Boise Contemporary Theater Named Cultural Ambassador

Boise Contemporary Theater (BCT), the only professional theater in the state of Idaho that focuses entirely on new and contemporary plays, has been designated by Mayor Lauren McLean as the City of Boise's 2022-23 Cultural Ambassador.

"BCT's mission is to inspire our community to examine our perspectives and better understand ourselves, each other, and the world around us by creating thought-provoking stories of the human experience," says BCT Producing Artistic Director Benjamin Burdick. "We are honored to be recognized for the power of our storytelling, and the importance of our mission as our community navigates a time of challenge, change and growth."

BCT's first offering as the city's Cultural Ambassador is the play I and You, which opens October 13th and runs through November 6th. Written by acclaimed playwright Lauren Gunderson, the play revolves around two classmates whose seemingly mundane poetry project leads to a deeper mystery. I and You is an ode to youth, life, love and the strange beauty of human connectedness. For information and to purchase tickets, please visit bctheater.org.

As Cultural Ambassador, BCT looks forward to meeting the needs of a larger and more diverse audience base, as Boise experiences unprecedented growth. The theater is expanding its engagement with the community in multiple ways - growing its education outreach including to Title I schools with significant numbers of low-income and refugee students, widening its reading series to bring programming to new venues, and committing to larger productions with cross-organizational partnerships in the city of Boise, such as this season's co-production of All is Calm with Opera Idaho.

As Cultural Ambassador, BCT will also actively connect Boise and its cultural community with others outside our region. In August 2021, the theater established an annual BIPOC Playwrights Festival, in partnership with the Idaho Women's Charitable Foundation and the Morrison Center. The Festival brought esteemed playwrights, actors and directors to Boise to present stories and characters not often seen on Boise stages. These artists found a working home in Boise, and their experiences will reverberate in their own communities and build awareness of the Festival and of Boise.

Burdick continued, "In all that we do - our diverse artistic programming, our accessible educational offerings, and the welcome hand we extend to audiences, supporters and community partners - we work hard to support the City of Boise's vision of Creating a City for Everyone. Our current production, I and You is testament to that. A play about two high school students, BCT hopes to expand our reach to younger audiences as well."

For more information about Boise Contemporary Theater, visit www.bctheater.org.

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