January 2011: Under the direction of Suzanne Sturn, the works of Pulitzer Prize winner, Mary Oliver, were read by Donald Grube, Jerry Falek, Alex Bristow and Suzanne Sturn.Mary Oliver is one of the great voices in American literature, who urges us to love this world with astonishment and devotion. She is anAmerican poet who has won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.  Her poems are filled with imagery from her daily walks near her home:  shore birds, water snakes, the phases of the moon and humpback whales.

October 2011 Readings of Gothic tales written by Poe, Faulkner and Frost. This hour-long presentation by professional psychic, singer and actor Pat McAnaney, and singer, actor MaryLee Sunseri included Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” William Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily,” and Robert Frost’s “The Witch of Coös.” McAnaney and Sunseri underscored the performance with two "spectral" songs: "Clohinne Hills" and "The Long Black Veil."

March 2011:
Under the direction of Dan Gotch, PacRep’s Dramaturg and Literary Manager, Julie Hughett and Richard Boynton  read the poetry and prose of the Irish poet William Butler Yeats. His work was complimented by readings from the biography of the Irish patriot Maud Gonne, Yeats’ unrequited love and muse. The readings spanned the rise of the Celtic Literary Revival at the beginning of the 20th Century, WWI, the Easter Rising, The Irish Civil War and the beginnings of WWII. MaryLee Sunseri performed Irish songs as part of the evening.

February 2011: Directed by Suzanne Sturn -- A celebration in prose and poetry of the many loves of our lives---friends and sweethearts, animals and trees, and more!

April 2011: Taelen Thomas and MaryLee Sunseri performed Reflections, dramatic readings of words and music including the poetry of Edward Lear, the prose of John Steinbeck, and the ballads of Burl Ives. Each reading was reflected by a song or musical interlude in a series of vignettes, utilizing the dramatic oratory skills of Thomas and melodic vocal technique of Sunseri.

May 2011: Directors Susan Keenan and Roo Hornady presented a celebration of classic portraits of women, with readings that mirrored the imagery of those portraits. The background of images in portraiture included Elizabeth I, with readings from Shakespeare's Dark Lady of the Sonnets; John Singer Sergeant's Lady Leonora Speyer, along with Speyer's poetry; Andrew Wyeth's Christina portrait and readings from Mary Webb's novel, Precious Bane.  Featured Readers included: Suzanne Gardner Neilson and Fred Neilson, Susan Keenan, Suzanne Sturn, Peter Eberhardt and Maryann Rousseau.

December 2011
Celebrating and reflecting on the season of solstice and Christmas. What are the words in poetry that evoke light for you in the darkest time of the year? Under Suzanne Sturn's direction, actors speak poetry and stories on themes of light and darkness in works by such writers as Garrison Keillor, Charles Dickens, Laura Ingalls Wilder and Pablo Neruda, as well as poetry from contemporary writers and spiritual texts both Islamic and Christian.

Featured works also included the ancient wisdom teaching story for women, "Baba Yaga and the Bringer of Light." This classic Russian fairytale of Baba Yaga brings to life a Goddess figure who embodies both the light and dark aspects of the divine feminine, and the necessary confrontation with her by women in their coming to full maturity and wisdom. Another memorable tale came to us from Laura Ingalls Wilder, who famously described life as a pioneer in the  American midwest through the recollections of  her childhood in Wisconsin in her "Mr. Edwards Meets  Santa Claus." And no seasonal presentation would be complete without a selection from Charles Dickens' unforgettable story of "A Christmas Carol."

December's presentation of LIGHT IN THE SEASON OF LIGHT features four readers from the Monterey area: Maryann Rousseau, Actress and SoDA Director Emerita, MaryLee Sunseri, Musician/Singer/Actress
Peter Eberhardt, Actor, Suzanne Sturn, Actress and Director.