Page To Stage Productions Presents
SWEETER THAN JUSTICE
By Robert Lipkin
February 5, 6 Glenridge Performing Arts Center
This compelling, multilayered drama unfolds in a world where choices are never simple and the line between right and wrong, heroes from villains is often blurred.
(Sarasota, Florida) Page to Stage Productions presents a staged reading of Sweeter Than Justice by Robert Lipkin, February 5 and 6, 7:30 p.m., at the Glenridge Performing Arts Center, 7333 Scotland Way, Sarasota. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased in advance at www.pagetostageproductions.com. A fully staged, world premiere Equity production is scheduled at the Asolo’s Cook Theatre later this year. For more information about the February production, visit www.pagetostageproductions.com or call 941-232-4123.
A multilayered psychological drama, Sweeter Than Justice unfolds in a world where choices are never simple, the lines between right and wrong are blurred, and its hard to tell heroes from villains. On Christmas Eve, 1963, Joey Donnatucci, the son of Philadelphias mob boss, assaults Geanina, a young law student who works part time at a neighborhood bar. Joey is mistakenly arrested for killing a policeman, a crime that occurred simultaneously with his attack. Only Geanina, the perfect hostile witness, can save Joey from the electric chair. Geanina’s life is turned upside down as she struggles through her moral dilemma, and faces the consequences of her decisions.
“Though set in 1963, the play offers a view of ourselves today,” says the playwright Robert Lipkin. “It examines how the healing powers of friendship, love, and justice are too often subrogated to the more irresistible power of vengeance. Sweeter Than Justice leaves audiences wondering what they would do if they were in Geanina’s place.”
Lipkin adds that a reading of Sweeter Than Justice was initially presented by Theater Odyssey at Art Center Sarasota in 2006. The work has undergone extensive revisions since then, he says. “Carole Kleinberg, the producing artistic director of this production, has been a gift from the gods, working with me to prepare the play for its world premiere.”
Kleinberg notes that, Lipkin is a talented playwright and a gifted storyteller. Still, in theater, the art of writing is in the re-writing. The workshop and revision process has been a journey of discovery for all of us. Were delighted to have developed this play to the point that it’s ready for a final staged reading. With the benefit of audience feedback from the Glenridge reading, we’re excited about the full production of Sweeter Than Justice at the Asolo’s Cook Theatre, scheduled for a two-week run later this year.
Sweeter Than Justice features an original score by the Sarasota-based composer John Reven. Hes a gifted musician with a lifetime of experience as a composer and performer. We’re thrilled to work with him,” says Kleinberg.
The cast for Sweeter Than Justice includes Amanda Schlachter (Geanina), who has performed for The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, The Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, The Gorilla Theatre, Sarasota Actors Workshop, and toured nationally with The Day I Opened My Eyes; Neil Levine (Frank), who has performed in dozens of regional and national stage productions and has also been a lead or principal character in more than 60 independent films; and Joseph Parra (Bismarcko) who, as a member of Actors Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA, has been a professional actor for more than 40 years. His theatrical credits range from New England through Florida and he has performed at such venues as the Asolo Rep, American Stage, Stageworks, Banyan Theatre, Alhambra Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Festival, and the Wayside Theatre. Audiences have also seen him in movies over the years including The Godfather.
For more information about Sweeter Than Justice, visit www.PageToStageProductions.com or call 941-232-4123.
About Robert Lipkin
Robert Lipkin is a St. Petersburg-based writer and playwright. He has had eclectic careers as an entrepreneur, corporate executive, and a licensed attorney, formerly in Philadelphia, PA, and currently in Florida. With Carole Kleinberg, Lipkin founded Page to Stage Productions and serves as the organization’s executive director. Lipkin’s short plays (Of Wine And Aging, The Promise, and Magic Revisited) were performed at St Petersburg’s Studio@620 Theatre in 2014. His 10-minute play, Cul-De-Sac, was included among an evening of short plays presented at the Raymond James Theatre, also in St. Petersburg. Lipkin has authored short stories and memoir pieces which have appeared regionally and nationally. For more info, visit pagetostageproductions.com.
About Carole Kleinberg
Carol Kleinberg has enjoyed a long career as a professional in many facets of the theater. As a director, she brought over 100 plays to life on the stage, including award-winning productions of The Diary of Anne Frank and The Elephant Man. Sarasota audiences enjoyed her productions of The Drawer Boy and Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun for the Banyan Theater Company; Fiddler on the Roof, and Little Women: The Musical at The Players of Sarasota; Nickel and Dimed at the Venice Theater; The Long Weekend and Mixed Emotions at the Island Players; and Harvey and Crossing Delancey at the Lemon Bay Playhouse. Kleinberg conceived and directed Movies that Changed My Life, Musicals that Made My Heart Sing, and Uncommon Woman: A Tribute to Wendy Wasserstein with The Broad View Theater Troupe in Sarasota. She is the producing artistic director of Page to Stage Productions. For more info, visit pagetostageproductions.com.
About Page to Stage Productions (PTSP)
Page to Stage Productions, a Florida-based company, is committed to creating, developing and presenting well-crafted, high-quality, new professional works for the stage, and to attracting and supporting regional and national emerging playwrights, musicians, and performance artists. Carole Kleinberg is the producing artistic director. Robert Lipkin is the company’s executive director/resident playwright with Richard Strong serving as designer/graphic artist, and John Reven as resident composer. For more information, visit pagetostageproductions.com.
