Spring is here again, and that means it’s time for MTC’s Ernst C. Stiefel 7@7 reading series.  Now in its twelfth year, 7@7 showcases new work by some of the theatre’s most exciting voices.  Starting May 3, MTC will bring playwrights, directors and actors together every Monday to work on new plays.  Those work sessions will culminate in free public play readings on Stage I at New York City Center.  The process of working with actors and hearing a play read in front of an audience is an exciting and integral one for a playwright.  We hope that you’ll join us to be part of that process.

All readings are free and take place on Mondays at 7 PM at New York City Center, Stage I located at 131 West 55th Street. Seating is limited. Reservations are required. Please call (212) 399-3000, ext. 4163 or email us at readings@mtc-nyc.org

Monday, May 3rd at 7PM
RETREAT
By Steven Levenson
Directed by Evan Cabnet
Dr. George Hartness has a revolutionary idea about how to treat the psychoses of the women in his care: talk to them. But while George practices his controversial new treatment, where is his wife? Who is she talking to? And what are they telling her? A striking play set in 1906 that examines what drives us crazy and what keeps us sane.

Monday, May 10th at 7PM
NOCTURAMA
By Annie Baker
Directed by Sam Gold
Depressive 26-year-old Brooklynite Skaggs Bernstein returns home to Vermont to live with his mother and videogame-obsessed stepfather. A chance encounter with a local historical tour guide promises to end his losing streak, but is Skaggs too in love with his own misery to change? A hilarious comedy from the critically acclaimed writer and director of Circle Mirror Transformation.

Monday, May 17th at 7PM
PIECES OF VINCENT
By David Watson
Directed by Lynne Meadow
In London, a young man visits his old piano teacher, and two former lovers meet over cocktails. In Northern Ireland, a Police Officer must deliver shocking news. And in Birmingham, a teenage boy wants his old friend back. An intricately woven tale of loss and connection from an exciting new British voice.

Monday, May 24th at 7PM
THERE ARE NO MORE BIG SECRETS
By Heidi Schreck
Directed by Kip Fagan
There was a time when Charles loved Gabe like a brother. But that was before Gabe disappeared to start a whole new life in Moscow. Now fifteen years later, he’s arrived on Charles’ doorstep seeking refuge for him and his Russian journalist wife. How well does Charles know Gabe? A bold play examining the mysteries we hide from those we love the most.

Monday, June 7th at 7PM
STUNT GIRL
Book and Lyrics by Peter Kellog
Music by David Friedman
Nellie Bly was a groundbreaking investigative journalist, an intrepid world traveler, and a captain of industry — all in a time before women had the right to vote. She’s brought to tuneful life in a rollicking new musical about her hopes and heartbreak and fascinating times.

Monday, June 14th at 7PM
HOW THE WORLD BEGAN
By Catherine Trieschmann
Directed by Carolyn Cantor
When Manhattanite Susan Pierce accepts a job teaching biology in Plainview, Kansas, she's ready for more than a little culture shock, but she's not prepared for the violent controversy that seizes the town when she makes an off-handed comment about the origins of the universe. How the World Began was commissioned by Manhattan Theatre Club through the Alfred P. Sloan Initiative.

Monday, June 21st at 7PM
OBLIVION
By Carly Mensch
Directed by Evan Cabnet
When their seventeen-year-old daughter mysteriously disappears for the weekend, uber-hip Brooklynite parents Pam and Dixon fear the worst. But the truth turns out to be more shocking than anything they imagined. A fresh comedy about family, basketball, Pauline Kael, and what it means to ask the big questions