It’s a Happy Ending for Playwright Whose Script Gets a Reading on Stage : Arts: Long Beach Playhouse’s Studio Theatre gives writers valuable exposure. One of seven works will be chosen for a six-week, fully staged production.

“Choices” is a taut courtroom drama that pits justice against vengeance and ends with a surprising twist.

And getting the play onto a stage has been a drama in itself for Long Beach playwright Arthur Josephs, who used one of his short stories as a springboard.

“It went to 20 or 30 theaters and contests around the country,” Josephs said.

But last Sunday at the Long Beach Playhouse’s Studio Theatre, “Choices” finally found a home as 12 actors read the script as part of the playhouse’s New Works Project spotlighting original plays.

For Josephs, who had another play read at the playhouse a few years ago, the evening was a thrill.

“To have someone actually pay attention to your play is tremendously exciting,” he said. “Every play has got to have a reading in order for the playwright to hear how his own words sound. Some do it in their kitchens with friends, and to have it done by a group of actors who are really talented is a tremendous benefit.”

Paying attention to new plays is what the series of readings is all about.

“Writers are desperate to have someone see their plays. It’s a shame if they write and no one sees them,” said Elaine Herman, managing director of the theater group, which was organized 64 years ago.

By the time the series ends on April 18, seven full-length plays--dramas and comedies, by seasoned playwrights as well as newcomers--will have been read in the 99-seat Studio Theatre. All presentations are free, and no reservations are taken.

The actors use scripts but also have props and costumes, and there is some staging and lighting. But regardless of the locale of a play, everything takes place in a barroom--because the readings are done on the set of “Early One Evening at the Rainbow Bar and Grille,” the theater’s current production.

When the series is over, one of the plays will be chosen for a six-week, fully staged production early next year.

While many Southern California theaters from shoe-box playhouses to professional companies have new-play programs, the Long Beach group is taking its first big venture into original works.

Herman said she has been wanting to do it for five years, and an accumulation of more than 100 unsolicited plays from throughout the United States provided the opportunity.

A year ago, a group of four readers headed by playhouse actor, director and stage manager Reed Boyer plunged into the collection, which included hand-written manuscripts and single-spaced typing that challenged the readers’ eyesight.

The majority were weeded out early. Some were one-act plays that did not qualify for the series. Others had too many characters, excessive technical demands and scene changes or were unsuited for the stage.

“Many lacked plot, which is a very serious problem,” Boyer said. “A full-length character study does not involve the interest of an audience or make them think about larger issues.”

He said the seven chosen were the plays that had “plot, place, characters and managed to be thought-provoking and entertaining.”

Among his favorites, he said, are “The Third Wave,” which was written by Washington state playwright Larry Thelan and will be the last play read in the series.

“It’s based on a factual incident, in which a teacher answers the question about how the Germans could have participated in World War II atrocities (by setting up) a classroom model of that society. He demonstrates that the real answer is that many of us are capable of being locked into that obedient and conformist mode,” he said.

He is also partial to “Millay--Poet, Pianist,” which was read on the same day as “Choices” with author Leigh Kaplan in the title role of American poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Kaplan, an actress, pianist and writer who lives in Rancho Palos Verdes, adapted the biographical play from her one-woman show she has taken on tour to schools, colleges and universities.

The audience is encouraged to comment after performances, something that West Covina playwright Jacqueline Hacsi said is invaluable to a writer. Her comedy, “The Nose Knows,” will be read April 12.

“I’ve never had a play read that was not revised from first to last,” she said. “It helps you get a notion of what works and what doesn’t.”

The playhouse produces 16 shows a year, and Herman said it would like to include an original play a year.

She hopes to make the New Works Project an annual event. Plays for next year, which will be limited to works by Southern California writers, will be accepted between May 1 and Dec. 1. The theater asks writers to send a synopsis, a breakdown of characters and 10 pages of dialogue.

Tony Grillo, who will be in charge of readings, said it is important for the playhouse to venture beyond established plays.

“To be a viable theater, an important theater in the community, you have to stretch and do new things,” he said.

New Works Project

What: Staged readings by professional actors of seven original full-length plays.

Where: Long Beach Playhouse Studio Theatre, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach.

Remaining performances:

Today 2 p.m.--”A Blue and Gold Mistake,” by Raymond Pape, a drama exploring ties and obligations between two brothers.

Today 7 p.m.--”A Different Image,” by Rob Rainey, a farce in which a struggling advertising executive makes a Faustian deal for success.

April 5, 7 p.m.--”The Company She Keeps,” by Ann Sabbath, a comedy in which a widow learns that retirement plans made by her deceased husband do not work for her.

April 12, 7 p.m.--”The Nose Knows,” by Jacqueline Hacsi, a comedy in which a college professor with offbeat theories about life becomes the unwilling idol of a student.

April 18, 2 p.m.--”The Third Wave,” by Larry Thelan, a drama on the effects of a teacher’s classroom experiment with his students that questions blind obedience to authority.

Admission: Free, no reservations are taken. Seating is first-come, first-served.

Information: (310) 494-1014.