The world premiere of Joseph Zettelmaier’s spookiest script ever, "The Gravedigger," will be presented as a staged reading at Performance Network Theatre on Sunday, Oct. 28 at 7p.m. Audiences are encouraged to discuss the script with the playwright after the reading.

"The Gravedigger" is set in the late 1700s, in one of Bavaria’s forgotten cemeteries, where a lone gravedigger discovers a hideously scarred man hiding in a fresh grave. What the gravedigger doesn’t know is that the man is none other than the legendary monster created by a mad doctor. What the scarred man doesn’t know is the gravedigger’s hand involved in his creation. And what neither men know is that they are hunted by their shared past in this tale of gothic horror and suspense. Inspired by Mary Shelley’s "Frankenstein," "The Gravedigger" will be directed by Julia Glander, and the cast includes Alex Leydenfrost, Tom Mahard, and Charlyn Swarthout.

A staged reading is a performance of a new play (often in first draft form) in which the actors perform the piece with actual scripts in hand. PNT is a seasoned facilitator of this type of event with The Fireside of New Works Festival—a triannual festival of four staged readings.

Zettelmaier is a Michigan-based playwright and three-time nominee for the Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association Award for best new play - first in 2006 for "All Childish Things"; then in 2007 for "Language Lessons"; and most recently in 2010 for "It Came From Mars." Other plays include "Dead Man’s Shoes," "And The Creek Don’t Rise," the "All Childish Things" trilogy, "Dr. Seward’s Dracula," "First Snow," "Blackwater Ballad," "Night Blooming," "Point of Origin," and "The Stillness Between Breaths." He is an associate artist at Performance Network, and an adjunct lecturer at Eastern Michigan University, where he teaches dramatic composition. Joseph was recently profiled in the March 2012 issue of American Theatre Magazine.

Tickets for "The Gravedigger" may be reserved by calling 734-663-0681; visiting www.performancenetwork.org; or going in person to Performance Network Theatre (120 East Huron St. in Ann Arbor) Monday-Saturday 11-6 or one hour before a performance.