Of course observances of all kinds in honor of gals go on throughout the country. A particularly artsy one takes place here at Dreamers Theatre through March 17. A series of Tea Readings offers staged readings of plays about and directed by women. "The plays bring out social issues about women; they showcase women in a way that raises everybody's consciousness of who we are," says Yolandi Hughes, producing artistic director for Dreamers, a nonprofit space that creates its own pieces and encourages endeavors by other arts groups and theater companies as well. Among the works featured this week: Thomas Babe's Taken in Marriage, the tale of a chaotic wedding rehearsal in New England; Arthur Kopit's Chamber Music, a comedy about the female inmates of an insane asylum who imagine they're famous historical figures; and South Florida wordsmith Bonnie Benson's The Crones Among Us, the journey of a middle-aged woman through our lovely culture that values youth and beauty above all.
After each reading a question-and-answer period with actors, directors, and playwrights will ensue. Then a very feminine-sounding repast of tea and cakes will be served. Also invited to be in the audience and raise their pinkies with everyone else: men! "It's the subject of women that we're focusing on," says Hughes, "but we like men. We want them to come to the readings too."