Invisible Theatre continues its 45th anniversary season with a reading of “Looking for Magic,” a semi-autobiographical play about one family’s experiences with coming out and living with HIV/AIDS. This inspirational play written by Beverly King Pollock and directed by Fred Rodriguez will be presented on Dec. 1 in observance of World AIDS Day.
“Looking for Magic” features Roger Owen, Jeffrey Baden, Morgan Fitch, Pat Fitch, Steve Wood, Sarah MacMillan and Ellie Vought.
Beverly and husband, Mel, lost both of their sons to AIDS in the 1990s.
“I had been auditing a playwriting course at the University of Pittsburgh before we flew to L.A. to take care of our precious son,” says Beverly. “To try to help me cope, I found myself looking at the strange, tragic scene before me as if it were a play, a drama unfolding in which I was one of the lead characters. It was a play I hated to end.”
The play was originally produced by the Pitt Men’s Study, University of Pittsburgh. The play is dedicated to all who lost their battle to this insidious disease and to the brave families, friends and organizations that will not let them be forgotten.
Beverly served as director of communications for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. She is a graduate of Agnes Scott College and studied playwriting at the University of Pittsburgh. Her column “Quoth the Maven,” which originated in the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, has appeared in 15 cities in the United States and Canada. “It’s Business,” her first play, had professional staged readings at the Pittsburgh JCC. With Shirley Katz, she co-wrote short scenes for Pittsburgh organizations and co-hosted a daily radio show “Those Two” for “the average housewife and everyday, ordinary nuclear physicist.”
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette honored her with the “Community Champion Award” because of her work in the AIDS community. As a tribute to her two sons who died of AIDS, Robert in 1991 and Larry in 1995, she and her husband Mel (who passed away in 2008) founded Jews With AIDS in the Family (with the support of Jewish Family and Children’s Service and The Pittsburgh federation). Beverly has two daughters, Sally Bedrick and Susan Stein. Now 92 years old, Beverly is working on her memoirs, “Every Story Has a Story.”
A conversation with Beverly King Pollock and reception will follow the reading.
World AIDS Day Tucson is held to honor and celebrate a community of people living with and to educate about HIV/AIDS. Events like this one work to de-stigmatize HIV/AIDS in communities all over the world. The World AIDS Day Tucson committee is a group of community members and representatives from local nonprofits/businesses who are working to reduce new HIV infections and spread knowledge about HIV/AIDS.
The Invisible Theatre of Tucson, a 501(c)(3) organization, is dedicated to producing quality theater and arts education experiences for all facets of the community in an intimate setting that showcases local professional talent and guest artists. IT takes its name from the invisible energy that flows between a performer and audience, creating the magic of theatre. Started in 1971 as an arena for local playwrights, the theatre has expanded its programs to include adaptations of classics and recent Off-Broadway plays and musicals, while continuing to encourage new playwrights through both full productions and staged readings.
Under the leadership of Managing Artistic Director Susan Claassen, Associate Artistic Director James Blair and PR Director Cathy Johnson, IT is strongly committed to community service and outreach programs.
IT celebrates its 45th season with an even greater commitment to professionalism, artistic excellence, accessibility, freedom of expression, diverse programming and creative challenge – thus making the Invisible Theatre a very visible force in Tucson’s cultural community.
