Westport Country Playhouse will present a Script in Hand playreading of “True Art,” a sharp and funny tale of ambition, deception, and self-discovery in the high stakes and cutthroat art world, on Monday, December 2, at 7 p.m.  The play is written by Jessica Provenz and directed by Kimberly Senior.

“Playwright Jessica Provenz has a remarkable gift for blending her unique sense of humor with deeply incisive storytelling, crafting characters who are wonderfully flawed, ambitious, and achingly real,” said Mark Shanahan, Script in Hand series curator and Westport Country Playhouse artistic director. “Her play masterfully examines characters struggling with their own moral compass as they navigate the murky waters of deception and desire. ‘True Art’ is both wildly entertaining and deeply thought-provoking, and I can’t wait to share it with our audience.”

In “True Art,” an idealistic art history major lands a dream job at a prestigious museum. She is suddenly swept into a whirlwind of champagne toasts, secret deals, and whispers of a lost painting by Michelangelo. But as she untangles the web of secrets around her, she begins to question not just who she can trust, but the limits of her own ambition. “True Art” is a playful and thought-provoking look at the cost of chasing success and the search for authenticity.

The cast includes Bob Ari as Buddy Silver, an art dealer (Working actor for over 50 years; last summer’s premiere of “True Art” at Dorset Theatre Festival; Broadway:  “Bells Are Ringing,” “Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” “Act One”; many Off- Broadway and regional theatre productions; Training:  Carnegie Mellon, Moscow Art Theatre, The Groundlings, The Actors Center); Alyssa May Gold as Lauren Sanders, a temp (Westport Country Playhouse: Script-in-Hand reading of “Mauritius”; NY Theatre: Tony-nominated revivals of “How I Learned to Drive” and “Arcadia”; founder of Pocket Universe, whose production of her play, “The Girl You Talk To,” was named to NY Theatre Guide’s Top Theatre of 2023; @heylyssamay); Deirdre Madigan as Jodi Dean, the lead curator of Renaissance art (Westport Country Playhouse:  “And A Nightingale Sang,” “A Marriage Minuet,” “A Few Good Men,” several Script in Hand readings; Broadway: “Hillary and Clinton,” “Sweat,” “A Delicate Balance,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”; Off-Broadway: “Philadelphia, Here I Come,” “Coal Country,” “Exit Strategy”). 

Charlie Reid as J.J. Winchester (An actor and painter born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago; Theatre: “True Art” at Dorset Theatre Festival, Off-Broadway revival of “Gemini,” US premiere of “See You”; Training: Hofstra University, The Neighborhood Playhouse, The Freeman Studio; charliereidactor.com); and Rebbekah Vega-Romero will read stage directions (Westport Country Playhouse: Stage directions for “Tenderness and Gratitude Number Four,” “Mauritius”; Theatre: “Showboat,” “West Side Story,” “The Fantasticks,” “A Christmas Carol”; founding member of the DIEZ collective; LaGuardia (“Fame”) H.S., Boston University, 2023 Doreen Montalvo Scholarship honoree; @RebbekahVR).

Playwright Jessica Provenz’s productions and workshops include “True Art” (Dorset Theatre Festival, Pioneer Theatre, The Directors Company), “BOCA” (Barrington Stage Company, GableStage, Florida Rep), “A Wake on Chappaquiddick” (Cape Cod Theatre Project, New Georges, Irish Rep), “Andromeda” (Barrow Group, Berkshire Playwrights Lab), “Better than Chocolate” (Juilliard). Provenz received commissions from Araca Group, Killer Films, and Barrington Stage and was writer in residence at Edith Wharton's The Mount. She wrote a feature for New York Magazine about serving as Anthony Weiner’s policy director. A two-time recipient of the Lecomte du Nouy Award for Emerging Playwrights, she received a B.S. from Northwestern University and was artist-in-residence at The Juilliard School.

Director Kimberly Senior is a freelance director whose award-winning work has been seen in 15 states in over 200 productions. She directed the Broadway production of the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-nominated “Disgraced” by Ayad Akhtar. She directed the HBO special “Chris Gethard: Career Suicide” and her work in audio has ranged from Marvel’s “The Wastelanders” to C13’s “Ghostwriter.” She is a member of the Goodman Theatre’s Artistic Collective and has taught at a number of universities. Senior currently runs the MFA directing program at Brooklyn College.  Her first book, “What Would a Person Do?,” is available on Amazon. Kimberlysenior.net

Christine Lemme is stage manager (Westport Country Playhouse: Script in Hand playreading “A Danger to Yourself and Others”; Broadway: “Reasons to Be Pretty,” “Swan Lake”; Off-Broadway: Irish Rep, Lincoln Center Theater; National Tours: “The Vagina Monologues,” “Chess,” “Company”).

Tickets are $30. Running time is two hours with one intermission. Age recommendation is age 13 and up.

For full details, visit: https://www.westportplayhouse.org/show/script-in-hand-true-art/

The Script in Hand Playreading Series is supported by Joyce Hergenhan and the White Barn Program of the Lucille Lortel Foundation. 2024 Programming and Season Sponsor is Barbara Streicker. Media sponsors are Moffly Media and WSHU Public Radio. Westport Country Playhouse is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

The upcoming Script in Hand playreading season is scheduled on Mondays at 7 p.m. in 2025 as follows: Jan. 13, Feb. 3, Apr. 14, May 5, June 9, Sept. 8, Nov. 3, and Dec. 1; titles to be announced.  For details on the 2025 eight-play subscription series, visit:  https://tickets.westportplayhouse.org/packages/fixed/2367

Script in Hand playreadings offer intimate storytelling as professional actors use their skills to catapult the audience’s imagination without benefit of scenery or costumes. For a video on Script in Hand, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2eWDaF-JXA.

A complete schedule of Playhouse events is available at westportplayhouse.org. All play titles, artists, dates, and times are subject to change.