Boston Playwrights' Theatre Announces The Continuation Of BPT TALKS Series

Boston Playwrights' Theatre today announces the continuation of its series of conversations about new plays, BPT Talks. The upcoming conversations, BPT Talks About Design, will be held via the video conferencing tool Zoom.

The conversations, which will focus on the contributions of designers and the role of design in new play development, will be moderated by BPT Technical Director Jeffrey Petersen.

"It's always a thrill to talk with our designers, since they are our most trusted dramaturgs," BPT Artistic Director Kate Snodgrass says. "Plus their original designs paint the first renderings of these new works for the stage, so whether it's scenic, lighting, costumes, or sound, it's they who translate our playwrights' visions."

BPT's 39th season-which was to have included full productions of five new plays written by Boston University's M.F.A. Playwriting Program class of 2021-has been postponed until 2021-2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In the meantime, the plays are being workshopped in collaboration with BU's College of Fine Arts School of Theatre and are directed by students in the M.F.A. Directing Program.

Beginning Feb. 23, BPT Talks About Design will convene each Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. through March 23. Zoom audiences will be treated to conversations with each play's workshop team-a look "behind the curtain" at new plays in various stages of the development process. Audiences will be able to join the conversation during the moderated Q&A in each talk.

The line-up for BPT Talks About Design includes Cayenne Douglass's BEASTS, directed by Kelly Galvin with assistant director Kolton Bradley, scenic design by Marina Sartori, costume design by Cortnie Beatty, lighting design by Kayleigha Zawacki; Caity-Shea Violette's RX Machina directed by Blair Cadden with assistant director Rani O'Brien, scenic design by Alyssa Jewell, costume design by Nia Banks, lighting design by Qian Chengyuan, sound design by Mary White; Eliana Pipes's LORENA: a Tabloid Epic directed by Erica Terpening-Romeo, scenic design by Meg McGuigan, costume design by Emma George, lighting design by Amanda Fallon, sound design by Sean Doyle; Daniel C. Blanda's Gone Nowhere, directed by Noah Putterman, scenic design by Adam Hawkins, costume design by Sandra Jia, lighting design by Kevin Dunn; and Ally Sass's Incels and Other Myths, directed by Erica Terpening-Romeo, scenic design by Steven Velasquez, costume design by Sandra Jia, lighting design by Maximilian Wallace, sound design by Sara Vargas.

BPT is the professional producing arm of BU's M.F.A. Playwriting Program, and its programming alternates year-to-year between productions of alumni plays and thesis plays by its third-year playwrights.

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 M.F.A. 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 IRNE Awards for Best New Script and Boston Critics' Association Elliot Norton Awards.