The ACLU of Delaware invites you to an online reading of Visitation at 7 pm on Tuesday, October 5, 2021.
This play by Cassandra Lewis, starring Taysha Marie Canales and Tanya Lazar, tells the story of a former nurse (Phyllis), held in solitary confinement while serving a life sentence, who meets her granddaughter (Serena) for the first time. Serena is a paralegal, seeking the parole board’s approval for Phyllis’ early release due to old age in the time of COVID-19. As the two reunite over Zoom, Serena discovers dark secrets about her family’s past and the disturbing events that led to her grandmother’s conviction. Phyllis struggles to hold onto her sanity and wonders if the visits are real or an elaborate hallucination induced by solitary confinement.
This play is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on DelawareScene.com.
The script is rated R (descriptions of domestic violence, solitary confinement, prison, and other trauma).
Reading time: Approximately 45 minutes.
This virtual event will not be live-streamed on our Facebook page. Paid access to Zoom event only.
CAST
Taysha Marie Canales (as Serena) is a Philadelphia-based actor and teaching artist. Regional credits: Fat Ham (2021 filmed World Premiere), Dance Nation, Romeo and Juliet (Wilma Theater); NO CHILD… (2021 digital production), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Arden Theatre); Shakespeare In Love, (People’s Light); Taysha is the 2018 F. Otto Haas Emerging Philadelphia Theater Artist Recipient. She is a Wilma Theater HotHouse Company Member. BFA in Acting from Arcadia University.
Tanya Lazar (as Phyllis) has acted in and directed plays of various genres from dramatic productions to comedies to musicals from Newark, DE to Philadelphia. She has trained in Washington, DC; New York; Wilmington, DE; and Moscow, Russia. In England and Scotland, Tanya studied with the vocal and text coach of the Royal Shakespeare Company. She has won awards for both acting and directing and served as an adjudicator for the Delaware Theater Association and TANYS and has been Gild Mistress of the Arden Shakespeare Gild.
