Boston Playwrights' Theatre to Present BOSTON THEATER MARATHON XIX

Boston Playwrights' Theatre (BPT) presents the 19th annual Boston Theater Marathon and the ninth year of The Warm-Up Laps. This year's Boston Theater Marathon features 50 ten-minute plays, written by 53 New England playwrights, and produced by 50 New England theatres in ten hours.

For almost two decades, the Boston Theater Marathon-to be held on Sunday, May 14-has brought together playwrights, directors and theatres in an effort to foster collaboration between artists and producers. Many playwrights have enjoyed full-length productions with collaborating theatres because of relationships forged during the Boston Theater Marathon.

On Saturday, May 13, the Warm-Up Laps will feature Stir Frying Mahjong by Christina Chan at 12 p.m. (sponsored by Company One); Common Sheeple by Thom Dunn at 2 p.m. (sponsored by Huntington Theatre Company); and Ward Nine by Bill Doncaster at 4 p.m. (sponsored by SpeakEasy Stage Company). The Warm-Up Laps-readings of full-length plays-are presented in collaboration with The Boston Center for the Arts' resident theatres in the BCA's Deane Rehearsal Hall. The readings are free and open to the public.

Net proceeds from ticket sales to the Boston Theater Marathon will benefit the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund, which provides financial support to theatres and theatre artists in times of need. The Boston Theater Marathon is supported in part by the Boston University Center for the Humanities.

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THE PLAYWRIGHTS, PLAYS, AND THEATRE COMPANIES OF BOSTON THEATER MARATHON XIX:

Protecting the Innocent by Brent Askari/Moonbox Productions

A Normal Story by Beirut Balutis/Northeastern Department of Theatre

Emily Again by Mina Bloom and Leland Frankel/Stoneham Theatre

Spark by Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich/Boston Actors Theatre

Swimming to Shore by Josh Brassard/Salem Theatre Company

Just One of Those Things by Alan Brody/Underground Railway Theatre

Broken News II by Robert Brustein/Suffolk University Theatre Department

Thanks, Man by Caroline Burke/Theatre on Fire

Seven Minutes in Heaven by Eugenie Carabatsos/Anthem Theatre Company

Everyone's Child by Delvyn C. Case, Jr./Tide Taken Productions

Hijab by Andrea Fleck Clardy/Boston Children's Theatre

The Taking Boy by Anna Cranage Conathan/Liars & Believers

Diamonds Unstrung, Falling by Constance Congdon/Hovey Players

The Catch by Mary Conroy and Lesley Anne Moreau/Open Theatre Project

Bernie and Bonnie by Kim Costigan/Titanic Theatre

The Way Things Work by Olivia Z. Cote/Boston Center for American Performance

Italian Now by Charlene A. Donaghy/Marblehead Little Theatre

No Fault by William Donnelly/Battleground State

Palookaville by Charles Draghi/Actors' Shakespeare Project

Greetings from Fallujah by Christine Evans/Off the Grid Theatre Company

Protocol by Brenda Foley/It's a Fiasco

Eden in Chains by Patrick Gabridge/Our Place Theatre

Old and Ugly by Gary Garrison/Fort Point Theatre Channel

You're Home Now by Deirdre Girard/Boston College Theatre

Pie in the Sky by Susan Goodell/Boston Theater Company

Right Justified by MJ Halberstadt and K. Alexa Mavromatis/Charlestown Working Theatre

Diabetic Panda by Marc Harpin/Centastage

I Suppose by Lawrence Hennessy/Firehouse Center for the Arts

The Fiddler by Charles Hertz/Pilgrim Theatre Research & Performance Collaborative

Talking to Roses by Kimberly Holliday/Actors' Studio of Newburyport

Security by Israel Horovitz/Gloucester Stage Company

Reversity by Terrence Kidd/Wheelock Family Theatre

Let's Get Meta! by Bill Lattanzi/Happy Medium Theatre Company

Labrats by MeLinda Lopez/Huntington Theatre Company

Diversity and Inclusion: A Report for Mrs. Abernathy's 5th Grade Class by Jeni Mahoney/Bridge Rep. of Boston

Lost Properties by Walt McGough/Emerson Stage at Emerson College

Broken by James McLindon/Imaginary Beasts

Chasing Olivia Through the Jungle by Mary Beth McNulty/Wellesley Repertory Theatre

Social Glue by Vicki Meagher/Fresh Ink Theatre

This is Marriage: Part II by Charlotte Meehan/Sleeping Weazel

Final Reckoning by Jack Neary/New Century Theatre

Two Face by Samuela Nematchoua/SpeakEasy Stage Company

The Illegal Alien by Ronan Noone/Poet's Theatre

What Happened to Dan? by Lloyd Pace/Company One

Lorax by Katherine Gee Perrone/Hub Theatre Company of Boston

Meeting by Theresa Rebeck/American Repertory Theater

Occupy Hallmark by Cassie M. Seinuk/Cohasset Dramatic Club

Medium, Well Done by George Smart/Lyric Stage Company of Boston

Cubs Win! by Marisa Smith/New Repertory Theatre

Speed Date by David Susman/ImprovBoston

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IF YOU GO:

Boston Theater Marathon XIX
presented by Boston Playwrights' Theatre
featuring 50 plays written by 53 playwrights, produced by 50 theatre companies

May 14 from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.

At Stanford Calderwood Pavilion,
Boston Center for the Arts
527 Tremont Street, Boston, MA

Tickets: $25 tickets in advance and $35 tickets at the door. The 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
presented in association with the Boston Center for the Arts' resident theatres

Stir Frying Mahjong by Christina Chan
Sponsored by Company One Theatre
Reading begins at 12 p.m.

Common Sheeple by Thom Dunn
Sponsored by Huntington Theatre Company
Reading begins at 2 p.m.

Ward Nine by Bill Doncaster
Sponsored by SpeakEasy Stage Company
Reading begins at 4 p.m.

May 13, 2017

At Deane Rehearsal Hall,
Boston Center for the Arts
527 Tremont Street, Boston, MA

Free and open to the public; seating is limited and based upon availability.

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The Boston Theater Marathon (BTM) is an award-winning all-day marathon of new ten-minute plays. The plays are chosen from close to 400 entries from New England playwrights, and the selected plays are produced by New England theatre companies that donate their time to this event. Generously supported over the years by the Boston University Center for the Humanities 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 (BPT) is an award-winning professional theatre dedicated to new works. At the heart of BPT's mission is the production of new plays by alumni of its MFA Playwriting Program, the latter in collaboration with Boston University's renowned School of Theatre. The program's award-winning alumni have been produced in regional and New York houses, as well as in London's West End. BPT's productions have been honored with numerous regional and Boston awards, including 12 IRNE Awards for Best New Script and five Boston Critics' Association Elliot Norton Awards.