By Carrie Chapter, Philadelphia Theatre Company

On Saturday, March 1st at 7pm, Philadelphia Theatre Company presented a public staged reading of the Terrence McNally Award-winning play, THE URBAN RETREAT by A. Zell Williams.

The reading was a Philly-centric experience – the director, Matt Pfeiffer, and the cast all talented locals.

In the words of playwright, A. Zell Williams: “The Urban Retreat explores today’s views on hip-hop, class, and race in America. The play follows Chaucer Mosley, an unpublished divorcee trapped in his life as a high school teacher. He hopes this will change when he is invited to meet with an ambitious editor. But joy turns to disbelief when he discovers he has been sought after to co-author a memoir by a former student, turned rap superstar, Trench Deep. Desperate for money, Chaucer accepts the position. Over the course of a week, the pair’s clashes morph into a kinship bound by pains they have each tried to conceal.”

The Urban Retreat won the 2013 Terrence McNally New Play Award, and this staged reading marked is last stage of development before its workshop run at the Public Theatre’s program, Public Studio. The play was one of two plays selected for the inaugural year of the Public’s new initiative for works-in-progress. The developmental production sold out most of its performances, and garnered much praise by the community and its audiences. Mr. Williams is also one of the latest inductee playwrights in New Dramatists.

The cast of THE URBAN RETREAT prepares for the reading at PTC. Photo credit: Carrie Chapter.