The Reading Theater Project has announced the cast and performance details for the world-premiere play reading of Beyond the Heavens by Joey Vasil. The reading will take place Sunday, June 2, 2024, 3:00 p.m. at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts’ Boscov Theatre, 200 Washington Street, Reading, Pa. Free parking is available behind the building. Admission is by donation.
In this epic fantasy play, Goski and Hassica live in a world where mortals coexist with immortals, witches and goddesses. Leaving the warmth of their community behind, they set out in search of a long-lost friend. Can they overcome the inner and outer challenges of their journey, armed with just their wits and a little magick? How far will they go? Are they prepared to go beyond the heavens to find her?
The play will be performed as a staged reading followed by a facilitated talkback with the playwright, director, and actors. The cast features Jewell A. Brown as Goski and Ebony Hicks as Hassica. Beth Toner, Aly Dynda, Jeanette Fotis, and Deb Brubaker round out the cast, with Kimberly Patterson reading stage directions. This reading is presented in partnership with the Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Wilkes University, where Joey is a student.
Joey Vasil is a playwright based in Reading and an MFA student at Wilkes University in Wilkes Barre, Pa. He earned his BA in Writing at Cedar Crest College in 2015 and his MA in Creative Writing—Playwriting also at Wilkes University this year. His credits include Well Groomed, a one-act play featured in Cedar Crest College’s Pitch! online literary magazine and performed in a public reading in 2014 by the college’s theater department. In his spare time Joey publishes short stories, poems, and comics in a self-published zine.
The season is supported by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, administered through Berks Arts, EnerSys, and M&T Bank.
The Reading Theater Project is a locally-focused theater company, based in Reading/Berks County, PA. We value collaboration and creative challenges and believe theater is an inclusive experience that can reveal our shared human condition. For more information, visit readingtheaterproject.org or call 484-706-9719.
