Free public reading of two new plays by women+ playwrights exploring democracy and citizenship, followed by an audience discussion.
Carpenters' Hall is hosting a play reading on Monday, October 26, as part of a national project called Women+ on the Edge of Democracy. It's a free public event, and the night is built around two short plays followed by a discussion with the audience. The readings are The Betsy Ross Book of the Dead by Paula Cizmar and huntin / issa social thing by a.k. payne.
Both plays come from a larger initiative run by the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in partnership with the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. The project commissioned new work from women+ playwrights across the political spectrum to map how democracy feels to those who have long given voice to the unseen and unheard. Carpenters' Hall is joining Philadelphia's Theatre Exile in the effort, and the readings are part of a wider window of performances taking place between October 23 and November 3, 2026. During that time, performance rights are waived for nonprofit organizations staging them free of charge to the public. The plays themselves will be published in anthology form by Theatre Communications Group on November 3.
The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, which is approaching its 50th anniversary, is the largest and oldest international playwriting prize recognizing women+ playwrights writing for the English-speaking theatre. This reading is one of the first times these new pieces are being heard aloud, and the discussion afterward gives you a chance to talk through them once they're off the page.
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The reading runs from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM at Carpenters' Hall, 320 Chestnut Street, and admission is free.
