The Baltimore Playwrights Festival Announces Play-Reading Marathon, 2/9

The Baltimore Playwrights Festival (www.baltplayfest.org) continues its Thirty-Second Season with a play-reading marathon on Saturday, February 9, 2013, at The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre (www.spotlighters.org), 817 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, 410-752-1225. Starting at 11:00 a.m., plays to be read are Unprotected, by Amy Bernstein, followed at 1:00 p.m. by Not Another Damn Coming of Age Story, by Sharon Goldner, and at 3:00 p.m. by The Bra Plays, by Rosemary Frisino Toohey. After each reading there will be a discussion of the script with the playwright, director and actors. The event is free, and the general public is encouraged to attend.

Unprotected, by Amy Bernstein, is a raw look at the history we've lived, and have yet to live, through a particular lens, namely, what happens to women living with unwanted pregnancies. Let's be real: it isn't pretty. America's history on this issue isn't pretty. And nobody within orbit of a woman undergoing this struggle emerges unaffected. Just ask Rosie. And Roseann. And Rosina.

Amy Bernstein calls herself an emerging playwright in mid-life, which means her lifespan is approximately 28 times longer than the time she's been writing for the theater (I dare you to figure that out). In her very short theatrical lifespan, Amy has had a number of 10-minute plays produced or read in New York City; Baltimore and Chestertown, MD; Washington, D.C., and Lexington, KY. Her short works have been produced at local theater and arts festivals around town. She was selected to participate in the Association for Theatre in Higher Education intensive playwrighting workshop in 2011. This is her second reading as part of the Baltimore Playwrights Festival. Amy is a member of the Playwrights Group of Baltimore and the Dramatists Guild.

Not Another Damn Coming of Age Story, by Sharon Goldner, takes place in a 1970s fifth grade classroom, where Siobhan Silverman declares her love for Alan Shapiro. It is, of course, doomed from the start because in the hierarchy of popular kids, Alan reigns king, and Siobhan is non-existent. Being in the throes of love can make a person do strange things, and this is no different for ten year old Siobhan who chides any adult who would be callous enough to dismiss her love for Alan as merely a crush ... "our love can flatten us out just like yours can you." In a banquet hall sporting a high school 30 year reunion, Siobhan and Alan meet up again, and with the popularity field leveled, the two can have an earnest talk about the years behind them, and what's in store for the future. They say people change. Or do they?

Sharon Goldner's (sometimes) award-winning plays have been produced by: Manhattan Theatre Source; Manhattan Repertory Theatre; Future Tenant (Pittsburgh); Hand to Mouth Players (NY); Rochester Repertory Theatre (MN); Run of the Mill Theater (Baltimore); North Avenue Play Series (Baltimore); Fells Point Corner Theater (Baltimore); NYC Short Play Lab; The Women's Theatre Project (FL); and Longwood University (VA). Two monologues from her play I Think I Love You, David Cassidy have been chosen to appear in Smith & Kraus' Best Women's Monologues of 2013. Additionally, over 30 of Sharon's Pushcart Prize-nominated short stories have been published in literary journals across the country & in England, most recently in anthology form by HarperCollins. Sharon Goldner is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Lost bras, found bras, bras sent forth on a mission, the five brief takes on bras of The Bra Plays, by Rosemary Frisino Toohey, explore the curiously complex territory of the one item of clothing worn only by women and the singular place breasts hold in society.

Produced all across the country as well as in Canada, Europe, and New Zealand, Rosemary Frisino Toohey has won the Baltimore Playwrights Festival twice, as well as several national contests. A member of the Dramatists Guild of America, her work has been honored with grants from the Maryland State Arts Council. There's more at http://www.frisinotoohey.com/.

The Baltimore Playwrights Festival has presented over 282 productions by 173 playwrights at 27 different theaters. Our mission is to provide an environment that nurtures the talents of Maryland and DC playwrights through public readings, discussions, critiques and workshopping of new plays. Our summer season is devoted to the presentation of these newly developed works to area audiences in cooperation with local area theaters. We are a volunteer-operated 501(c)3 organization, and welcome any and all participation. Get Involved! Become a Member! Further information can be found at www.baltplayfest.org.