Rooms of Experience, Act 1

By Steffany Sommers

Starring Patty McCormack as Ada Wells

and Dan Lauria as DA Harvey Davis

The call comes in at night.

An elderly woman.

A dead son.

A tank of helium left in plain sight.

Ada Wells doesn’t deny it.

She wanted his last day to be peaceful.

Enter Dana Jeffries, razor-sharp, undefeated, and hungry to prove herself.

Her boss, Harvey Davis, assigns the case for one reason: optics.

Defense attorney Alexis Martinez pushes back hard.

Detective Curtis starts questioning his own conclusions.

Gina Gordon protects Ada like family.

Carter becomes another pressure point inside the machine.

Rebecca is caught in the ripple effect.

Then Alexis shows Dana the home movies.

The real story.

The years no one saw.

The cost no one counted.

By the end of Act One, Dana walks out of Ada’s house shaken.

No longer sure the law and justice are the same thing.

Starring Academy Award nominee Patty McCormack (The Bad Seed) as Ada Wells

with Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years) as DA Harvey Davis

Craig Parker (The Lord of the Rings) as Detective Curtis

Nicholas Gonzalez (The Good Doctor) as Carter

Nora Zehetner (Heroes, Everwood) as Rebecca

Alyshia Ochse as Dana Jeffries

Candice Coke as Alexis Martinez

Eileen Grubba as Gina Gordon

Alain Uy as Ethan

and narrated by Sarah Elmaleh

Table Read is executive produced by Jack Levy, Mark Knell, and Sean Sharma. A Manifest Media production.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rooms of Experience

By Steffany Sommers

What if the most unforgivable crime came from the purest love?

Ada Wells is eighty-nine.

Her son, Teddy, is autistic.

She has spent sixty years protecting him from a world that never learned how to love him back.

Then one night, she makes a choice that shatters everything.

Now the system wants a conviction.

The media wants a monster.

And rising prosecutor Dana Jeffries is handed the most politically explosive case of her career.

Defense attorney Alexis Martinez knows this isn’t about murder.

It’s about a mother who outlived her child.

About institutions that failed.

About love pushed past the breaking point.

Rooms of Experience is a devastating courtroom drama about motherhood, morality, and the brutal cost of survival.

This isn’t about guilt.

It’s about understanding.

__________________________

Starring Academy Award nominee Patty McCormack (The Bad Seed) as Ada Wells

with Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years) as DA Harvey Davis

Craig Parker (The Lord of the Rings) as Detective Curtis

Nicholas Gonzalez (The Good Doctor) as Carter

Nora Zehetner (Heroes, Everwood) as Rebecca

Alyshia Ochse as Dana Jeffries

Candice Coke as Alexis Martinez

Eileen Grubba as Gina Gordon

Alain Uy as Ethan

and narrated by Sarah Elmaleh

Table Read is executive produced by Jack Levy, Mark Knell, and Shaan Sharma. A Manifest Media production.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The clock runs out.

The curtain comes up.

With opening night looming, the magic begins to fail. Bodies ache. Secrets surface. And the line between who Natalie and Ava were… and who they’ve become… finally disappears.

Natalie must confront what she’s been chasing her entire life — and what it cost her to get there.

Ava must decide whether stepping into the spotlight is worth stepping away from who she is.

The Sugar Plum Fairy is no longer just a role.

It’s a reckoning.

As rivalries peak and loyalties collide, the question is no longer who deserves the part — but who’s willing to let it go. And whether the universe will allow either girl to walk away unchanged.

Act Three is where the story lands.

Where ambition meets consequence.

Where magic demands payment.

Because sometimes you get exactly what you wished for.

And sometimes the bravest thing you can do…

is give it back.

It’s still funny.

It’s still sharp.

But now it’s honest.

Written by award-winning writer Jenna St. John.

Starring:

Kensington Tallman as Natalie Primavera

Logan Laurel as Ava Ross

Konstantin Lavysh as Mr. Constantine

Carson Bolde as Grayson Garcia

Sasha Knight as Trevor

Rita Dos Santos as Kenzie

Samantha A. Smith as Jasmine Kearn

Eva Binder as Zoe Dennings

Adele Abinante as Bean Ross

Avery Clyde as Mrs. Primavera

Katherine Brunk as Ms. Ross

Brandon Potter as Mr. Primavera

Sarah Elmaleh as Miss Lana

Miki Yamashita as Miss Miyako

Paula Tiso as Narrator

Only on Table Read.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The wish came true.

Now the consequences begin.

Natalie Primavera is trapped in a hospital bed, her body broken, her future uncertain — while her mind is stuck inside Ava Ross, a dancer who was never supposed to be good enough for the spotlight.

