A free reading this Sunday at Sacred Fools...

Julia Lederer's U-R-U (based on Čapek's R.U.R.), 5pm Sunday in the Broadwater Second Stage; plus I'm singing again on March 16th!

Here you are.  Fully charged.  You. What happens when the powers of machines exceed those of nature? At what point will A.I. resemble humans enough to deserve human rights? Absurdly comic and existentially chilling, U-R-U examines the societal obsession with progress at all costs and the decreasing worth of humanity in this increasingly artificial world. SFNW Reservations This Sunday at 5pm I'm directing the final installment of SFNW:  the very first Sacred Fools New Works Reading Series! January 25th, 1921 saw the world premiere of R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), a science-fiction play by the Czech writer Karel Čapek, and the work that gifted the word "robot" to the lexicon. Approaching the 100th Anniversary of R.U.R., Julia Lederer's U-R-U brings a modern perspective to the rise of robots as the planet's dominant life-form.  Spoiler alert:  it's hilarious! Reserve your free tickets now at bitly.com/SFNW2019, and join us at the Plunge after for drinks and conversation about the end of humanity! U-R-U features Aviva Pressman, Tracey Leigh, Tim Kopacz, Emily Kosloski, Emily Goss, Peter James Smith, Carrie Keranen, Leigh Wulff, and Bruno Oliver Julia Lederer is a writer from Toronto. Her plays have been performed across North America, from Los Angeles to Toronto, to New York, Chicago, Boise, and Alaska. Her work includes the internationally acclaimed WITH LOVE AND A MAJOR ORGAN (Boise Contemporary Theatre; Strawdog Theatre; part of The Theatre @ Boston Court's Polly Warfield Award-Winning Season with 4 Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Nominations including "Best Production" and 5 Stage Raw Nominations), REALITY THEATRE (SummerWorks Performance Festival), FRAME (Seven Collective; Alumnae Theatre), and recent workshop productions of U-R-U at Occidental College in LA and Humber College in Toronto.  WITH LOVE AND A MAJOR ORGAN is published by J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing and is currently being developed into a feature film. Other FILM/TV work includes UPSTAGED (Great Lake Films, streaming on HighBall TV), EAT YOUR HEART OUT (Elevated Film's Audience Choice Award), and SPOONING (upcoming 2019 Cinequest Film Festival Premier). Julia recently worked on the 4th season of KIM'S CONVENIENCE, as part of the CBC's emerging writers' room.  A few years ago I had the great pleasure of being part of the World Premiere of the Behavior of Broadus by Burglars of Hamm.  Next month the San Gabriel Valley Choral Company celebrates Living Composers in our Spring concert, and I can't wait to revisit one of Broadus' original songs by the Burglars and Brendan Milburn!  Save the evening of March 16th at St. Luke's Episcopal in Monrovia!   I hope the polar vortex isn't freezing your spirits!  - j Copyright © 2019 Jacob Sidney, All rights reserved.