Maine Playwrights Festival Sets Performance Schedule

Acorn Productions, a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing and developing the Southern Maine community of performing artists, announces the final schedule of performances for this year's fourteenth edition of the annual Maine Playwrights Festival (MPF), which takes place from May 13 to 17 at the St. Lawrence Arts Center in Portland. This year's MPF is co-directed by MPF Founder Michael Levine and Daniel Burson, former Education and Literary Director at Portland Stage Company, and features three guest directors as well as a residency by Boston-based playwright Melinda Lopez. The festival also includes the fifth installment of the 24-Hour Portland Theater Project, in which six plays are written, rehearsed and performed in the span of twenty-four hours. Tickets for the MPF range from $10 to $15, and a complete performance schedule, as well as more information about the plays and on-line ticket ordering, is available on Acorn's website at www.acorn-productions.org.

When Acorn presented the first MPF in 2000, there were very few outlets for local playwrights to develop their work and present it to the public. Since that time, Acorn has made it one of the company's priorities to provide opportunities for playwrights to nurture their craft through playwrighitng clases, staged readings, and workshop productions, and the proliferation of productions of plays by Maine-based playwrights at a number of theater companies in the Greater Portland area speaks to Acorn's success in achieving this goal. The MPF's emphasis has always been on providing playwrights with the opportunity to hear their words come to life during a rehearsal process with a professional director and local actors, and this year's MPF has expanded the process by providing an evening of public staged readings, a roundtable with Ms. Lopez, the Playwright-in-Residence, and consultations with Mr. Burson, a professional Dramaturg. As a result of this increased attention to the scripts, all of this year's MPF playwrights have had the chance to rewrite their pieces to various degrees before rehearsals even began

This year, Acorn received plays from 48 different Maine-based playwrights, making it one of the most competitive years to date. After several rounds of readings, the following six scripts were selected to be a part of MPF15:

3AM AT DENNY'S, by Shondra Jin Robbins
Sometimes you have to haul your best friend out of bed for a 3AM chat and life-altering decisions at Denny's.

CLICK HERE, by David Susman
A wild ride through the digital age teaches a man the perils of too much screen time.

CREATION, by David Vazdauskas
The famed graphic artist M.C. Escher comes back to life to try his hand at a new pursuit that sheds lights on the thrilling enigma of the creative process.

HOUSTON, by Michael Kimball
When astronauts discover a negative turtle jacket on their high-tail thruster, they have only one recourse: Mission Control. Surprise: Houston has been outsourced.

PREDESTINATION, by Arthur Boatin
The stability of a couple's long-term relationship is tested by one member's off-hand remark, until conduct by a third party that offends them both reminds them of how much they have in common.

THE LIFT, by Susan Staples
When she realizes the harm she has done by hiding behind a false image of the term, a "good woman" hopes her honesty will lift up those she has crushed.

The MPF not only showcases the talents of many local playwrights, but also the craft of directors and actors from many different theater companies in the area. This year's edition of the MPF features three guest directors from the community who join Acorn's Producing Director Michael Levine in bringing these world premiere pieces to life: Jennie Hahn, Liz Rollins, and Georgia Zildjian. They are joined by 20 different local actors, 3 designers, a Stage Manager and a Dramaturg, meaning almost 3 dozen professional theater artists are involved in this year's Maine Playwrights Festival. Not to mention the 6 playwrights, 6 directors, and 24 actors in the 24-Hour Portland Theater Project. Over the festival's first 13 years, over 100 plays have been presented by Acorn, many of which have gone on to be featured at festivals throughout the country.