This Saturday afternoon, a new play by Main Line native James Christy Jr. will receive a staged reading in Center City.

“Love and Communication” has an ambitious theme: it focuses on the struggles of a husband and wife after their son is diagnosed with autism.

Christy, who now lives in Princeton, is one of the six winners of the annual competition sponsored by PlayPenn, an organization for new play development. Each year, PlayPenn holds a national competition to select the most promising works in progress.

The playwrights are then given the unusual opportunity for two weeks of intensive work on their plays, culminating in a staged reading.

The theme of Christy’s play has deep personal meaning for him. Of his three children, the oldest, Jimmy, who is now 7, was diagnosed with autism at age 3.

via Main Line Media News.