Stealing the Leads: Women read 'Glengarry Glen Ross'

First Person Singular, the all-things-literary performance series, continues its Summer (and Indian Summer) 2011 season with a reading of one of the most male-identified works in modern theater repertoire - this time with an all-female cast. 

Stealing the Leads: Women read Glengarry Glen Ross present sevens of the Bay Area's finest women actors in roles made famous by Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Joe Mantegna, Alan Arkin, Stacy Keach, Alfred Molina, and Jonathan Pryce, among others. Is the ruthless competition that drives the play relatable only to men, or has traditional casting denied this play its universality? In this (mostly) straight sell, First Person Singular aims to find out.

Refreshments served; wheelchair accessible.

About Glengarry Glen Ross: This scalding comedy took Broadway and London by storm and won the 1984 Pulitzer Prize. Here is Mamet at his very best, writing about small-time, cutthroat real estate salesmen trying to grind out a living by pushing plots of land on reluctant buyers in a never-ending scramble for their share of the American dream. Revived on Broadway in 2006 this masterpiece of American drama became a celebrated film which starred Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin and Alan Arkin.

About First Person Singular: Premiering in August 2010, First Person Singular is a performance series that finds literary value in many forms. Bringing dynamic performers to timeless material in all-original programs, the series places special emphasis on the richness, variety, and vitality of the American voice. From August Wilson to Warren Zevon, from a 60's girl-group song recital to an all-female reading of Glengarry Glen Ross (coming in September 2011), First Person Singular represents the taste and talent of the Bay Area in unique and unexpected ways. Based at Pegasus Books in Berkeley, the series recently gave an encore performance of its original production, Find Your Song: The Blues Arias of August Wilson at San Francisco's Museum of the African Diaspora. Beginning in September, First Person Singular's HOOT! -- a themed songfest and semi-open mic -- will be housed at St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Albany.