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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;background:white'>Lit Cleveland is excited to announce the program for its <strong><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-weight:normal'>upcoming staged reading</span></strong> at Cleveland State University's Student Center Ballroom during this year’s Cleveland Humanities Festival on Saturday March 17th and Sunday March 18th at 7 pm. A reception with the actors and writers will follow each performance. 250 people attended the performances last year, so please:</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Take a minute to register in advance</span></b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>: <a href="http://www.litcleveland.org/cleveland-humanities-festival-staged-reading.html">http://www.litcleveland.org/cleveland-humanities-festival-staged-reading.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;background:white'> </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><br><span style='background:white'>The hour-long performance, directed by Dale Heinen, is titled <em><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>I Will Sing for You: Writers on Health,</span></em> features original work by Northeast Ohio writers Nicholas Cohen, Diane Ferri, Aubrey Hirsch, Ray McNiece, Darlene Montonaro, Robin Pease, Mimi Plevin-Foust, Susan Rakow, Jane Richmond, Elaine Schleiffer, Karen Schubert, Jill Sell, Mary Weems, and Joe Kapitan. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>The cast is Davis Aguila, Andrea Belser, David Bugher, Anne McEvoy, and Kimberly Sias. <br><span style='background:white'> </span><br><span style='background:white'>Lit Cleveland's call for submissions earlier this year garnered over 180 poems, stories, and plays from writers throughout Northeast Ohio. The moving, often funny works explore issues such as aging, cancer, addiction, mental health, race and poverty, and the inequities in our current health care system.</span><br><span style='background:white'> </span><br><span style='background:white'>Diane Ferri's moving essay “I Will Sing for You” recounts her final memories of time spent with her aging mother. Philip Metres reflects on finding peace in the midst of a painful concussion as well as the current presidential administration in his essay “Refuge.” Playwright Mary Weems encounters the tragedy of addiction in her piece "Pill/Box." Ray McNiece playfully taunts death in his poem “The Bone Orchard Conga,” while Joe Kaptian humorously highlights the hypocrisy of health care coverage in his one act play "Minimal Coverage." </span><br><span style='background:white'> </span><br><span style='background:white'>“Reading the selected pieces, it’s striking how relevant, and often how American, these stories are,” said director Dale Heinen. “It’s a fun, intriguing challenge to craft performances from diverse forms of writing like poetry and essay, and I look forward to sharing our discoveries with festival audiences.”</span><br><span style='background:white'> </span><br><span style='background:white'>"We're thrilled to have worked out a program for this year's performance, and are truly grateful to have received such outstanding, powerful work from so many people living in this region," added Lee Chilcote, Executive Director of Lit Cleveland. "We'd like to thank everyone who went out on a limb to share their stories with us, and look forward to what we hope will be a powerful and insightful performance."<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>To ensure a seat, register here: <a href="http://www.litcleveland.org/cleveland-humanities-festival-staged-reading.html">http://www.litcleveland.org/cleveland-humanities-festival-staged-reading.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;background:white'> </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><br><span style='background:white'>This program is made possible with the support of the George Gund Foundation, the Baker Nord Center for the Humanities, Cleveland Humanities Festival, Cleveland State University, and Margaret Wong and Associates. </span></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#7030A0'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>