2 hrs and 54 mins L.A. Theatre Works presents Five Short Stories by Women, a quintet of tales from some of America's most distinguished female authors. Joyce Carol Oates' Life after High School takes us to a time in the late 1950s, to South Lebanon High School, and shows us the lives of three people at a time of self-discovery. Read by Sarah Drew. In The Banks of the Vistula by Rebecca Lee, an ambitious student wants desperately to make her mark in a linguistics class. Read by Emily Bergl. Published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, © 2013. Never Marry a Mexican by Sandra Cisneros is the story of a woman named Clemencia who remembers her family, her parents' culture, and her affair with a married man. Read by Rita Moreno. What do you say to someone on their deathbed? In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried by Amy Hempel addresses this question head-on, as a young woman describes her visit to a dying friend. Read by Lynn Collins. Once Upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer is anything but a fairy tale. It's more of a dystopian fantasy - with overtones of the racial inequality in Gordimer's native South Africa. Read by Alex Kingston.