TIMES ARGUS ONLINE: Smith’s script is apt psychologically and both touching and funny without ever making fun of Samantha’s plight. The writing is taut and witty until near the end when things get a little muddy, overwhelmed with just too much going on to be focused. But this is the first-ever reading and it’s not going to take all that much work to make “Samantha Inside Out” an intimate and brilliant comedy. Read more.
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — If there are playwrights whose work springs from a sense of contentment with the world, Marisa Smith is not one of them.
“The things that usually inspire me to write a play are usually things I get irritated about,” Smith said in a phone interview on Monday. Read more.
.
Shaker Bridge Theater is pleased to announce the one night only staged reading of SAMANTHA INSIDE OUT, a new one-woman show written by Marisa Smith, directed by Theresa Rebeck and starring Jayne Atkinson as part of Shaker Bridge’s commitment to developing new work.
The reading is at 7pm Friday, May 30th. Tickets are free for Shaker Bridge subscription holders and $10 for the general public.
Samantha, a woman of a certain age has had it—with her life, her marriage, modern life, everything. She’s a high school English teacher, mother of grown twins and wife of Eliot, a cruel, pompous philanderer. After a humiliating and violent encounter with her husband, Samantha flees a stultifying Christmas party at the President of the College’s house. She ends up in the host’s teenage daughter’s cluttered room on the third floor. Amid the chaos Samantha reviews the wreckage of her life and reveals her truth and her secrets out loud. By doing so Samantha charts a new course for herself. It’s never too late to start again.
Jayne Atkinson (Samantha) has enjoyed a long and varied career as an actress, director, and producer. Broadway: Jayne made her Broadway debut in a revival production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. Other Broadway credits include The Rainmaker (Tony nomination), Our Town with Paul Newman, Enchanted April (Tony nomination, Drama Desk nomination; Outer Critics Circle Award) and Blithe Spirit with the wonderful Angela Lansbury. Selected Off-Broadway: The Art of Success (Drama Desk nomination) and The Skriker (Drama Desk nomination). Selected Film: Free Willy 1&2, The Village and Syriana. Selected TV: On television she is known for her guest appearances on the hit series The X-Files, Gossip Girl, Chicago Med and The Good Wife, among others. As a recurring character, she has appeared on the award-winning 24, Criminal Minds, House of Cards, The Walking Dead, Castle Rock, Madam Secretary, and most recently in Bluff City Law and Clarice. Jayne has produced the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers. Education: Northwestern University and Yale Drama School.
Theresa Rebeck is an American playwright, director, television writer, and novelist. Rebeck the most Broadway-produced female playwright of our time. Broadway works include Dead Accounts, Seminar, Mauritius, Bernhardt/Hamlet, and I Need That. Other notable NY and regional plays include: Seared (MCC), Downstairs (Primary Stages), The Scene, The Water’s Edge, Loose Knit, The Family of Mann and Spike Heels (Second Stage), Bad Dates, The Butterfly Collection and Our House (Playwrights Horizons), The Understudy (Roundabout), View of the Dome (NYTW), What We’re Up Against (Women’s Project), Omnium Gatherum (Pulitzer Prize finalist). As a director, her work has been seen at The Alley Theatre (Houston), the REP Company (Delaware); Dorset Theatre Festival, the Orchard Project and the Folger Theatre. Film and television projects include Trouble, starring Anjelica Huston, Bill Pullman and David Morse (writer and director), NYPD Blue, Smash (creator), and the upcoming female spy thriller 355. As a novelist, Rebeck’s books include Three Girls and Their Brother and I'm Glad About You.
Marisa Smith is familiar to Upper Valley audiences who have enjoyed her plays at Northern Stage, The Hanover Inn, The Eclipse Grange Theater and Parish Players. Marisa’s full-length plays include the recent The Gift of the Magi: A Modern Adaptation. Other plays: The Naked Librarian, Venus Rising, Sex and Other Disturbances (Edgerton winner) Saving Kitty (Eliot Norton award for Jennifer Coolidge Best Actress, N.H. state winner, Clauder competition and Mad Love, (NH State Winner, Clauder Competition, Eugene O’Neill Play Conference Semi-Finalist, The Kilroy’s List. It is published by Broadway Play Publishing. Marisa’s 10-Minute plays have been produced in theaters all over the country and include Total Expression (Heideman Award Finalist).
Marisa wrote the script for the immersive theater gastronomy event, Journey, produced by Broadway producer Marc Routh (Back to the Future, the Band’s Visit, etc.) and she “Americanized” the British musical Fat Friends book by Kay Mellor (OBE) and music by Nick Lloyd Webber. Film credits include Second Wind and Surprise Engagement. Her 2024 script Outrage was the winner of the Valley Players (Waitsfield, Vermont) Best Play 2024 award for New England playwrights. She is also the Publisher and Co-Founder of Smith and Kraus Publishers with over 700 titles in print.
Samantha Inside and Out is part of Shaker Bridge Theatre’s season dedicated to women playwrights.
Tickets: $10 for the general public / Free for Shaker Bridge subscription holders Tickets for May 30th available through the Shaker Bridge Theatre website at www.shakerbridgetheatre.org or by calling 802-281-6848 or emailing boxoffice.shakerbridge@gmail.com.
Shaker Bridge Theatre is now located at the Briggs Opera House in White River Junction, Vermont.