THE BUILDING
by Betel Arnold
Directed by Kyle Boatwright
a Theater Thursdays reading
February 16, 2023
7:30 pm
at The Divine Theater, Gateway City Arts
92 Race Street, Holyoke, MA
Silverthorne Theater Company presents a staged reading of Northampton playwright Betel Arnold’s newest play, The Building. Directed by Kyle Boatwright, the reading will take place at 7:30pm on Thursday, February 16th, 2023 at the Divine Theater at Gateway City Arts as part of Silverthorne’s free Theater Thursdays reading series, with a talkback to follow.
Tickets are free, and Silverthorne welcomes donations so that we can continue making our work accessible to all.
The Building follows lifelong Brooklyn resident Agnes as she attempts to get her granddaughter Catalina out of their apartment building and off to a renowned fashion design program in France to further her education. When Agnes discovers that Catalina has been secretly dating the son of a notorious drug dealer, Agnes becomes all the more desperate, enlisting the help of her friends and eventually squaring off with the building’s landlord—who turns out to be much more than he appears.
Betel Arnold is a Dominican playwright and advocate for people with disabilities. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing at Western New England University. Her first play, Tight Pants, received various staged readings and was produced by the Majestic Theater in West Springfield. Other plays include It Is Finished and El Colmado. Arnold was also the longtime host and director-producer of Simply Talking, a cable access program which ran on over a dozen Western MA channels from 2009-2014. Her passion lies in advocating for the rights of people with physical and intellectual disabilities, which inspired her to create the Arts Project. As co-founder of the Arts Project, she has produced and directed various works in Western Massachusetts, including “Extraordinary People with Extraordinary Talents” at the Basketball Hall of Fame and “A Night to Believe” to sell-out audiences in Massachusetts. Arnold is the recipient of the 2004 Citation of Recognition from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts House of Representatives, as well as the 2005 Citation of Recognition from Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Senate.
Looking for a bite to eat before the reading? Stop in for dinner and a cocktail at Judd’s Restaurant (right across the hall from The Divine Theater) before the reading. Make your reservation here: https://tableagent.com/springfield/judds-restaurant
This reading is made possible by the generous support of the Holyoke Cultural Council and the South Hadley Cultural Council.