Framed as a theatrical rehearsal between an ACTOR and DIRECTOR, Read The Room reconsiders these roles and their relationship to the audience in an unsettling and comedic experience. Interdisciplinary artist Sophia Cleary investigates the tension between script and improvisation and the illusion of control inherent to live performance. This two-hander play speaks to our contemporary climate where fact and fiction are no longer discernible and investigates what laughter seemingly condones–ultimately calling attention to what contracts can be upended rather than consumed as spectacle.

Sophia Cleary is an interdisciplinary artist focused on performance and liveness. Growing up as the child of two actors, she makes work inspired by the excess and slippage between the theatrical and the real. Across drawing, sculpture, video, and performance, Cleary stages encounters with her viewers that examine the necessity of discomfort, risk, and control.Sophia has presented her work internationally at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in NYC at the Center for Performance Research, Danspace Project, the Chocolate Factory, Dixon Place, The Kitchen, and e-flux, and in Los Angeles at the Hammer Museum, Human Resources Gallery, and LA MoCA. She is the founder and coordinator of the works-in-progress performance series REHEARSAL, where she has advised over 75 performing artists in the development of their work.