From December 1st through 4th at Boston Playwrights' Theatre, GAN-e-meed Theatre Project will present Not A Box New Play Festival, a variety of thought-provoking new work by artists from Boston and beyond. Originally conceived as a vehicle for The 1-Page Play Experiment, the Festival has grown into a weekend of innovative theatre that seeks to actively engage the audience with the creation and performance of new work.
Fans of last seasons' 1-Page Play Experiment will be happy to see its second iteration this December. GAN-e-meed will be producing the five winners of last years' experiment: Mortal City, by Allie Herryman, adapted from the song Mortal City by Dar Williams; Pulse, by Stacey Lane; Untitled, by Danny Bryck; tired, by Alyssa Osiecki and Dave Ring; and The Internet Means Never Having to Say Goodbye, by N. Harrison Ripps. These five plays, selected by audiences as the best of 15 finalists last December, were the result of a unique challenge. Artists were asked to submit a piece that would function as visual, textual, and performance art while staying within the confines of a single page. The directors of last year's staged readings (Dawn Simmons, Jen Allison Lewis, and Melanie Garber) are returning to bring these five plays to life for their world premieres.
fufu and oreos is a semi-autobiographical play by rising theatre artist Obehi Janice. It addresses identity, vulnerability, and personal history through free prose, memory, movement, and song. Janice draws inspiration from her own life and Nigerian heritage to create a semi-improvised, mixed-media performance. She describes the production as a "highly illustrated autobiography" and a depiction of her journey from her roots to the woman she has become. This will be the Boston premiere of fufu and oreos which is a co-production of Obehi Janice and GAN-e-meed Theatre Project. For more information visit www.fufuandoreos.com.
As part of the weekend, there will be one free afternoon of theatre. GAN-e-meed will present staged readings of this years' 15 1-Page Play Experiment finalists, to be announced next week. Coming on the heels of last year's success, this call for submissions yielded work from as far away as France and Greece. Like last year, the audience will vote for this years' five winners over the course of the festival weekend. The afternoon of free theatre will also include an original performance by this years' Mystery Artist.
Performances of Not A Box New Play Festival will be in the Odyssey Theatre at Boston Playwright's Theatre, December 1, 2, and 3 at 8:00pm and December 4 at 2:00pm. A 2:00pm free performance of the 15 finalists in The 1-Page Play Experiment will be on December 3.
ABOUT GAN-e-meed
GAN-e-meed Theatre Project is a mission-driven non-profit company advancing the role of women in theatre. GAN-e-meed supports their mission through a production season of relevant plays, networking nights for women in theatre, and The Career Labs, a series of workshops supporting the unique challenges, skill-sets, and successes of women in theatre.
www.ganemeed.org
