox Theatre’s Playwrights Group. They studied as a playwright at the National Theatre Institute’s Summer Theatermakers Intensive program (‘23), where they were awarded a Miranda Family Fellowship (‘23-current). Their work at Azuka Theatre in Philadelphia includes a staged reading of their full-length play All-of-the-Above Jesus (‘23), their one-act play “Prophets” (‘22), and as a teaching artist in Azuka’s Community Engagement Project, “Community Stories” (‘23-Current). Their play All-of-the-Above Jesus received a reading from the Media Arts Council (‘23). They are a finalist for Big Idea Theatre’s One Act Festival (‘23) and PlayPenn’s The Foundry (‘22, ‘24). They have also participated in Horizon Theatre’s New South Young Playwright’s Festival (‘22). Noah is a graduate of Temple University, where they studied English and Theatre and Community Engagement/poetic ethnography ('22).
About the Series
The Media Arts Council (MAC) Play Reading Series was created by playwrights Julie Zaffarano, Dave Ebersole, and Keenya Jackson, in partnership with the MAC to create a space for local playwrights to hear their work read by talented actors and receive feedback from a public audience. The only regular new play reading series in in the area, it brings exciting new stories to Delaware County.
Playwrights, actors, and directors who are interested in being involved in the series should contact Julie Zaffarano, juliezaffarano.gmail.com. Due to the limited budget for this project, we are unable to offer actors or directors a stipend through the MAC.