NEW MILFORD — As a new feature of TheatreWorks’ 2000 season, the New Milford-based theatre troupe will begin a series of “Page to Stage” playreadings starting on Sunday, April 2.

“The Page To Stage Playreadings will feature the bold new voices of today’s writers as well as the classics of yesterday,” said TheatreWorks president Richard Pettibone. “The goal of the series is to present lesser-known works or pieces difficult to stage. In other words, pieces that would not be fully staged in our area, but are still a very valid part of the art.”

Throughout the year TheatreWorks will follow up the opening of its main productions with a reading of a selected piece. The pieces selected will be balanced between comedy and drama. The group is hoping to present a musical later in the year.

“The selection process is impacted by production scale, resources and commercial considerations” explained artistic director Bill Hughes. “Due to this, innumerable vital, important and entertaining new and classic works go unproduced and unseen locally. Many are available only off-Broadway, in national regional theaters or at international festivals.

“TheatreWorks’ Page to Stage Playreadings will attempt to offer the opportunity to share a selection of these works, some of which may be considered for full future productionm,” added Mr Hughes.

The first reading will be Eric Overmyer’s comedic On The Verge. Blending Tom Stoppard’s limber linguistics with the historic overview of a Thornton Wilder, Mr Overmyer takes his audience on a mirthful safari that leads from darkest Africa to Terra Incognita, spinning into time travel.

Three “sister sojourners,” each a prototypical Victorian lady explorer equipped with dialogue as pithy as their helmets, thwack their machetes through the wilderness while telling tales of past jaunts among the natives. As intrepid trekkers, they put the lie to any charge that they are representatives of a weaker sex.

On The Verge will be presented on Sunday, April 2, at 7 pm at TheatreWorks, 5 Brookside Avenue. Admission is free. A question and answer period will follow the reading with refreshments served. Call the box office at 860/350-6863 for further information.