About Reading Anna K : A Play in One Act

Not everyone in the senior-living book club wants to read Anna Karenina.  But they tackle it anyway....and in so doing open long- buried memories, test friendships, and rediscover what it means to be human---to need, to want, and to love.

SYNOPSIS: It’s Sylvia’s turn to choose the book and she wants to read Anna Karenina because someone once told her it reveals the meaning of life. At age 88 she believes it’s past time to find out. The other two members of the women’s book club at a senior living facility aren’t so sure. Pearl says the book is too long and too sexy. Gertrude, wandering between dementia and lucidity, just wants to hold on to her friends in a group that has been visited too often by death. When Milton, a recently widowed new resident shows up singing the praises of Anna K, relationships spin out of control.

Reading Anna K takes a heartfelt look at life imitating art while exploring our endless need for friendship, love and new beginnings. It was selected for the 2024 Shake Rag Alley Stage Reading Series in Mineral Point, WI and was a finalist in the 2022-23 Henley Rose Playwright Competition for Women.

Run time: Approximately 75 minutes

Talkback and reception follow

The poem "Winter Tree," presented in Reading Anna K, was written by Marion Stern of Chicago (1916 to 2014), who was the inspiration for the character of Sylvia.

___________

In this first event in what we hope will evolve into a Play Reading Series, Token Creek is pleased to provide space for playwrights to share their work, gather meaningful feedback, and for actors to engage with new works. Works in progress will be presented in our intimate performance space, followed by a talkback and post-performance reception.

Introducing the Cast

Left to Right: Ann Stuart, Sam White, Marian Kaderbek, Colleen Murphy

Ann Stuart (Pearl) has been active in Chicago and St. Louis theater since 1988. Musicals were her first love because of the way they express a range of emotions in song. Favorite roles include Molina’s mother (Kiss of the Spider Woman) and Queen Aggravain (Once Upon a Mattress), both at Big Noise Theatre; and Nellie Forbush (South Pacific) at the former Winnetka Theatre. Ann enjoyed bringing various characters to life as Actress II (Spoon River Anthology) with former Soundstage Productions and creating a new rant nightly as Marguerite (Dearly Departed) at Affton CenterStage, both in St Louis.  Other challenging roles involved interpreting a real person—Ann Richards (Let Me Down Easy) with Oakton College and embracing the language and physicality of Shakespeare as Puck (A Midsummer’s Night Dream) with Winnetka Theatre. She now lives in Evanston Il. Ann wants to thank everyone who supports local theater, whether on stage, backstage, or in the house.

Marian Kaderbek (Sylvia) is happy to be working on another show written by Fran Zell, the last one being a one-woman performance in How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Venezuelans (Chicago Writers Bloc 2024 New Play Festival). She also read for Merry Widows the Musical in the same festival. Her most recent stage appearance was in the Highland Park (IL) Players concert version of Hunchback of Notre Dame. Other Chicago area credits include Fiddler on the Roof (Music Theatre Works), Hands on a Hard Body (Williams Street Rep), VERVE (by Fran Zell and composer Karena Mendoza, Chicago Music Theater Festival), Ragtime and Gypsy (Big Noise Theatre, Des Plaines), Into the Woods (Oak Park Village Players), and Follies and A Little Night Music (Actors Theatre Company). She lives in Chicago and is a proud Board Member of Big Noise Theatre. Many thanks to Fran, Token Creek staff, and Stan. This is for Dr. Brady.

Colleen Murphy (Gertrude) is an actor, singer, director and teacher. She has performed with numerous theatres in the Madison area for nearly 50 years.  Favorite performances include Crimes of the Heart (Lenny), UW Baraboo Sauk County; Steel Magnolias (Ouiser), Baraboo Theatre Guild; Next Fall (Arlene), Stage Q; Guys and Dolls (Sarah Brown), Portage Area Community Theatre; The Importance of Being Earnest (Dr. Chausible), Strollers Theater; Charlotte’s Web (Mrs. Zuckerman), Children’s Theatre of Madison; and The Merry Wives of Windsor (Mistress Page), Madison Shakespeare Company.  She sings with the vocal trio The Flannels, and teaches creative writing and improv to children at Whoopensocker (a partnership between the UW Department of Education and Madison Metropolitan Schools). Colleen lives in Portage with her husband Jim, is a proud mom of two daughters, and even prouder grandma to three incredible grandchildren.  

Sam D. White (Milton) is a veteran actor, director and playwright in the Wisconsin theater community. He is a founder of Madison’s Forward Theater Company and Playwrights’ Ink. He’s appeared onstage with American Players Theater, Forward Theater, Children’s Theater of Madison, Capitol City Theatre, Four Seasons Theatre, and Madison Ballet. He recently directed An Inspector Calls at SummerStage of Delafield. He’ll appear next in Forward Theater’s season-opening production of Primary Trust. In the fall, he’s scheduled to direct Shakespeare in Love for the Stoughton Village Players (auditions have been posted). Sam’s excited to work with Fran Zell on her new play. Supporting and developing new works is the most important thing a theater artist can do. His play Hush the Waves was developed and produced by Strollers Theatre as a part of the World Premiere Wisconsin in 2023. Pay it “Forward!”

Playwright and Director

Fran Zell is a playwright, lyricist, fiction writer, freelance journalist, and former feature writer for the Chicago Tribune. Reading Anna K was a finalist in the 2023 Henley Rose Playwright Competition for Women and was selected for the 2024 stage reading series at the Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts in Mineral Point. Others of her plays have been performed at festivals produced by Underscore Theatre in Chicago, Love Creek Productions in New York, and the Chicago Writers Bloc. Her book, The Marcy Stories, won the Banta Award from the Wisconsin Library Association.  She lived in the Madison area for many years. She currently lives in Chicago, where she often writes about theater and the arts for Splashmags.com.