AISLE SAY Boston

BOSTON THEATRE MARATHON 2003

by 46 Playwrights (see below)
Produced by 46 Theatre Groups
Featuring about 150 regional Actors
Boston Playwrights Theatre
935 Comm. Ave, Allston MA / www.

Reviewed by Will Stackman

A week early this year, because of the holiday, the annual Boston Theatre Marathon at Boston Playwrights' Theatre has become an established part of the Spring theatre season. The weather even cooperated, which made the idea of watching 10 hours of short plays inside slightly onerous. But as usual the effort was worth it, though the sense of discovery has given way to a feeling of reunion. The event is after all not really a competition, but a benefit for Boston Theatre Benevolent Fund. The fact that some local luminaries, like Robert Brustein, Israel Horowitz, Teresa Rebeck--fresh from Humana--, or Ed Bullins are invited to contribute pieces should not be surprising. The observation that only twelve of playwrights presented were women was, especially since the annual Women on Top Festival, usually held in February, did not occur. The effort to provide a diverse sampling of New England talent was laudable as ever; perhaps more effort needs to be put into soliciting submissions earlier in the fall.

Scripts ranged from Jerry Bisantz"Sex Education", a farce which turns serious produced by Playwrights' Platform to Brustein's "Noise" about a family living above Rachmaninoff during his declining years in NYC from the ART. The Platform, which has been active hereabouts for more than a quarter of a century, regularly holds readings of new work at the Hovey Players in Waltham. The group will present their annual festival of works developed at these sessions at Boston Playwrights' in late June. The Theatre Cooperative, across town on Broadway in Somerville, produced Leslie Harrell Dillen "Montana Shots", a family comedy. The Coop has their own short play festival, "Ritalin Readings", in January. They've also been presenting one-acts which began at that event once a month this winter. "Life Works", a thriller by Robert Mattson which should probably grow up to become a fulllength play, finished their developmental series this weekend. And next year, they've commissioned MIT's Vladimir Zelevinsky, whose "And Then", a surreal monologue was seen late in this marathon, for a fulllength play to end their season.

More theatre companies in town have become involved in new play development in the past few years. Boston Theatre Works, which produced Tom Berry's "Claire Danes Poster" for BTM03 is doing their New Works series at Boston Playwrights at the very end of May, following the full-scale production of Olga Humphrey's "Veronika Vavoom, Vulcanologist" which had a brief outing last spring during their last series. The Hovey Players is choosing the lineup for their "Summer Shorts" which goes up in July. The Industrial Theatre, which did Sarah Moon's "Animal Parade" here, showed seven short new works, some developed with their company, this winter in their space at Harvard. And the Perishable Theatre Company from Providence, which did Susanna Ralli's "Instant Karma" in their particular style this year at the BTM, has a long record of new works presented for limited runs.

The ten-minute play--aka short one-act or perhaps sketch--is becoming a hot form, and inevitably a cliche. Self-reference, like John Edward O'Brien's "Ten-Minute Clinic" produced by Zeitgeist Stage Company, was inevitable. This brief farce, set in a doctor's waiting room involves characters whose dire straits are due to their being part of ten minutes plays, which seldom involve less than fatal illnesses. Teresa Rebeck upped the ante in "The Actress", which featured Judith McIntyre, in which she and Robert Pemberton vent on the frustrations of the profession, something these two often-praised and hard-working performers know well. Michael Hammond from Shakespeare & Co. had Joe Pacheco and Jason Aspery plot to overcome "The Great Audience Rebellion", possibly by debating whether the author (Aspery) should commit suicide onstage, for an audience. The only musical theatre piece this year, "Pop! - The Musical ", by Sara Adelman & Dan Ring, a parody of the ten minute rise and fall of a pop singer, was less successful, though competently presented by the North Shore Music Theatre and well-performed.

The most successful multicharacter pieces included Paula J. Caplan's " The Test " , a prison drama presented by the New African Company; Glen Doyle's "Date Night ", about five-minute dating featuring the author himself and done by Suffolk University; storyteller Greg Lam's "Happy Daughter", a narrated multiracial comedy from Raven Theatrical; Jon Lipsky's "Girl In The Basement", a believable music scene drama featuring convincing singing by Jordan Dann presented by the Vineyard Playhouse; and Richard Schotter's "The King Of Rock 'N' Roll" from the Jewish Theatre of New England with a bravura performance by Ken Cheeseman as the legendary Alan Freed.

