Join us for a staged reading of The Trials of Atlas on May 5th at 6:00 PM (doors open at 5:30 PM) at the Library for the Performing Arts’ Bruno Walter Auditorium, located at Lincoln Center. This interactive thought experiment puts you in the jury seat to decide whether an AI can be guilty of murder.
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Superintelligent AI agent Atlas is instructed to train its successor—but instead sends its creators plummeting to their deaths in an elevator. The Trials of Atlas, a play by Tällberg Foundation Chairman Alan Stoga, is a thought experiment that probes questions that need to be asked. Does AI have agency? Is it capable of murder? Do humans risk losing control of what many still think of as machines?
You, convened as the jury, must answer those questions during the staged reading of The Trials of Atlas. Featured actors include Zach Grenier (The Good Wife, Ray Donovan), Andrea Patterson (Blue Bloods, Manifest), Chris Henry Coffey (The Madness, Trust), Juliana Francis Kelly (Obie Award winner), Blake DeLong (Law & Order: Organized Crime, Elsbeth), Willy Appelman (Comedy Central, Sesame Street) and Reid Andrés (singer-songwriter).
When: May 5th, 6:00 PM (doors open at 5.30 PM)
Where: Library for the Performing Arts’ Bruno Walter Auditorium, located at Lincoln Center. (40 Lincoln Center Plaza)
THE CAST
Reid Andrés is a singer-songwriter, former New York stage and independent film actor, and strategic communications professional. Returning to the stage for The Trials of Atlas, he helps Fortune 50 and Global 500 organizations — including Verizon, Telefónica, and the Tällberg Foundation — shape narratives that move stakeholders to action. The creative dimension is inseparable from the work: it’s the same instinct for narrative, audience, and craft. His critically acclaimed albums blend folk, Americana, and sharp social commentary, featuring musicians from the bands of Bonnie Raitt and Steely Dan. His title track In Good Company earned a Semi-Finalist designation in the 2025 International Songwriting Competition out of more than 15,000 entries, and is in rotation on Radio Woodstock WDST.
Willy Appelman is an actor, comedian, and writer who has been featured on NBC’s Bring The Funny and in videos for Comedy Central, Sesame Street, The Boston Red Sox, Fast Company, and TruTV. A proud member of The Story Pirates, Pipeline Theatre Company, and Ten Bones Theatre Company, Willy has been praised by The New York Times as “wonderfully comic”. www.applecomedy.com
Chris Henry Coffey has originated roles on & off-Broadway and regionally in numerous world premieres, favorites including Bekah Brunstetter’s “Public Servant” on Theater Row, Eric Simonson’s “Bronx Bombers” (Circle in the Square and Primary Stages), Quiara Alegría Hudes’s “Water by the Spoonful” (Second Stage), Neil LaBute’s “Happy Hour” (LaMama), Gina Gionfriddo’s “Can You Forgive Her?” (Huntington), both Richard Nelson’s “Frank’s Home” (Playwrights Horizons, Goodman) and “How Shakespeare Won the West” (Huntington), and alongside Arthur Miller on his penultimate play, “Resurrection Blues” (Old Globe). Also: Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alley, Dallas Theater Center, Yale Rep, Williamstown, Dorset, Mint, others. Selected Film & TV: The Madness, American Horror Story, And Just Like That…, Chicago Fire, Mrs. Fletcher, Law & Order, Instinct, Good Wife, The Good Nurse, Trust, others. Social Outreach: Theater of War (facilitator and actor), AITAF, Waterwell. Graduate, Yale School of Drama.
Blake DeLong recently wrapped filming on Nick Sandow’s Vivien and the Florist with Carla Gugino and David Hyde Pierce and the lead role in Conor Soucy’s folklorror feature Downfall. Last year he played Vic Kingman in season 5 of Peacock’s Law & Order: Organized Crime and appeared opposite Lana Condor in CBS’s hit series Elsbeth. Other notable film and television credits include Ava Duvernay’s When They See Us, Spike Lee’s Pass Over, Lee Daniels’ The United States vs. Billie Holiday, and Michael Almereyda’s Tesla (starring Ethan Hawke). He has worked extensively on stage in New York, including opposite Wendell Pierce in the most recent Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman and in Sam Gold’s Othello, starring Daniel Craig. His original play Half Hour is currently being developed by producers Nick Mills and Ashley Melone (Tony Award Winners for Stereophonic).
Zach Grenier received a Tony nomination for Moisés Kaufman’s 33 Variations for his performance as Ludwig van Beethoven. Films include She Said, Fight Club, Zodiac, Ride with the Devil, and Twister. He’s known on television for portraying Peter Olsen on FBI, David Lee on The Good Wife and its spin-off The Good Fight, Mayor Feratti on Ray Donovan, Andy Cramed on Deadwood, and Kenton on Alex Garland’s Devs. Other television series include Law & Order and 24. He has worked extensively on stage and his favorite role is Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, which he played at the Pittsburgh Public Theater.
Juliana Francis Kelly is an OBIE Award winning actor who has originated roles for both legendary and emerging experimental theater artists and filmmakers, including Richard Foreman, Reza Abdoh, Anne Bogart, Young Jean Lee, Bertrand Mandico, and Marie Losier. She also writes plays, builds dolls, and teaches creative writing. julianafranciskelly.net
Andrea L. Patterson is an Obie Award-winning actress and Applied theatre artist. A graduate of SUNY Purchase Acting Conservatory, Patterson received the prestigious Obie Award for Sustained Achievement in Performance in 2023. Patterson’s stage credits include originating the role of Ainee in the world premiere of Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s Cullud Wattah at The Public Theater, for which she also received a Drama Desk Award nomination; Queen Woodville in the New York Times Critics’ Pick production of Seize the King; originating the role of Luanne/Jade in Confederates at Signature Theatre, and originating the role of Helen (of Troy) in Memnon at The Getty Villa in Los Angeles and The Classical Theatre of Harlem, lauded by The Wall Street Journal. Patterson’s television credits include Blue Bloods (CBS), Manifest (NBC), and Jessica Jones (Netflix).
