Editor’s note: Edward Sweeney is involved in The Theatre on King community, having performed in multiple shows at the theatre in the past. Despite his personal connection to this arts organization, he has chosen to report on the story because CFFF feels the story is valuable to its listeners and Sweeney is the sole journalist working at CFFF.
The Theatre on King (TTOK), a Peterborough-based black-box theatre, has started organizing a playscript reading program, called ‘Cold Reads,’ which allows writers to workshop their in-progress scripts out loud, with actors, an audience, and feedback.
TTOK Executive Director, Kate Story, says that the ‘Cold Reads’ program fills a “gap;” there are few opportunities for writers to bring their new scripts into public spaces.
The first ‘Cold Reads’ was on December 20th, 2023, and the fourth installment of the program is coming up on June 11th, with Toronto-based Jeffrey Round’s script, ‘The Visitations of Captain John.”
Story says it is “astonishing” that this program has been attracting writers from outside Peterborough: The Toronto-based writers have said it is “impossible in Toronto to find actors who will sit and read this script.”
Learn more about TTOK’s ‘Cold Reads’ in the interview with CFFF.
