Hosted by Malden Reads, “Dessert Theatre” took place on November 10th, 2014. The event included a stage-reading of this year’s chosen Malden Reads book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, written by Rebecca Skloot. The show took place at Triangle, a non-profit organization that donated a venue for this event. The dessert for the theatre was provided by Brother Trucker Catering, a division of Stock Pot Malden. The event was co-hosted by the Black Women’s Association.
The play and book unveiled is based upon a true story of a woman whose unique cancerous cells were collected without her permission and are still being utilized in medical research today, although the story takes place in 1951. The original play was written by local poet, musician, songwriter and playwright Licia Sky. It was directed by Melissa Nussbaum Friedman, who also served as one of the readers. At this event, five of next year’s selected book, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore written by Robin Sloan.