Dave Zinman, a Newsday science writer from 1965 to 1992, has become an aspiring playwright, and two of his one-act plays – “Hearts, Spades, and Bullets” and “Smart Ass" and— will have their first reading, and audience talkback, in Northport.
The readings, by the Northport Readers Theatre, are free and open to the public. The group will meet on Monday, May 19, at 7:30 p.m. at St Paul's United Methodist Church, 270 Main St.
According to Zinman, “Mr. Smart Ass” is about middle-aged woman who reminisces about an obnoxious male classmate, who, at their 25th college reunion, holds the key to a dark secret that could ruin her life. In “Hearts, Spades, and Bullets,” what starts as a friendly game of bridge ends in tragedy when Myrtle Bennett and her husband argue about the play of a hand. He slaps her -- three times -- and she gets a gun and shoots and kills him. The bizarre incident actually happened in Kansas City in 1929. It led to a sensational trial covered by reporters from all the major newspapers and followed by households throughout the United States.
For directions or further information, people interested in coming can contact Jo Ann Katz of the Readers Theatre at 631-261-5089 or JoAnnKatz@gmail.com
Zinman said his first play, "Who Killed the Kingfish?" (about Louisiana Sen. Huey Long) had a successful staging at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, the site of Huey's assassination in 1935. Another, "Strom in Limbo" (about the staunch pro-segregation senator from South Carolina) was staged at the University of South Carolina Upstate. It went on to get productions all over the state, including a three-week run by a professional company in Columbia, the state capital, and a nomination for the $10,000 Weissberger Award, a national prize for excellence in playwriting.