Ava, meanwhile, is living inside Natalie’s perfect body… and discovering that perfection is a prison with great lighting.

As Nutcracker rehearsals intensify, the magic destabilizes. Roles are threatened. Loyalties fracture. The Sugar Plum Fairy becomes a battleground. And the line between ambition and identity starts to blur.

Friendships turn sharp. Parents get complicated. Romance gets messy. And a Romanian ballet master with secrets of his own begins pushing both girls toward a reckoning neither of them is ready for.

Act Two is where the comedy deepens, the stakes rise, and the story stops being about switching bodies — and starts being about who deserves the life they’re fighting for.

Because wanting something badly doesn’t mean you understand the cost.

It’s still funny.

It’s still chaotic.

But now it hurts in the best way.

Written by award-winning writer Jenna St. John.

Starring:

Kensington Tallman as Natalie Primavera

Logan Laurel as Ava Ross

Konstantin Lavysh as Mr. Constantine

Carson Bolde as Grayson Garcia

Sasha Knight as Trevor

Rita Dos Santos as Kenzie

Samantha A. Smith as Jasmine Kearn

Eva Binder as Zoe Dennings

Adele Abinante as Bean Ross

Avery Clyde as Mrs. Primavera

Katherine Brunk as Ms. Ross

Brandon Potter as Mr. Primavera

Sarah Elmaleh as Miss Lana

Miki Yamashita as Miss Miyako

Paula Tiso as Narrator

Only on Table Read.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What happens when you wish you were someone else… and the universe says bet?

Natalie Primavera has a million followers, perfect technique, and the lead role in every show.

Ava Ross has a cracked phone, a boyfriend who sings like naked Miley Cyrus, and a work-study job sweeping up after other dancers.

One ancient snow globe. Two desperate wishes. And suddenly they wake up in each other’s bodies.

There’s just one problem: Natalie’s body is now in a hospital bed with a shattered hip. And Ava’s body? It’s about to dance the Sugar Plum Fairy… with ankles like wet spaghetti.

What follows is the funniest, most chaotic Nutcracker rehearsal season in history... zombie cats, possessed dolls, a Romanian ballet master who might actually be a warlock, his terrifying nine-year-old son, and a love triangle nobody ordered.

But underneath the chaos is something real: two girls discovering that the lives they envied aren’t what they seemed.

It’s Freaky Friday meets Center Stage, and it hits.

THE UNDERSTUDY: ACT ONE

Written by award-winning writer Jenna St. John.

Starring:

Kensington Tallman as Natalie Primavera

Logan Laurel as Ava Ross

Konstantin Lavysh as Mr. Constantine

Carson Bolde as Grayson Garcia

Sasha Knight as Trevor

Rita Dos Santos as Kenzie

Samantha A. Smith as Jasmine Kearn

Eva Binder as Zoe Dennings

Adele Abinante as Bean Ross

Avery Clyde as Mrs. Primavera

Katherine Brunk as Ms. Ross

Brandon Potter as Mr. Primavera

Sarah Elmaleh as Miss Lana

Miki Yamashita as Miss Miyako

Paula Tiso as Narrator

Only on Table Read.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

THE UNDERSTUDY

What happens when you wish you were someone else... and the universe says bet?

Natalie Primavera has a million Instagram followers, perfect technique, and the lead role in every show. Ava Ross has a cracked phone, a nerdy boyfriend who dresses as naked Miley Cyrus, and a work-study job sweeping the dance studio.

One ancient snow globe. Two desperate wishes. And suddenly they wake up in each other's bodies.

There's just one problem: Natalie's body is now in a hospital bed with a shattered hip. And Ava's body? It's about to dance the Sugar Plum Fairy... with ankles like wet spaghetti.

What follows is the funniest, most chaotic Nutcracker rehearsal season in history. We're talking zombie cats, possessed dolls, a Romanian ballet master with a terrifying nine-year-old son, and a love triangle nobody asked for.

But underneath the chaos is something real: two girls discovering that the lives they envied aren't what they seemed, and that maybe the grass isn't greener, it's just... different grass.

The Understudy. It's Freaky Friday meets Center Stage, and it slaps.

Written by award-winning writer Jenna St. John.

Starring:

Kensington Tallman as Natalie Primavera

Logan Laurel as Ava Ross

Konstantin Lavysh as Mr. Constantine

Carson Bolde as Grayson Garcia

Sasha Knight as Trevor

Rita Dos Santos as Kenzie

Samantha A. Smith as Jasmine

Kearn Eva Binder as Zoe Dennings

Adele Abinante as Bean Ross

Avery Clyde as Mrs. Primavera

Katherine Brunk as Ms. Ross Brandon

Potter as Mr. Primavera

Sarah Elmaleh as Miss

Lana Miki Yamashita as Miss Miyako

Paula Tiso is the Narrator

Only on Table Read.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The countdown to eleven builds like a pressure valve. Dizzy waits in the driveway holding on to hope. Kev hides nerves behind jokes. P keeps tugging at a shirt that has never felt right on his body. Everyone is pretending this morning will fix something they are too scared to name.

