Reader's Theatre returns to The Miners Foundry with Local Authors, on May 4, 2010, at 4:00 p.m. Tim O'Connor, Director of Reader's Theatre, pays homage to three of our local authors who live right here in Nevada County! The featured authors are Elizabeth Appell, Betsy Graziani Fasbinder and Louis B. Jones. Readers for this presentation are Harriet Totten and Gaylie Bell-Stewart.

You may ask yourself, what is Reader's Theatre? Reader's theater is often defined by what it is not -- no memorizing, no props, no costumes, no sets. Like storytelling, reader's theater can create images by suggestion that could never be realistically portrayed on stage. Space and time can be shrunk or stretched, fantastic worlds can be created, and marvelous journeys can be enacted. Reader's theater frees the performers and audiences from the physical limitations of conventional theater, letting the imagination soar.
For more than 10 years, The Miners Foundry has been presenting Reader's Theatre, a fundraiser for the Foundry. The readers and director volunteer their time to perform, and 100% of the profits benefit The Miners Foundry, a non-profit organization. The mission of the Miners Foundry is to bring art and culture to our community and presenting Reader's Theatre is one way for us to fulfill our mission. Join us for an afternoon of imagination and entertainment.

About the Authors

Elizabeth Appell is an award winning novelist, playwright, and screenwriter.

Her screenplay, Orgasms and Other Lies has placed in several competitions including Writers Network, Acclaim, and Spec Scriptacular. Lessons from the Gypsy Camp, adapted from her novel of the same name, has won several awards including First Prize in the Nevada State Film Commission's Screenplay Competition. It was optioned by Sharon Lane Productions. Her screenplay, Moon Walkers, has placed in several competitions including FADE IN and Moondance.

Her play, Confessions of a Catholic Child, premiered August 2007 in Los Angeles. Moon Walkers, also a full-length play is being developed as a film. James Denton (Desperate Housewives) appeared as the main character in a reading October, 2006 in Los Angeles.

Her short stories have been published in several literary journals including Snake Nation, The North Atlantic Review, The RiverSedge, The Portland Review, and the Binnacle. She is the recipient of The Dorothy Daniels Honorary Writing Award, and is currently submitting to festivals her completed short film, Easy Made Hard.

Betsy Graziani Fasbinder writes stories, poetry and narrative non-fiction, but in her heart, she’s a novelist. She confesses her addiction to the mind-altering substance that a great story provides and on a good day, is a dealer of that substance. Betsy’s fiction and essays have been awarded with the Floyd Salas Award, a Jack London Award, and two prizes at the East of Eden Writing Conference. She has recently signed with literary agent, Verna Dreisbach who is marketing her novel, Path of Stones for publication and is employed as a ghost writer on a book titled Financial Recovery to help people develop a healthy emotional and practical relationship with money. Betsy co-hosts the quarterly Women’s Writing Salon which offers women writers of the foothills the opportunity to share their often-too-invisible work. She has served as a member of Literature Alive! and Sierra Writers to promote and celebrate the written and spoken word in the community.

Louis B. Jones has published three novels – Ordinary Money (Viking 1990, Penguin 1991), Particles and Luck (Pantheon 1993, Vintage 1994), and California’s Over (Pantheon 1997, Vintage 1998) – all named as New York Times Notable Books of their respective years. He is an NEA fellow and a fellow of the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire. He has written screenplays – originals and adaptations of his own work – for studios and for independents. For a while, he was a regular reviewer for the New York Times Book Review. He has served as visiting writer at a number of colleges around the country, and for some years he has been Fiction Director for the Squaw Valley Community of Writers.

About the Readers

Gaylie Bell-Stewart
Gaylie has performed in, written and directed musicals, comedies, dramas and Reader's Theaters for over 15 years. She taught and directed at Magnolia Middle School before retiring this year. Now she and her husband Pierce are Elly judges for musicals. Gaylie is delighted to be appearing in a Reader's Theater featuring some of our talented local authors.

Harriet Totten
Harriet has been appearing on (and going through!) various stages in Nevada County since about 1983. She is pleased to have enjoyed many past performances with the Foothill Theatre Company, Off Broad Street Theatre, and The Foundry's Reader’s Theatre productions. In December she appeared in Robin Wallace's