Marcus Gardley

Playwright Marcus Gardley, whose work has been performed at Yale Rep and Arena Stage (Washington), will be in Minneapolis for a reading of his play, "dance of the holy ghosts: a play on memory," next Monday (Dec. 9).

The work, which was staged at Yale in 2006, has been reworked and this will be a new draft. Dominic Taylor, artistic associate at Penumbra Theatre, is directing the reading. Actors Ansa Akyea, Traci Allen, Carrien Burks, Marvette Knight, Sonja Parks and Bruce A. Young are in the cast.

The New York Times review of the Yale production noted that "dance of the holy ghosts" benefited from rich, poetic lyricism but wanted for dramatic coherence. Gardley was a poet before becoming a playwright and thus he has been compared to August Wilson.

The reading at the Playwrights' Center is at 7 p.m. next Monday. It's part of the Ruth Easton New Play Series. A discussion with Gardley will follow the reading.