The Friends of the Cranford Public Library are pleased to present staged readings of a series of short plays by Ed Shakespeare. The plays, some of which feature interlocking characters, explore modern day tensions. Ed Shakespeare, a resident of Lavallette, is a recipient of a New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship grant for his play Firehouse. Some of his other plays include: Blue Chippers, The Opposite of Homeless, and WMAD. He is a member of Players and Playwrights by the Sea, the Playwrights’ Group of the Theater Project, and he is a former member of the South Street Players. He is also a New Jersey State Council on the Arts teaching artist. As an actor, he has appeared in such plays as Glen Garry, Glen Ross, Arsenic and Old Lace, and Franks with Relish. He studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and at the McCarter Theatre Extension. Shakespeare is the author of the book When Baseball Returned to Brooklyn. He has also written for several newspapers and wrote a baseball guide for kids for Sports Illustrated.The plays will be read by members of the the Theater Project, an acclaimed, New Jersey-based professional theater group, and the recent winner of two New Jersey Tony Awards. The readings will be followed by a critical discussion among the author, the actors, the director, and members of the audience.
