Theatre Upstairs is our Non-Profit element of AZAA supporting local artists & students with a platform to spotlight & grow in their art. We aim to bring affordable & free entertainment to our community continuing to foster the connections created out of sharing live art. We support these programs through donations.
Live Theater
Friday Oct 2nd at AZAA
đź’ˇ What is a Friday Night Reading?
A new play comes into being through an extensive process. After many, many rewrites, playwrights are ready to have their scripts read by actors. That’s where Friday Night Readings come in.
Actors are offered roles and prepare to read through a script (no memorization and minimal blocking). We have one rehearsal before our read and then an hour rehearsal in the space before we open the doors to the public. Our playwright joins us over Zoom (as they are often located across the US).
đź•– Time: 7pm Start
🎠Show: “On Trash Monsters”
✍️ Author: Gillian Durkee
Why don’t we think about polar bears more often? Nine-year-old Jessica Bilson wants to know. She’d also like to know where our trash actually goes—and why, exactly, she’s not allowed in the basement.
Join us In Person at AZAA or on YouTube!
đź“Ť2345 E Thomas Rd
Gillian Beth Durkee (she/her) is a Seattle-born playwright/screenwriter and an alumna of EST/Youngblood. She has worked with Normal Ave, The Workshop Theater, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Project Y, The Bellwether Project, The Tank, Current Harbor, Sam French OOB Festival, Rhapsody Collective, PTP/NYC, In the Water Theatre Company, Tiny Rhino, and Middlebury College. She was a staff writer on the web series “That Reminds Me” and “Adulting with Jane.”
Awards: Alfred P. Sloan screenwriting grant recipient, Sanguine Project Playwright finalist, three-time O’Neill NPC semi-finalist.
Residencies and conferences: Sewanee Writers Conference; In the Water Block Island guest artist.
As a musician, Gillian has sung with and arranged for the a cappella group Treble NYC, and has composed music for podcasts including “Candy Claus.”
BA: Middlebury College. MFA: Carnegie Mellon University, Steven Bochco Fellowship; WCDAC Award.
Theatre Upstairs
Theatre Upstairs has been founded as a separate non-profit 501c3 company to produce cutting edge, original and rarely produced theater. Theatre Upstairs is an opportunity to create exciting opportunities for locally trained actors/artists, student alumni & our current student base to explore, grow and highlight their artistic voices.
Enjoy our virtual events on demand @ youtube.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION (D&I/DEI)
Arizona Actors Academy with the support of Theatre Upstairs aspire to stay up to date on the conversations and intentions of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. We know that representation matters and aim to be an inclusive space for every kind of artist as well as foster diverse leaders in our art form.