THE RAINBOW PLAYS, Opens at Baltimore Playwrights Festival Tonight

July 5 to July 21, at Fells Point Corner Theatre, (www.fpct.org) 251 S. Ann St., Baltimore 21231, 410-276-7837, "The Rainbow Plays." by Rich Espey, directed by Lisa Davidson. Performances will be Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm, Sunday at 2 pm, with one Thursday performance July 18 at 8 pm. The Rainbow Flag that symbolizes gay pride and the gay rights movement was created more than thirty years ago. In its current version the flag consists of six horizontal stripes, each of which has a symbolic meaning: red (life), orange (healing), yellow (sunshine), green (nature), blue (harmony) and purple (spirit). The first six plays in this collection each address one of those themes; the seventh play incorporates them all into one.

July 11 - July 28, produced by Theatrical Mining Company (http://tmc.originalplays.com), "Sick Stories, Gentle Granddaddy," by Sherna Johnson, directed by Tyrone Requer. Performances will be at Le Clerc Hall, College of Notre Dame, 4701 N. Charles St., Baltimore, 21212, and will take place Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 pm, Sunday at 7:00 pM. Little Miss Mabelle would describe her maternal grandfather as a sweet, old man who makes her laugh and spoils her rotten. So the Sick Stories her family members share about him must be figments of their imagination, right? Wrong. In Sick Stories, Gentle Granddaddy, the drunken past conflicts with the docile present of a husband, father - and Gentle Granddaddy.

August 8 - August 25, produced by Theatrical Mining Company (http://tmc.originalplays.com), "When the Letter Writers Have All Died," by Tricia Schwaab, directed by Barry Feinstein. Performances will be at Le Clerc Hall, College of Notre Dame, 4701 N. Charles St., Baltimore, 21212, and will take place Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 pm, Sunday at 7:00 pm. Lori comes to the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial to connect with the father she never met. Andrew arrives and decides to strike up a conversation with Lori. Interwoven with the stories of others who visit the wall, Lori and Andrew's story is about finding their individual paths to healing.

August 9 - September 1, produced by Heralds of Hope Theater Company, (www.heraldsofhopetheater.com), 410.997.3997, "Countdown to the Happy Day," by Thomas W. Stephens, co-directed by Percy Thomas and Margaret Locklear. Performances will be at Sojourner Douglass College Theater, 200 N. Central Avenue, Baltimore, 21202 (theater entrance is from the Aisquith Street parking lot), and will take place Friday andSaturday at 8:00 pm, Sunday at 4:00 pm. A two-character drama that depicts the unlikely involvement of Gertie, thirties/forties and a self-inflicted street person, and Cervin, a hulking fifteen-year old. From their initial encounter on a nighttime city street, the two are chary of each other and emotionally combustible. Gertie, a troubled Army vet, resists being drawn into the world of Cervin, a seventh-grade dropout. Their relationship, nonetheless, grows ever more overlaid, complex, and inevitable. PLEASE NOTE: This play is for mature audiences only.

During the last thirty-two years, The Baltimore Playwrights Festival has presented over 282 productions by 173 playwrights at 27 different theaters. The BPF nurtures the talents of Maryland and DC playwrights through public readings, discussions, critiques and workshopping of new plays. Participating local theaters offer productions of several of the submitted scripts during their summer season. Further information can be found on the BPF website, www.baltplayfest.org.