The Drawing Board’s monthly script reading series will feature “The Paradise Bakery Cafe” and “Cherine Crucible,” two short plays by Eugene A. Melino. The reading will take place at 7:00pm on Monday, August 24, 2026, at Houghton Hall (22 E. 30th Street, 2nd Fl., New York City).

Founded in 2010, The Drawing Board (TDB) is a collective of theatre and film artists who help develop new works for the stage and screen by offering table reads, workshops, and staged readings. TDB has grown into a community of over 150 members – producers, directors, playwrights, screenwriters, designers, actors, and literary enthusiasts.

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Cherine Crucible

June 1973. Cherine, a graduating high school senior, was a hit as Abigail Williams in her school’s production of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.” It’s closing night, but Mr. Steve Peregrine, her teacher, director and not-so-secret crush, doesn’t show up at the cast party. So she heads back to school and inadvertently finds herself alone with her beloved on the now empty stage. He says he stayed behind to break down the set, perhaps an excuse to avoid saying goodbye to his star at the party. When her feelings get too intense in the conversation that follows, Abigail goes into character, inviting Steve to play John Proctor to her Abigail. Having played Proctor in college not so long ago, the lines are as second nature to him as Abigail’s are to Cherine. In the end, however, they have to drop the roles. On this last night before Cherine graduates, they face an either-or choice. Will this be their last conversation as teacher-student or their first as lovers?

The Cast of Cherine Crucible

Elena is a New York based actor. Most recently, she played titular role of Dog in “Good Dog,” a comedic and heartwarming new play at the NY Theatre Festival- July 2026. Her recent film credits include the female lead Amelia in the short film “Guilty Innocence.”

Tyler’s recent work includes new play development with the New York Theatre Workshop Fellowship Program, The Actors Studio Playwrights/Directors Unit, and The Hanger Theatre Wedge: Future Now Festival in partnership with the Drama League directing fellows. In New York City, he has studied with Wynn Handman, coached with Austin Pendleton, was a member at The Flea, and is a regular with Adrienne Weiss’s directing actors workshops. Tyler has performed in the New York International Fringe Festival, and is an embedded member of the downtown arts community, where he is a resident emcee for the bi-monthly Arts on Site performance parties.

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The Paradise Bakery Cafe

The scene opens at the Paradise Bakery Cafe in Throgs Neck, the MAGA enclave in the Northeast Bronx. It’s the morning after the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, and the regulars gather to commiserate. They have grown up and grown old together, but these days the “out-of-order” sign on the restroom door seems to describe their world. Not only does it look like a black woman may “steal” the election from their hero, but torrential rains have brought black mold to their basements, immigrants are running the Paradise, and now the restroom toilet overflows. But what do they care? They have each other, their memories and their own reality. But will time and tide spare them?.

The Cast of Paradise

Edward Hyland‘s Broadway credits include “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” (Original Broadway Company), Machinal, the 1928 classic by American playwright and journalist Sophie Treadwell; Arcadia by Tom Stoppoard; the revival of Arthur Miller’s “The Man Who Had All the Luck” and many other productions. Off-Broadway and regionally, he has performed in “Julius Caesar,” “Troilus & Cressida” (Shakespeare in the Park), “Electra,” “Othello” and many other classics. He also appeared in the 2015 feature film “Bridge of Spies” (directed by Steven Spielberg). His television credits include “Bull,” “Mr. Robot,” “Boardwalk Empire” and other series.

Melissa Canaday‘s film roles include the Nurse in “Float” and Lucy “Green Apples and Wannabes.” She has also played Hemo Mom in multiple episodes of the television series “Stop the Bleeding!” In addition, she was Associate Producer with Royal Family Productions’ US Premiere of “Dedalus Lounge” at Interart Theater Annex in NYC. 

De’Traelyn Hubbard is an actor, performer, and educator based in Brooklyn, New York. Originally from Houston, Texas. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Communications with a concentration in Theatre Performance from Tennessee State University..

Joseph is a Best Actor Drama Desk Award nominee who trained at New York University where he studied with legendary acting teacher Stella Adler. After graduation he continued his studies, completing three years at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Upon his return to his native New York City, he began appearing in many plays at various theatres and organizations as well as writing the “Metro Diary” column in Metro Source magazine for 5 years. He has done numerous plays as a member of The Workshop Theatre Company , and acted with The Drawing Board, Shoptalk Collective and NJ Rep. Joseph has appeared on television and independent films..

Devi is New York-based SAG-AFTRA actor, writer and producer. Her theatre credits include Mrs. Braddock in “The Graduate” and Bea in “Lovers and Other Strangers.” She has also appeared in features films, including “A Family Vacation,” “Death Wish,” “Godfather II,” and “Stepford Wives.” On television, she has co-starred in “The Edge of Night,” “As the World Turns,” “Search for Tomorrow” and many other programs.

David is an award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter, chosen as one of the International Screenwriters’ Association Top 25 Writers to Watch in 2018. His feature screenplay “TRIP” was selected for the 2020 New York Stage and Film Filmmakers Workshop and finished in the Top 50 of the 2017 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. His hour-long pilot, “The Messiah Project,” won the International Screenwriters’ Association Fast Track Fellowship in 2015 and numerous other awards. His directing credits include the award-winning feature documentary “Art in the Face of War” (available on Amazon and iTunes) and the short documentary “Matisyahu,” which screened in more than 50 film festivals. His latest short, “Scriven,” is a psychological suspense, which he wrote and directed, has won numerous awards and is currently on the festival circuit.

Briana is a Peruvian actress and filmmaker who has appeared in a variety of theater and film genres (comedy, drama, horror, sitcom, etc.). Her theatre credits include Valentina in “Last Summer in Chulimsk,” Hermia in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Eumenide in “Anticristo” (an adaptation of Sophocles’ “Oedipus the King”).

Elias is Social Editor at Morning Brew, the popular digital media company that provides business, financial and technology news online.

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The Place

Both plays take place in Throgs Neck, the Bronx beyond the subway. It lies between Pelham Bay Park, the last stop on the number 6 train, and the Throgs Neck Bridge, where the peregrine falcons nest. Rows of attached private houses line its quiet streets.

In the mid-1970s, when “Cherine Crucible” is set, the area was a predominantly Italian and Irish working class enclave. In the racially segregated New York of those years, no person of color dared walk alone at night in Throgs Neck. By the 2020s, the time of “The Paradise Bakery Cafe,” new waves of people had come in: Pakistanis, Mexicans, Guatemalans and Asians. And in this once white enclave, African Americans had bought their first homes. Throgs Neck had become the hometown to the new wave’s children while still being home to a remnant of the first wave.

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