Theatre Forty’s popular series of Monday Night Play Reading Seminars is back for the Fall semester.
Each reading will be followed by a brief question-and-answer period.

All events are Monday nights at 7:00pm.
A donation of $10 is suggested, with all proceeds going to Beverly Hills Unified School District.

Located in Theatre 40’s main venue:
The Mary Levin Cutler Theatre (1st Floor)
241 S. Moreno Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
The theatre is on the campus of Beverly Hills High School, with ample free parking in the structure next to the theatre.

For directions and parking, click HERE.

We hope you’ll join us!

Fall Semester Monday Night Play Reading Series

September 29, 2025 | What Is Murder? | by Ken Levine

Four former Jeopardy champions meet for a weekend to prepare for the Tournament of Champions. When the frontrunner is murdered, it becomes a game of cat and mouse between three brainiacs and a wily detective. Comedy, clues, and surprises await.

October 6, 2025 | Tell Me All You Know | by Leda Siskind

We are watching the rehearsal of the true story of one naval officer who spoke out against the fascist Argentine government in 1979 when one of the actors stops the rehearsal to accuse the director of compliance with the very junta the play is against.

October 20, 2025 | Text M for Murder | by Tim Ryan

Set in present day London, Text M for Murder is a parody of the classic, single set crime thriller (Dial M for Murder, Death Trap, Rope) featuring a pretentious metrosexual villain, his OCD wife, her cheesy American TV writer/lover, a bumbling assassin, and the female chief inspector with a Gibraltar-sized chip who will unravel it all.

October 27, 2025 | The Gilded Stage | by Gary Kaskel

The dynamics of producing a Broadway show are explored by examining the roles of the strong producer, the tough critic, and the difficult actor in this two-act satire spanning two generations.

November 3, 2025 | The Mystery of Castle Bay | by Frank Semerano

Castle Bay is the only house on the cliff with a black-veiled portrait, suspicious floral arrangements, and an uninvited vacuum cleaner salesman. Alice is grieving. Tom is selling. Gil and Irma are scheming. And Nelson? He’s everywhere. Literally. In this whirlwind one-act mystery-comedy, ambition and suspicion collide. With identities hidden, loyalties tested, and one very faulty vacuum cleaner, the truth is sure to come out – but probably not cleanly. It is a nod to film-noir of the 50s. Who is pulling the strings in a quest for a fortune? That is the mystery.

November 10, 2025 | Call It Day | by Eric Gordon

A play about truth, point of view, what we choose to remember, what we choose to conceal, and Marc Blitzstein (Composer & lyricist known for The Cradle Will Rock and for his off-Broadway translation/adaptation of The Threepenny Opera) and his biographer.