DAMASCUS, PA – Farm Arts Collective is launching My Bookish Friends literary series, that will feature book readings, conversations, and signings by authors the collective admires and loves. 

The series kicks off with readings and conversations with two unique theatre writers:  NYC activist and playwright Karen Malpede, author of Last Radiance: Radical Lives Bright Deaths & NACL’s Brad Krumholz, who wrote a unique theatre training book called Why Do Actors Train? The event will be moderated by theatre practitioner and scholar, Mimi McGurl. The readings will be interspersed with questions and conversation with attendees to create a lively discussion surrounding the authors, their books, and the ideas being put forth. Following the readings and conversation, there will be mingling, refreshments, and book signings.

Last Radiance: Radical Lives, Bright Deaths by Karen Maplede is a memoir that traces lives lived at full intensity: radical love, fearless art, deep community, and the painful beauty of last things. It invites readers into the underworld of grief and dying, offering lessons in presence, remembrance, and the urgent need to confront a failing medical system with courage and care. New York playwright, Karen Malpede says “Last Radiance is my love letter to the cultural avant-garde and pacifist left. This is my love letter to George Bartenieff, Julian Beck and so many more. This is my love letter to all of us who have sought a better world and live to make that happen.” 

Why Do Actors Train? (Bloomsbury, 2023) by Brad Krumholz, includes step-by-step analyses of specific actor-training exercises, the author examines the tools that actors use to bring life and meaning to the stage. This book provides theatre practitioners and scholars alike with a new lens to re-examine the craft of acting, offering a framework to understand the art form as one that is fundamentally grounded in embodied experience. This is a must-read book for anyone interested in the intersections of philosophy, theatre, and psychology, as well as anyone who has ever wondered what the point of seemingly trivial acting exercises is.

The event will take place Sunday, March 29 at 2 PM. Farm Arts Collective is located at 38 Hickory Lane, Damascus, PA 18415. Tickets are Pay-What-You-Can at the Door. More info:  www.farmartscollective.org.