These off-season staged readings might not look like much - but they sell out every year

Aaron R. Conklin, Madison Magazine

Brenda DeVita likes to refer to it as skydiving.

And while a group of professional actors sitting in chairs on an empty stage doesn’t initially seem to fit the description — there’s nary a parachute in sight, after all — you can see where she’s coming from.

The subject in question is Winter Words, American Players Theatre’s annual off-season staged reading series. Between February and March, the classical theater company gathers a cast of actors together, gives them six hours to rehearse together, and then has them read a play in front of a live audience. Each year, the performances sell out almost instantly.

“These evenings feel that kind of extra energy,” says DeVita, APT’s artistic director. “It's actually just being done in front of us with no net. It kind of gets to show off the expertise and the kind of acting prowess that I think is extraordinary.”

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