Local authors to see works come to life on stage

Local authors from the St. Charles Writers Group will see their works come to life at Steel Beam Theatre in St. Charles Saturday night.

The Page to Stage program has been on hiatus for the past couple of years because of the pandemic. The last Page to Stage event was held in 2019 at the Vero Voce Theater and School of Performing Arts in St. Charles, which is under new ownership and now called STC Theater.

“There’s going to be nine pieces performed by the theater,” said Lisa Macaione, who has been facilitator of the St. Charles Writers Group since 2017. “It’s an opportunity for the writers to see their works come to life and it’s also an opportunity for the public to experience hearing what local writers are creating in a different kind of setting.”

Actors on stage will be reading the pieces. The event starts at 7 p.m. and there is a $5 suggested donation.

Steel Beam Theatre is located at 111 W. Main St. in downtown St. Charles. More information is available at steelbeamtheatre.com.

One of Macaione’s works, “A Visit To The Temple of the Emerald Buddha,” will be read that night.

“It’s actually based on a conversation that I had with my aunts about my family back in Thailand,” she said. “There’s a wide range of types of pieces that will be performed. Some of it is more dramatic and some of it is more humorous. It’s a really nice variety.”

The St. Charles Writers Group meets twice a month at the St. Charles Public Library and is a library-sponsored program. Macaione has tried to make the group a place where writers in the community can receive “encouragement to better their writing and to produce whatever they have for a goal for themselves.”

Prior to Saturday’s showcase, the writers will be meeting with the actors to provide input. Along with the event providing an opportunity for writers to showcase their work, Macaione is happy about collaborating with Steel Beam Theatre.

“It’s great to have two different kind of arts come together – literary arts and theatrical arts,” she said. “The writers will get to see how actors interpret their work. Sometimes when we write, we have one thing in mind and then somebody could read it and have a completely different idea. So that’s always cool to see.”