Boston Playwrights' Theatre to Host BOSTON THEATER MARATHON XV, 5/11-12

Boston Playwrights' Theatre presents the 15th annual Boston Theater Marathon and the fifth year of The Warm-Up Laps. The Boston Theater Marathon features 53 ten-minute plays, by 54 New England playwrights, produced by 53 New England theatres in 10 hours.

The Boston Theater Marathon has brought playwrights, directors and theatres together over the past 15 years in an effort to foster collaboration between artists and producers. Many playwrights have enjoyed full-length productions with collaborating theatres because of the relationship forged during the Boston Theater Marathon.

The Warm-Up Laps will feature Windowmen by Steven Barkhimer at 12pm (sponsored by SpeakEasy Stage Company), Shelter by Miranda Craigwell at 2pm (sponsored by Huntington Theatre Company), and Widow's Walk by Deirdre Girard at 4pm (sponsored by Company One). The Warm-Up Laps are presented in collaboration with The Boston Center for the Arts and their resident theatres in the Deane Rehearsal Hall at the Calderwood Pavilion and are free and open to the public.

All net proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund which provides financial support to theatres and theatre artists in times of need.

THE PLAYS AND PLAYWRIGHTS OF BOSTON THEATER MARATHON XV:

Saturday Matinee by Allan Appel
Cleavage by Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich
Violence by Robert B. Boulrice
Exorcism by Alan Brody
Gun Play by Robert Brustein
Rocky Road by Elisabeth Burdick
Solitaire by Andrea Fleck Clardy
Twilight (Years) by Mary Conroy
Dreams by Sean H. Crawford
The Interview by Brandon M. Crose
Sliding by Charlene Donaghy
On the Ward by William Donnelly
Spitzer Yaw by Charles Draghi
Curse the Darkness by Patrick Gabridge
Skirting the Issue by Gary Garrison
For the Love of Egon by Hortense Gerardo
Hard Luck by Joe Godfrey
Launching by Nancy Lucia Hoffman
Virtual Alex by Israel Horovitz
New Year by David L. Hudacek
Red Drink by Obehi Janice
Stainless: A Love Story by Ben Jolivet
The Chapel Play by Lila Rose Kaplan
Tattoo You by Lisa Kenner
Even If by Terrence Kidd
The Nice Hotel by John Kuntz
Lost in Thought by Christopher Lockheardt
The Quiz by K. Alexa Mavromatis
Magi by James McLindon
Out of Bounds by Charles Munitz
Return of the Curse by Jack Neary
Boyfriend by Ronan Noone
Skunky by Julian Olf
From Your Mouth to God's Ears by Rick Park
Harbor Lights by Michael S. Parsons
No More Hog Jowls by Candace Perry
Lapse by Gail Phaneuf
Remembering Elizabeth by Jack Rushton
Stellas by Barbara Schweitzer
Bad Dogs and Best Friends by Phil Schroeder
Just Like Tetraphobia by Cassie M. Seinuk
Mary Durning's Soup and Other Cultural Divides by Jane Denitz Smith
How Things Work by Lindsay Soson
Humorless by David Susman
Precious Little Things by Julia Specht
The Contender by Michael Towers
New American Sweethearts by Michael Trottier
Last Flight Out by Sinan Ünel
White Hole by Joyce Van Dyke
The Numbers Never Lie by Michael Wartofsky/Wesley Savick
Ask Me Something Cool by Cait Weisensee
Drive by James Wilkinson
The One by Sheri Wilner

The Boston Theater Marathon is an award-winning all-day marathon of new ten-minute plays. The plays are chosen from over 400 entries from New England playwrights, and the selected plays are produced by New England Theatre companies who donate their time to this event. Generously supported over the years by the Center for the Humanities at Boston University and by individual donations, the BTM gives net proceeds to the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund, an organization helping area theatre artists and companies in crisis.

In 2009, thanks to a new association with the Boston Center for the Arts, the BTM expanded to include a Saturday of full-length play readings. In addition to its charitable goals, the BTM matches playwrights with theatre companies, introduces patrons to the diversity of Boston playwriting and the theatre scene, and provides a showcase for the entire theatre community.

Thanks to a generous gift of space from the Huntington Theatre Company, the Boston Theater Marathon is held each Spring at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA in Boston's South End.

In 2000, the BTM received a special Elliot Norton Award from the Boston Theatre Critics Association for "Enlivening Local Theatre."

The Theatre Community Benevolent Fund (TCBF) is a non-profit theatre community organization administered by StageSource for the benefit of its individual and organizational members and the theatre artists who are or have been employed by those organizations who face dire need and require financial assistance. TCBF provides financial relief in a confidential, respectful manner to individual and organizations facing extreme illness, catastrophic acts of nature, and other events such as vandalism/theft, and who have limited or no resources with which to handle such occurrences.

Founded in 1981 at Boston University by Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott, Boston Playwrights' Theatre is an award-winning professional theatre dedicated to new works. At the core of our five programs is the Playwriting MFA offered as part of Boston University's renownEd English Department. Our award-winning alumni have been produced in Regional and New York houses as well as in London's West End, and our alumni productions have garnered many regional and Boston awards, including 12 IRNE Awards for "Best New Script" and four Boston Critics' Association Elliot Norton Awards.

Boston Theater Marathon XV, presented by Boston Playwrights' Theatre, featuring 53 plays by 54 playwrights by 53 theatre companies, will take place at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston on May 12 from 12PM to 10PM.

Tickets: $25 tickets in advance and $35 tickets at the door. All-day pass allows patrons to come and go as they please. Purchase by calling 617-933-8600 or visit www.bostonplaywrights.org.

THE WARM-UP LAPS AT A GLANCE:

Windowmen by Steven Barkhimer
Supported by SpeakEasy Stage Company
Directed by Brett Marks
Reading begins at 12pm

Shelter by Miranda Craigwell
Supported by Huntington Theatre Company
Directed by Bevin O'Gara
Reading begins at 2pm

Widow's Walk by Deirdre Girard
Supported by Company One
Directed by Victoria Marsh
Reading begins at 4pm

The Warm-Ups play the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion on May 11. Tickets are free and open to the public; seating is limited and based upon availability.