A car turns the corner and it is the wrong one. Dizzy breaks. Kev fires the blame at P. The friendship between them starts to shake. P disappears inside and comes back with a Sprite because it is the only comfort he knows how to offer at fourteen.

Then the sound hits. Guitar blasting out of an engine that should not exist in a town this small. The DeLorean pulls in for real. Dizzy lifts his head. Kev goes silent. P feels the world shift. Miss World steps out with a sunflower in her hair and for a moment everything feels possible.

She takes them on the ride they have been imagining all week. Kev laughs in the back. Dizzy shouts for more speed. P sits in the front seat trying to hold himself together. Miss World asks what they want from the future. Dizzy talks about cars. Kev talks about family. P cannot answer. Miss World waits. P finally admits he is afraid to look ahead. Kev jokes that P might not make it to adulthood. Miss World hears something deeper than the joke. She sees him.

When they return, nothing is magically fixed. But something inside P cracks open. He cannot keep disappearing into other people’s expectations. Not after being seen this clearly, even for a moment. Act Three is the ride, the break, and the first honest step toward who P is becoming.

SMALL BLOCK is a feature screenplay by Ashley Lauren, performed live and mixed like a feature film for your ears. From the award-winning team at TABLE READ / Manifest Media Productions.

Content Advisory: This episode contains suicidal ideation, transphobic and homophobic language, and minor fatphobic language, used intentionally to serve the story and its period portrayal.

New episodes drop Tuesdays. Subscribe now.

Cast (Full Feature):

P – Levi Dafferner

Kev – Kosi Eguchi

Bex – Piper Kingston

Dizzy – Deryck Hak

Miss World – Lydia Tinsley

Dad – Adam Pilver

Mrs. D – Gemma Kyle

Mom – Leah Zhang

Britt – Eric Miller

Tiff / Martha – Avery Norris

Mr. Welch / Kev’s Dad – Eddie Aguirre

Dan / Zach – Aidan Dick

Jack – Kellen Rose

James – Michael Amir Nash

Rob – Jack Murphy

Janet / Video Store Clerk – Sabrina Ariss

Narrator – Paula Tiso

Written by Ashley Lauren

Produced by Jack Levy, Mark Knell, and Shaan Sharma for TABLE READ / Manifest Media

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The morning after Homecoming week hits different. P wakes up at Dizzy’s house pretending everything is fine, even though nothing is fine. The letter from St. John’s is in his pocket like a weight. The DeLorean didn’t show. The note he wrote is still in his head.

Outside, Kev and Dizzy shoot hoops like the world is normal. P pretends right along with them. The kind of pretending every kid knows too well. Then real life barges in, and the moment they were waiting for disappears before it even starts.

At the video store, things get even tighter. Bex is behind the counter. Kev is cracking jokes that cut deeper than he realizes. P is trying to disappear inside a ruined shirt and a smile that doesn’t fit anymore.

He escapes to the back room, plays a fighting game, and chooses the one character who feels closest to the person he can’t say out loud. For a second, he can breathe. Then everything and everyone he’s avoiding walks right in.

Act Two is where the mask slips. Where jokes stop being jokes. Where P realizes he can’t keep pretending forever.

SMALL BLOCK is a feature screenplay by Ashley Lauren, performed live and mixed like a feature film for your ears. From the award-winning team at TABLE READ / Manifest Media Productions.

Content Advisory: This episode contains suicidal ideation, transphobic and homophobic language, and minor fatphobic language, used intentionally to serve the story and its period portrayal.

New episodes drop Tuesdays. Subscribe now.

Cast (Full Feature):

P - Levi Dafferner

Kev - Kosi Eguchi

Bex - Piper Kingston

Dizzy - Deryck Hak

Miss World - Lydia Tinsley

Dad - Adam Pilver

Mrs. D - Gemma Kyle

Mom - Leah Zhang

Britt - Eric Miller

Tiff / Martha - Avery Norris

Mr. Welch / Kev's Dad - Eddie Aguirre

Dan / Zach - Aidan Dick

Jack - Kellen Rose

James - Michael Amir Nash

Rob - Jack Murphy

Janet / Video Store Clerk - Sabrina Ariss

Narrator - Paula Tiso

Written by Ashley Lauren

Produced by Jack Levy, Mark Knell, and Shaan Sharma for TABLE READ / Manifest Media

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's Homecoming Weekend in North Texas, 1994. Fourteen-year-old P is barely holding it together, shaving a single whisker in the bathroom mirror, writing a note he almost can't take back, and dialing his best friend Kev before a Zippo flame turns fear into momentum.

