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Duane Granston, a Mount Vernon native and 2003 graduate of Mount Vernon High School, will return to the spotlight this October when his new original screenplay,\u00a0Finding Matt Damon, receives a featured staged reading at the 2026 Scranton Fringe Festival.<\/p>\n
Presented by the Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Wilkes University, the staged reading will take place Saturday, Oct. 10 at 3 p.m. at the Black Scranton Project Cultural Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Granston, who wrote the screenplay as a capstone project in Wilkes University\u2019s nationally recognized creative writing program, will also play the lead role of Sean.<\/p>\n
Finding Matt Damon\u00a0is a romantic comedy about Sean, an insecure software genius recovering from a broken heart. When he lies to aspiring screenwriter Jasmine about knowing Matt Damon, his small deception sets off a series of increasingly elaborate attempts to turn fiction into reality. When the charade finally collapses, Sean must choose authenticity over image and find his true voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis witty rom-com will resonate with anyone who has ever found themselves over their head,\u201d said Mandy Pennington, board chair for the Scranton Fringe Festival and director of Granston\u2019s staged reading. \u201cDuane has created something truly special in this screenplay. You can\u2019t help but love these characters and see yourself in their hopes, fears, and missteps. That\u2019s the magic of a great story.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Granston, the project represents another step in a creative journey that began long before his graduate studies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think people will really connect with the ups and downs of these characters,\u201d said Granston. \u201cEven if you\u2019ve never done something as extreme as Sean does, you know what it\u2019s like to maybe fake it a little bit in a moment when you are afraid you are not enough. Getting over that fear of vulnerability and just letting ourselves be who we are is something that we all have to come to terms with at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Granston said he also wanted to create a story that offers a different kind of representation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important to me to create stories that aren\u2019t focused on Black characters\u2019 trauma and pain, but ones that express light and joy and friendship and love in fun ways that we\u2019re not used to seeing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Granston is an actor and writer whose work spans stage, screen and voiceover. Most recently, he starred as the lead in the award-winning short film\u00a0The Finish, where his performance earned a nomination for Best Acting in a Leading Role.<\/p>\n
\u201cStepping into Sean\u2019s shoes is a full-circle moment,\u201d said Granston. \u201cThe story has been a fun exploration of the parts of ourselves that want to hide and what it truly means to discover your genuine voice.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Scranton Fringe Festival partnership marks the fourth year of collaboration between the festival and Wilkes University\u2019s Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing. This year marks the first time the partnership has featured a screenplay.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth Wilkes and Scranton Fringe do an incredible job of nurturing writers at every stage of the creative process,\u201d said Pennington. \u201cWhen creative writers participate in Scranton Fringe, not only do they have a platform to showcase their incredible storytelling abilities, but they learn what goes into producing an original work from start to finish. That\u2019s experiential learning at its best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finding Matt Damon\u00a0will be presented Saturday, Oct. 10 at 3 p.m. at the Black Scranton Project Cultural Center. The PG-13 staged reading runs approximately 60 minutes, followed by a brief talkback. Tickets are $15 and are available at\u00a0scrantonfringe.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n FINDING MATT DAMON CAST & CREW<\/p>\n Duane Granston ABOUT THE MASLOW FAMILY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN CREATIVE WRITING<\/p>\n The Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Wilkes University educates students in eight areas of study \u2014 fiction, poetry, screenwriting, playwriting, creative nonfiction, publishing, writing for television and spoken word \u2014 through mentorship, publishing opportunities and industry-specific internships. The nationally recognized low-residency MA\/MFA program provides students and faculty with writing support, community and market opportunities to become lifelong, productive, professional writers in all fields. Learn more at\u00a0wilkes.edu\/cw<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Duane Granston, a Mount Vernon native and 2003 graduate of Mount Vernon High School, will return to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291616,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-291615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
by Duane Granston
Presented as a Staged Reading by the Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing
Saturday, October 10, 2026 at 3:00 p.m.
The Black Scranton Project Cultural Center
Genre: Romantic Comedy \/ PG-13 (ages 13+)
Tickets: $15 at\u00a0scrantonfringe.org<\/a><\/p>\n
Jess Ross-Steltz
Eugene Barnes
DeVonte Singh
Jessica Cadden Wentlent
Elvis Karegeya
Bunni LiBardi
Jim Warren
Jay Herb
Lily Abreu
Alicia Nordstrom
Additional voices and direction by Mandy Pennington<\/p>\n