Boston Playwrights' Theatre Presents
 Boston Theater Marathon XXII: Special Zoom Edition

Boston Playwrights' Theatre (BPT) presents Boston Theater Marathon XXII: Special Zoom Edition, featuring ten-minute plays written by New England playwrights and presented by New England theatres via the video conferencing tool Zoom.

The annual Boston Theater Marathon (BTM), a community-based charity event benefitting the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund (TCBF), was to have taken place on April 19 but was cancelled as the coronavirus pandemic escalated earlier this month.

"We won't let this necessary distancing stop these gifted playwrights and these wonderful companies from coming together to celebrate new work," Kate Snodgrass, Artistic Director of the BTM, says. "Theatre will continue-whether it's on the stage or in our hearts (or rather, in this case, on Zoom). Whether it's for ten minutes or for ten hours, Art lives (pardon my hyperbole)."

The Boston Theater Marathon (which began in 1999 and was the first substantial contributor to TCBF) is traditionally presented as a ten-hour, all-day affair featuring ten-minute plays by 50 New England playwrights produced by 50 New England theatre companies.

This year, the event will take place as a daily Zoom-based "lunch break" each day starting April 1 through May 17. Readings will begin each day at 12 noon and will last approximately 15-minutes. Audiences will need to download the free Zoom app to participate, and it is recommended they call in a few minutes before "curtain" time.

Nearly every playwright and theatre company tapped to participate in Boston Theater Marathon XXII will be part of the Zoom event.

"We will explore this new medium together," Snodgrass says. "We will be reading the plays-each actor from their own home. All the companies will use their creativity to explore their plays, and yes, the boundaries of Zoom will be a facilitate and impede at the same time. I'm excited to see what everyone comes up with. Let's see where our imaginations take us!"

Audiences who dial in to the event will be encouraged to donate to participating theatre companies and/or to Theatre Community Benevolent Fund. Links to individual theatre companies and the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund will be available each day on the Boston Playwrights' Theatre home page (www.BostonPlaywrights.org) and via the Zoom interface itself.

"We must support the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund which, in turn, supports all the theatre artists in the area," Snodgrass says. "With many of us losing our jobs, with re-scheduled productions or cancellation, it's imperative that we support each other in this time of need. I hope that everyone will come and support the TCBF and every theatre company involved in this time of stress and need."

For more than two decades, the Boston Theater Marathon has brought together playwrights, directors and theatres in an effort to foster collaboration between artists and producers.

In 2000, the BTM received a special Elliot Norton Award from the Boston Theatre Critics Association for "Enlivening Local Theatre."