At Axial Theater, a nonprofit now in its 24th season, we create bold, thought-provoking productions that invite audiences to confront their own assumptions and biases. We are committed to supporting the professional growth of playwrights and actors through staged workshops, development readings, and full productions. Join us as we explore the transformative power of theater and its ability to spark conversation, empathy, and change.
Axial Theatre is a Grant Award Winner! Thank you ArtsWestchester for selecting us for the 2026 Matching Grant!
SAFEHOUSE is Axial Theatre’s staged reading series dedicated to supporting both emerging and established playwrights. Each event offers a new work brought to life by professional actors and directors, followed by a moderated talkback that invites audience engagement.
SAFEHOUSE offers writers a safe, collaborative environment in which to develop new work, take artistic risks, and hear their plays brought to life by professional actors and directors.
Each installment features a full-length reading of a new play in development, followed by a moderated talkback that invites dialogue between the playwright, artists, and audience. This process not only deepens the work itself, but also fosters a vibrant community around new voices and bold storytelling.
Rooted in Axial Theatre’s mission to nurture artists and champion new work, SAFEHOUSE serves as a vital stepping stone for playwrights—offering visibility, feedback, and the opportunity to refine their plays in a supportive, professional setting. It is both a haven and a launchpad for the next generation of theater-makers.
MARCH 2025
"A Story About a Girl" by Jacquelyn Reingold
with post-reading discussion moderated by special guest playwright and arts advocate
Cheryl Davis
SATURDAY, MARCH 22nd, 2025 at 4PM join us for a workshopped reading of this exciting new play with Axial Ensemble members Sergio Arguelles Catare, Lev Harvey, Najah Imani Muhammad, Youlim Nam, Tom Ryan, and special guest Camila Canó-Flaviá.
Post-reading moderation by Cheryl Davis
Directed by Cady McClain
Synopsis: Once upon a time there was a neurodiverse girl who had no words. She met an outcast boy who had no friends. They make their own language of love, friendship and ultimate betrayal as they journey through life with and without each other.
“This play is not only a story about a girl, it is a story about life, love, trauma, and coping. The neurodivergent characters are so beautifully scripted, so real on the page, I can imagine how wonderful the play will be onstage. A truly theatrical play with a moving story.” - Sandra de Helen
“A truly moving story of love and friendship in its perfection and imperfection along the journey of life. Well done.” - Cheryl Bear
“I was incredibly moved and captivated by A STORY ABOUT A GIRL. Jacquelyn Reingold writes with so much insight and sensitivity about love, neurodivergence, and the complexity of relationships across the lifespan. Even the stage directions read beautifully, opening the text for such imaginative staging, and the representations of water throughout connect so well to the dialogue and story. This play is also wonderfully layered with experimental elements and would be a delight to watch come alive on stage.” - John Mabey
When: Saturday, March 22nd 4PM - 6PM
Where: St John's Episcopal Church, 8 Sunnyside Ave, Pleasantville, NY
Suggested Donation: $15 adults, $10 students
No one will be turned away who cannot pay
Vaccination and Mask Policy:
Consistent with New York City and State recommendations, audience members are strongly encouraged to wear masks in theatres.
Jacquelyn Reingold
Cady McClain
Cheryl Davis
Camila Canó-Flaviá
APRIL 2025:
"What We'd Really Like is to Be Together"
by Kate Benson
with post-reading moderation by Samuel Harps
SATURDAY, APRIL 19th, 2025 at 4PM join us for a workshopped reading of this exciting new play with Axial Ensemble members Anthony Barresi Jr, Marisa Lowe, Dan Walworth, Duane Rutter, Lev Harvey, Marilyn Collazo, Quinn Warren and special guest Elizabeth Narciso
Post-reading moderation by Cheryl Davis
Directed by Cady McClain
Synopsis: three couples and a guest meet for a weekend respite from the city at a well appointed home. Discussions lead to revelations and unanticipated events change lives forever.
Kate Benson is a writer and performer who lives in Brooklyn, NY. Writing includes: [Porto] (Bushwick Starr), and A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes (New Georges with Women’s Project, OBIE-winner). She has an MFA in playwriting from Brooklyn College. She is a recipient of the Creative Spirit Award (2023). Performances include: Ulysses (ERS), Seagull (ERS); [Porto] (Bushwick Starr), Variations on the Main (Jack), I’ll Never Love Again (Bushwick Starr), Tiger, Tiger (on the Nature of Violence) (Dixon Place), Fondly, Collette Richland (ERS), Running Away from the One with the Knife (the Chocolate Factory), Nomads (the Incubator), and Good Person of Szechwan (the Public & LaMama).
When: Saturday, April 19th from 4PM - 6PM
Where: St John's Episcopal Church, 8 Sunnyside Ave, Pleasantville, NY
Suggested Donation: $15 adults, $10 students
No one will be turned away who cannot pay
Vaccination and Mask Policy:
Consistent with New York City and State recommendations, audience members are strongly encouraged to wear masks in theatres.
Kate Benson
Moderator
Samuel Harps
Elizabeth Narciso
Artistic Director
Cady McClain
Axial Theatre’s CACTUS FLOWERS was an online short play reading series launched in 2022 as part of the company’s ongoing commitment to developing new voices and new work. Presented virtually to a national audience, the series featured short plays in development performed by professional actors and guest artists, often followed by audience discussion and talkback. The program continued Axial’s long-standing mission of supporting playwrights through accessible, collaborative readings and artistic experimentation.
One of the plays featured in the series was Rita Anderson’s Today I Met the Pacific Ocean, which later became part of Axial’s continued playwright development initiatives. The online format allowed Axial Theatre to connect artists and audiences across geographic boundaries during a period when digital performance became an important creative platform for independent theatre companies.
Playwrights included:
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Rita Anderson — Today I Met the Pacific Ocean
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Mark Harvey Levine — Not Like Us
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Pamela Morgan — When Life Gives You Lemons
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Donna Latham — Chicken Fried Catfish
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Morgan Fears — As the Dust Settles
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John Mabey — Native Language
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Evelyn Mertens — Is Nothing Sacred, That Way
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Youlim Nam — Last Birthday
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Jacquelyn Reingold — Like Miriam
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Christopher Goutman — X, Y, Z
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Scott Sickles — Tantarus V Rhodadanthus
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Serena Norr —I See You
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Linda Giuliano — Handless
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Chima Chickazunga — Folding Danica
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Lori M. Meyers — Civil Disobedience
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Karin Diann Williams — Constituent
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Justice Hehir, Dena Igusti, Phanesia Pharel, Nia Akilah Robinson, Julia Specht, with dramaturg May Treuhaft-Ali — The Wish
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Judy Klass — Frame Within a Frame
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Pamela Kingsley — Finding Mother Courage
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Val Stulman — Disability On Love
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Grace Carson Becker — Arcana
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Nayna Agrawal — Punctuation Play
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Tom Coash — Flat Meat Society
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Diana Burbino — Good Bad Times
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Linda Bergman — Tippy Toes
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Dana Leslie Goldstein — Undiscovered Country
"Native Language" by John Mabey - read by Axial Ensemble members Michael Alva and Marisa Lowe