Joe Treasure, originally from England and a teacher of English and drama, will be reading an excerpt from his forthcoming novel, The Male Gaze  (published in April, 2007 by Picador of London), a story of an English couple out of their element in Los Angeles and finding their marriage  under threat.

E. Bonnie Lewis, co-founder and co-artistic director of DramaDogs, will present a story by Susan Chiavelli, whose fiction and poetry have appeared in various journals and anthologies including Other Voices, Spindrift, and Rattle.  Maybe it Happened This Way is a dark and eerily personal story of loss of innocence through a sexual crime and the haunting affect our most foolish and courageous choices have on our lives.   

John Luca, a local chiropractor, teacher, writer, actor, and Realtor, will share his short story A Taste of Brandy, a tale exploring the complicated and secretive world of sexuality and attraction and its affect on whom we are and who we love.

Saral Burdette, a local inter-faith celebrant, writer and actress, returns to Speaking of Stories with another one of her original stories, My Pride and Prejudice, a true story of a surprise situation when a woman attends a “Women’s Camping Weekend.”  Latent prides and prejudices reveal themselves as the author navigates an unknown world.

Speaking of Stories plays at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, September 22 and Saturday, September 23  at Center Stage Theater, 751 Paseo Nuevo, upstairs at the intersection of Chapala and De la Guerra Streets, in Santa Barbara. Box Office hours are Wednesday through Saturday noon to 5 p.m. and one hour before all shows.  Tickets are $20 each for general, $15 for students.  Visa, Mastercard and American Express are welcome. Call the box office at (805) 963-0408 or log on to www.centerstagetheater.org.  For additional information visit www.speakingofstories.org. Center Stage Theater is wheelchair accessible.