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About Us

WordTheatre is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring a love of language and literature by presenting live performances of contemporary short stories. We feature renowned actors who bring to life exquisitely crafted stories penned by the finest authors working today. Authors engage the audience in a post-performance discussion and book signings. All WordTheatre events are digitally recorded and we are currently preparing to release our library of over 600 readings and interviews.

WordTheatre LA

At WordTheatre LA, Cedering Fox produces and directs single author events with such luminaries as Donald Hall, Charles Baxter, Ron Carlson, Russell Banks, Ha Jin, Steve Almond, T.C. Boyle, Aimee Bender, Taylor Negron, Melissa Pritchard, Mona Simpson, Tobias Wolff and Rick Moody. Group author events have featured Z.Z. Packer, Luis J. Rodriguez, Julie Orringer, Dan Chaon, Hal Ackerman, Julia Sweeney, Tod Goldberg, Joe Olshan, Siv Cedering, Thomas Steinbeck, Mary Yukari Waters, Arthur Miller and Marion Thurm, among others. At these shows, the audience, actors and writers enjoy a meal followed by the readings, a Q & A and book signings. Books are provided for sale by Small World Books, Venice, CA.

Other Los Angeles shows include our annual Valentine's Day event; our annual Mother's Day celebration; our Erotica series; our "Fusion" of established and emerging writers' series; "Novel Beginnings" series, produced in association with Lisa Doctor. WordTheatre developed and launched "Life After Birth" with Dani Klein, a series of short stories written and performed by actors about how having children has changed their lives. In collaboration with The Met Theatre and The Autry National Center, WordTheatre LA and Darrell Larson, produced The Great Writers' Series Rides Again, twelve nights of the best literary offerings from the Western genre performed by wonderful actors over twelve evenings.

WordTheatre NY

As we have found many of our favorite authors in the pages of The Pushcart Prize: Best of The Small Presses' thirty-three annual anthologies, WordTheatre enjoys doing benefits for The Pushcart Prize Fellowships in at East Hampton's Guild Hall, as our way of saying thank you to founder and editor Bill Henderson and all the distinguished judges who are committed to keeping independent voices in literature alive.

Currently, WordTheatre NY produces an annual spring series at Soho House NY, which has featured such actors as WordTheatre board member James Franco, Carla Gugino, Julianna Margulies and Brian Cox performing stories by such authors as John Edgar Wideman, Mary Gordon, Rick Moody, Amy Hempel, Steve Almond, Mary Gaitskill, Jim Shepard, James Salter and many more!

Previous NY shows produced in association with Darrell Larson include single author events featuring Rick Moody and James Salter at Manhattan's The Cutting Room. At East Hampton's Guild Hall, John Heard performed the title role in a staged reading of Kay Eldredge's one man show, The Rambler: The Principal Part of Dr. Johnson and Xander Berkeley starred in a staged reading of Gonzo: The Life And Times of Hunter S. Thompson As Only He Tell It.

WordTheatre UK

WordTheatre UK has been producing shows since fall of 2003. Cedering Fox collaborates with producing partner Kirsty Peart to create benefit and event programming. We have been regular guests at The Latitude Festival in Suffolk, England for two consecutive mid- July weekends where everyone from James Franco to Juliet Stevenson could be found performing great short stories in the Literature Tent over the four days of the festival. BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends has featured many of our actors and authors. We are now in our second year of collaboration with The Sunday Times Magazine EFG Bank Award at the continuing invitation of the magazine's Deputy Editor Cathy Galvin. We're proud of our past association with The National Short Story Prize of the UK, founded by Alex Linklater, and Prospect Magazine.We've produced short story events benefiting such charities as The Parkinson's Appeal, TreeHouse Appeal for Autism, Fairbridge House and Macmillan.