At the Grange Hall: Play reading on Sunday; Improv Night Oct. 24

October 12, 2026  |  By Waterbury Roundabout

Play poster courtesy of the New Stage Players

The Grange Hall Cultural Center in Waterbury Center is hosting the New Stage Players’ monthly play reading this weekend and an Improv Night performance and workshop on Oct. 24 featuring improv performers from Burlington.

The Waterbury Public Library has copies of the play, “Circle Mirror Transformation,” to be read on Sunday, Oct. 18. Those wishing to participate can pick up the text in advance of the 4 p.m. event.

Written by Annie Baker, the play is a quirky and humorous tale centered on drama classes at a community center in the fictional town of Shirley, Vermont. It opened off Broadway in 2009 and received the Obie Award for Best New American Play. (The Obie Awards are the highest honor for off-Broadway shows, similar to the Tony Awards for Broadway productions).

The story focuses on what happens when an acting teacher holds an adult creative drama class at the local community center. The people who sign up are a recently divorced carpenter, a reserved high school junior, a former actor, and the teacher’s husband.

The students go through various acting and dramatic exercises, including one where they tell their own life stories. Along the way, a possible romance begins, each actor slowly reveals themselves and in their final exercise, one student imagines herself meeting another in 10 years.

The New York Times called the play “absorbing, unblinking and sharply funny.”

New Stage Players welcomes anyone who would like to read the script or just hear the play and/or join in a discussion afterwards. The group will cast the reading roles for all ages and abilities. No knowledge of the play or acting experience is necessary. Audience members who simply want to listen are welcome.

To participate in the reading, be sure to arrive by 3:30 p.m. Registering is not required, but appreciated to help organizers plan. Do so by email or phone: info.acrossroads@gmail.com or 802-244-4168.

This event is free; donations are appreciated. Light snacks will be provided.

Sponsored by Across Roads Center for the Arts and the Grange Hall Cultural Center.

Oct. 24: Improv Night workshop & performance

The Burlington improv team Alice performs at the Waterbury Grange Hall Cultural Center on Oct. 24. Courtesy photo

The Burlington improv team Hot Priest performs at the Waterbury Grange Hall Cultural Center on Oct. 24. Courtesy photo

Alice improv team member Colleen Goodhue. Courtesy photo

On Saturday, Oct. 24, the Grange Hall Cultural Center hosts an Improv Night performance at 7:30 p.m. Those interested in learning more about the craft can take part in the 4-6 p.m. Joy of Improv workshop prior to the show.

The event features veteran Burlington improv teams, Hot Priest and Alice.

The teams are known for their sharp, playful and wild character-driven improv. With suggestions from the audience, they spin spontaneous stories. Each team will perform one set. The show will end with an improv jam open to all.

Tickets: $10; purchase in advance online, at the door as available or email/call to make a reservation: grangehallcc@gmail.com or 802-244-4168. Material in the show may contain adult content.

Ahead of the performance from 4-6 p.m. will be The Joy Of Improv (A Workshop) led by improv team members Amy Halpin Riley of Hot Priest and Colleen Goodhue from the team, Alice.

Hot Priest improv team member Amy Halpin Riley. Courtesy photo

A performer, director, and educator, Riley studied and performed theater and improv in Chicago and New York City at The Second City Conservatory, Improv Olympic, and Upright Citizens Brigade. In Vermont, she co-founded and is a producing director of Full Circle Theater Collaborative and works in education at The Flynn and Vermont Stage. She has performed in numerous festivals with Vermont Stage, Stealing From Work, and Vermont Young Playwrights, and she is a regular at the Vermont Comedy Club in Burlington. An improv performer and coach in Burlington, Goodhue has trained at the People’s Improv Theater and the Vermont Comedy Club. She performs with musical improv teams The Miserables and Raccoon Chorus, and is a member of the Vermont Comedy Club Touring Company. Her team, Alice,  hosts Wonderland, a monthly improv show in Burlington.

The Grange Hall workshop will cover the basics of improv with games and opportunities to demonstrate the power of play and the fun of improvisational comedy. The creative exercise offers laughter as a guide, with a chance to boost self-confidence.

The workshop fee is $25; attendees get free admission to the 7:30 p.m. performance. Register in advance online here. Participants are encouraged to try out what they learn in the class during the improv jam at the conclusion of the show. For more information, email or call grangehallcc@gmail.com or 802-244-4168. The Grange Hall Cultural Center is located at 317 Howard Avenue, Waterbury Center.