Boston Playwrights' Theatre to Open 2013-14 Season with BURNING, 9/26-10/20

Boston Playwrights' Theatre (BPT) opens its 2013-14 season with Burning by award-winning playwright Ginger Lazarus. Running from September 26 to October 20, this new drama will be directed by Steven Bogart.

Adapted from Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, Burning follows lesbian ex-Army officer Cy who uses a young male soldier as a mouthpiece to profess her true feelings to the woman they both love. Fresh from the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military, Cy builds her own world of secrets and lies even as she battles a former adversary with far-ranging and tragic results.

"I love Ginger's work, and I feel honored to support this story in particular because of the power of its message," BPT Artistic Director Kate Snodgrass says. "I wish it weren't so timely, truthfully, but theatre reflects our concerns, so maybe we can change things. Maybe we can make a difference."

Playwright Lazarus admits she has "had a love affair with [the Cyrano story] since high school. The theme of the person who feels unlovable - for whatever reason - gets me. I knew it was a drama and a tragedy from the very beginning."

That beginning came in late 2010, when Lazarus started writing the play. As she researched instances of abuse and harassment endured by gays in the military, the adaptation assumed a life of its own beyond the classic story of Cyrano.

"I've never worked so hard on anything," Lazarus says. "The more I found out about what it was like for queer service members to serve under 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' . . . It was worse than I could've imagined. It's devastating."

BPT produced Lazarus' IRNE-nominated Matter Familias in 2004. Her play MOCKBA: A Play About Moscow won the John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Award in 1999.

Also returning to BPT is director Steven Bogart, who helmed Dan Hunter's Legally Dead last season. Last spring he directed The Boston Abolitionist Project at American Repertory Theater. Bogart is also a playwright, teacher and visual artist; "Ten Paintings/Ten Songs" - his collaboration with musician Mali Sastri - was recently on view at Boston's Bromfield Gallery.

Tickets: $30/General Admission - $25/BU Faculty/Staff, Seniors (62+) - $10/Students (with valid ID)
Call 866.811.4111 or visit www.bostonplaywrights.org

Season subscriptions available - $50/Adult - $27/Student (25 and under with valid ID)