Birmingham Festival Theatre proudly announces its newest endeavor: The BFT Readers Theatre.  The objective is to sponsor up to ten productions a year, each of which will be performed in the community.  The venue will be tied to the subject of the play, be it an art gallery, a firehouse or even a pub.  A dramatic reading is a powerful art form that compliments a stage performance without the sets, costumes and cost of a main stage production.  For the actors, those who wish to practice their craft but have limited time, a reading is a short rehearsal and one performance.

The inaugural production of the BFT Readers Theatre will be:

  “Ladies in Waiting: The Judgment of Henry VIII” 

a new play by James Cougar Canfield

 The most notorious and reputably the worse husband of all times, Henry VIII, awakens in purgatory where he is confronted by all six of his wives.  The reading will be presented on May 15th at the “Clubhouse on Highland” in the late afternoon.  The Clubhouse is the historic home of the Alabama Federation of Women’s Clubs, so Henry’s six wives will certainly be pleased to have their say within those hollowed walls. The performance will be preceded by hors d’oeuvres and mingling on the veranda.  More details will soon follow. The reading will be directed by Larry Gray of New Orleans, Louisiana, who has many readings under his credits, to include “Ladies in Waiting”.