At school, P's movie-trivia fluency sabotages Kev in a "battle of the sexes" quiz, earning heat from Kev and former best friend Bex. After class, the band - P, Kev, and Dizzy - argues Pantera vs. Korn, then mainlines '90s VHS nostalgia with Ace Ventura and The Crow.

Then the impossible slides by in stainless steel: a DeLorean. Its driver, "Miss World," knows her metal, quotes regrets, and won't take three teens on a joyride yet. She'll be back tomorrow at 11 A.M.

Under Friday-night lights, P pulls down a highlight-reel TD in a scrappy eighth-grade pickup game while Dizzy's hustling block saves the play. Back in the stands, P's parents pitch football and fitting in. P keeps tugging his shirt straight and his purple beanie low, but the question won't leave him alone: who is he allowed to be, especially if the words for it don't exist here?

SMALL BLOCK is a feature screenplay by Ashley Lauren, performed live and mixed like a feature film for your ears. From the award-winning team at TABLE READ / Manifest Media Productions.

Content Advisory: This episode contains suicidal ideation, transphobic and homophobic language, and minor fatphobic language, used intentionally to serve the story and its period portrayal.

New episodes drop Tuesdays. Subscribe now.

Cast (Full Feature):

P - Levi Dafferner

Kev - Kosi Eguchi

Bex - Piper Kingston

Dizzy - Deryck Hak

Miss World - Lydia Tinsley

Dad - Adam Pilver

Mrs. D - Gemma Kyle

Mom - Leah Zhang

Britt - Eric Miller

Tiff / Martha - Avery Norris

Mr. Welch / Kev's Dad - Eddie Aguirre

Dan / Zach - Aidan Dick

Jack - Kellen Rose

James - Michael Amir Nash

Rob - Jack Murphy

Janet / Video Store Clerk - Sabrina Ariss

Narrator - Paula Tiso

Written by Ashley Lauren

Produced by Jack Levy, Mark Knell, and Shaan Sharma for TABLE READ / Manifest Media

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

SMALL BLOCK — Trailer

A 14-year-old kid, a DeLorean, and a 90s world that doesn’t have the words for who he is yet.

Small Block isn’t nostalgia, it’s a gut-check of youth, identity, and music that could save your life or end it.

Performed live by an award-winning cast and mixed like a feature film for your ears.

From the Award-winning team at TABLE READ, this is cinema you can hear.

🎧 Listen now — new episodes drop every Tuesday

CAST

P – Levi Dafferner

Kev – Kosi Eguchi

Bex – Piper Kingston

Dizzy – Deryck Hak

Miss World – Lydia Tinsley

Dad – Adam Pilver

Mrs. D – Gemma Kyle

Mom – Leah Zhang

Britt – Eric Miller

Tiff / Martha – Avery Norris

Mr. Welch / Kev’s Dad – Eddie Aguirre

Dan / Zach – Aidan Dick

Jack – Kellen Rose

James – Michael Amir Nash

Rob – Jack Murphy

Janet / Video Store Clerk – Sabrina Ariss

Narrator – Paula Tiso

Written by Ashley Lauren

🎙️ Produced by Jack Levy, Mark Knell, and Shaan Sharma for TABLE READ / Manifest Media

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The TV clicks on.

Everything else clicks off.

The screen glows like the last church in hell. A newscaster reads order into chaos while the world decomposes behind him. Ben watches like a man staring at his own grave. Barbara, in Olivia Graham’s haunting performance, doesn’t watch at all. She’s already gone.

Then the floor creaks. Harry Cooper climbs out of the basement like ego in human form. Jim Connor gives him every ounce of misplaced authority. Behind him, Helen (Wendy Shapero) and their daughter—pale, bitten, doomed.

Romero stops making a zombie movie and starts the autopsy. The dead don’t kill the living. The living do that themselves.

Ben wants the boards. Harry wants the basement. Tom (Charlie Bodin) just wants peace. Every word is gasoline. Every silence is a match.

When dawn comes, it’s not rescue. It’s rifles.

One shot.

One mistake.

One truth.

Romero didn’t make horror. He made history.

Turn off the lights. Lock the doors.

Remember who the real monsters were.

CAST

Narrator: Jack Daniel

Ben: Zeke Alton

Barbara: Olivia Graham

Harry Cooper: Jim Connor

Helen Cooper: Wendy Shapero

Tom: Charlie Bodin

Sheriff McClelland: Rob Fitzgerald

Announcer: Adam Pilver

Ghouls: Natalia Castellanos & Josh Sterling

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.