Vineyard Theatre have announced their second original cast benefit reading will be Cornelius Eady’s play Brutal Imagination, running on demand from 20 May-3 June and reuniting actors Joe Morton (Scandal) and Sally Murphy (August: Osage County).

Having premiered at the venue in 2001, Brutal Imagination remains a potent examination of racial attitudes in America. The play is based on Eady’s poem cycle which explores the notorious 1994 incident in which Susan Smith, a white woman from South Carolina, claimed that a Black man had kidnapped her children. The FBI searched for the man until Smith confessed that she had invented him and had in fact drowned her children. Brutal Imagination, two voices inside one consciousness, brings this invented man to life.

Directed by Joe Morton, this digitally-staged reading includes video design by Jared Mezzocchi.

Morton said: “One of the things that sparked coming back to Brutal Imagination was the Amy Cooper incident when she was using race and the police department as a weapon against a man who was actually doing her no harm. It reminded Cornelius and me about what this play is about.”

Proceeds from this original cast reading will go towards supporting the artists and programs in The Vineyard’s 2020-2021 Season. Tickets are available with a minimum donation of $25 here.

The third and final reading of this series will be announced soon.