Name: Alley Stage Reading Series Special Event: The Meeting
Start: 2026-04-26T16:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-04-26T18:00:00-05:00
Location: Shake Rag Alley

Alley Stage Reading Series Special Event: The Meeting

Join us for a special Alley Stage Reading Series event, featuring a new play by Brian James Polak. In The Meeting, five former theater makers convene a meeting in a near-future, fascist America, when all forms of art (and even the utterance of any art-related words) have been banned. These artists discuss what a person is to do in a world when one’s purpose in life has been eradicated. Both the artists and attendees of The Meeting begin to learn even the most fascist society can never stop people from being who they truly are.
Featuring local actors and community members, including Nathan Gieseke, Ashley Calderon-McHugh, Kayla Beck, Christina Harrington, Heather Harris, and Judy DeVido, The Meeting will engage us all in important conversations about the role of art and what matters.
Additional support for the playwright and actors for this special event is generously provided by Marcia Jablonski. At the event, we'll be collecting donations for Southwestern Wisconsin Community Action Program.
Tickets: $5 (available online and at the door)
Brian James Polak was born and raised in New Hampshire. His plays include Here Rests The Heart (Alcove commission from Lucille Lortel Theatre), This Is The Subtext (commission from Son of Semele Ensemble), The Patient (Jean Kennedy Smith Award), Last to Die for a Lost Cause (John Cauble Award; published by Next Stage Press), The Call List (world premiere September 2026 with Third Avenue Playworks). His play The Meeting will be presented this year in the New York City Fringe and with Space Pirates Theatre Collective in Los Angeles. Brian received his MFA in Dramatic Writing from the University of Southern California, School of Dramatic Arts. Since 2015, Brian has hosted a podcast, called The Subtext, where he interviews playwrights. The Subtext is presented monthly by American Theatre magazine. He currently resides in Minneapolis, MN with his wife Heather and their dog Hercules Mulligan.