Posted on November 12, 2026

Humor, Fear, and Life ‘Behind the Iron Curtain’ Take the Stage in Wyomissing

Humor, Fear, and Life ‘Behind the Iron Curtain’ Take the Stage in Wyomissing

From Reading Theater Project

What was it like to live, laugh, and cheer for your soccer team in a country where someone might be watching your every move? Find out on Saturday, Nov. 14, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., when the Reading Theater Project presents a staged reading of Behind the Iron Curtain, 1978, by Berks County playwright Eric Williams at the Wyomissing Public Library, 9 Reading Blvd., Wyomissing. Following the reading, audience members are invited to stay for a talkback with the playwright, director, and actors.

Set before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the play explores everyday life through the eyes of the people of the Warsaw Pact nations: the Soviet Union, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania. Its 14 scenes trace a shared arc of indoctrination, paranoia, arrest, and the disappearance of heavily surveilled citizens.

Yet the play is far from grim. Williams weaves humor and fear together with mime, singing, the cheering of a soccer team, and television news reports, revealing the serious, the mundane, and the surprisingly normal moments of life under watch.

Tickets are available at rtp.ludus.com.

About the playwright

Eric Williams is a playwright, actor, director, and producer who has been affiliated with the Reading Theater Project since 2022, including its Playwrights’ Table Reads (PTR) since 2025. He holds a BES degree from Saint Cloud State University and an MDiv from Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. A husband, father, U.S. Army veteran, avid reader, and cinephile, Williams believes in a “curiosity-driven life,” one that includes English country dancing and Sumo wrestling and coaching.

About the Reading Theater Project

The Reading Theater Project is a locally focused theater company, based in Greater Reading/Berks County. The company values artistic collaboration, seeks creative challenges, and believes theater is an inclusive experience that can reveal our shared human condition. For more information, visit readingtheaterproject.org or call 484-787-2287.




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