Join brooklynONE productions and Dialogue With Three Chords in celebrating the world premiere of their long-term collaboration, The Sad Truth About Country Songs, a Southern Gothic drama by Stephen Gracia, featuring Ashlie Atkinson and Dan Jameson. The play will premiere as a special one-night-only staged reading, featuring a live band and original music, on Saturday, November 14, 2026, at the Tom Kane Theatre, 51 35th Street, Industry City, Building 5, Brooklyn, NY 11232. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at https://www.bkone.org/tix.

The evening will combine a staged reading of the play with live performances of its original music, bringing together an established creative team and musicians for an intimate theatrical experience.

This is a bkONE production and part of the organization’s continued commitment to developing and presenting original theatrical work, collaborating with independent artists, and bringing unconventional storytelling to Brooklyn audiences.

Set in a house just outside Coalmont, Tennessee, The Sad Truth About Country Songs follows Amos Bartow, a man in his late 20s who has escaped custody and returned home to see his dying mother, Darla, one last time. Over the course of their final night together, mother and son confront family, faith, addiction, poverty, regret, and the choices that have shaped their lives. Their shared love of country music becomes a way of communicating the memories and emotions they struggle to express.

The piece is not a traditional musical, but rather a play with songs. Its original compositions are written by Stephen Gracia, Michael LoPorto, and Joseph Millazzo of the psychedelic dark-folk trio GreenLady. Millazzo will perform with the live band during the reading.

The work blends Southern Gothic storytelling, complex family relationships, and country music to explore grief, forgiveness, and the complicated bonds between parents and children.

The Sad Truth About Country Songs has been in development for a decade. The play was first publicly presented in October 2016 as part of Dialogue With Three Chords (D3C), the independent theatre collective founded by Stephen Gracia and Michael LoPorto.