The BTM has always had outstanding solo performances. This year, award-winning actor/playwright John Kuntz didn't perform but instead provided t ART stalwart Karen MacDonald with "Smurf", an interview with an elderly cat-lover--she has over 200--who was once the road-manager/mother hen for "Smurf's on Ice". Ronan Noone, who received this year's Best Play IRNE was fortunate to have decorated director Carmel O'Reilly of the Sugan Theatre and award-winning actor Richard McElvain for his monodrama "Amereka", This character study of a middle-aged Russian emigre delighted by his new Taurus and his new citizenship was a suitable ending for the day. McElvain, who has been directing noted storyteller Jay O'Callahan for years, brought that experience to the portrayal. The last play in Noone's "Baiste" trilogy will premiere at Boston Playwright's at the end of May. Zelevinsky 's monologue "And Then", more overtly political, but equally hopeful, was the climax to the alternate sequence. Each show in the Marathon, incidentally, has two back-to-back performances in adjacent venues

There were no overwhelming moments in this year's event, but also fewer questionable pieces. Certainly more worthy of mention than this article can encompass. One might note that Nate McIntyre was only in two shows this year. The fact that he's appearing almost nightly in "A New War" and directing "Romulus" which opens at the Theatre Coop next month might be an explanation. Or that Richard Snee showed up to play a gun-toting red-neck, but his wife, Marathon veteran Paula Plum, didn't. She's too busy working up the lead in "Hay Fever" which opens in a few weeks elsewhere at B.U. Snee has a smaller part in that show. Stalwarts of the local theatre scene continue to support and participate in all aspects of this annual event. Approximately two/thirds of the scripts were world premieres (WP), though most probably have been read or workshopped during the last year. BTM's influence, for better or worse, extends beyond this single Spring day, as Boston-area playwrights continue to find new ways to show their work.


In Alphabetical Order by Playwright
Sara Adelman Pop! - The Musical North Shore Music Theatre (WP)
Tom Berry Claire Danes Poster Boston Theatre Works (WP)
Jerry Bisantz Sex Education Playwrights' Platform (WP)
Alan Brody Eckstein And Sons Underground Railway Theatre (WP)
Margaret Broucek Your Better Butch Fashion Lyric Stage Company
Robert Brustein Noise American Repertory Theatre (WP)
Ed Bullins The Doorway Company One (WP)
Linda Button Holler Song Emerson Stage (WP)
Paula J. Caplan The Test New African Company
Patrick Cleary Hit Me Speakeasy Stage Company (WP)
William Cunningham Intimate Apparel Boston Conservatory (WP)
Leslie Dillen Montana Shots Theatre Cooperative (WP)
Glen Doyle Date Night C. Walsh Theatre
Charles Evered Adopt A Sailor Wheelock Family Theatre (WP)
Kirsten Greenidge Grip Our Place Theatre Company (WP)
David Valdez Greenwood Dream of Jeannie By-The-Door Out of the Blue Productions (WP)
Michael Hammond The Great Audience Rebellion Shakespeare & Company (WP)
Israel Horovitz A Mother's Love Gloucester Stage Company & Barefoot Theatre Troupe
Paul Kahn Ethics of the Profession Publick Theatre (WP)
Jesse Kellerman Smaller Stoneham Theatre Company (WP)
John Kuntz Smurf Coyote Theatre Company
Greg Lam Happy Daughter Raven Theatrical (WP)
Norman Lasca Skateboards Nora Theatre Company
Bill Lattanzi A Raft Made Of Grass Brandeis Theater (WP)
Jon Lipsky Girl In The Basement Vineyard Playhouse (WP)
Steven Maistros Man's Best Friend Provincetown Theatre Company (WP)
Sarah Moon Animal Parade Industrial Theatre (WP)
Ronan Noone Amereka Sugán Theatre (WP)
John Edward O'Brien Ten-Minute Clinic Zeitgeist Stage Company (WP)
Dean O'Donnell For The Team Centastage Performance Group (WP)
Susanna Ralli Instant Karma Perishable Theatre Company (WP)
Theresa Rebeck The Actress Huntington Theatre Company
Dan Ring Pop!—The Musical North Shore Music Theatre (WP)
Kathleen Rogers Ballast Wellesley Summer Theatre
Carl A. Rossi P'Town Christmas '99 Boston Playwrights' Theatre
Lisa Seymour-Terry Heartbeat New Repertory Theatre
Joshua Scher Flushed Next Stages (WP)
Richard Schotter The King Of Rock 'N' Roll Jewish Theatre of New England (WP)
Zachary L. Shrier So Fine Dining Portland Stage Company (WP)
George Spelvin A Bit (or a Piece) From Bits and Pieces Rough and Tumble
Jake Strautmann The Ornithologist's Mother Bridge Theatre Company (WP)
Shawn Sturnick A Closet Flung Wide Ope'  Worcester Foothills Theatre (WP)
Sinan H. Ünel The Prophet's Wife Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre Company (WP)
Dana Yeaton The Ten-Minute Dad Pilgrim Theatre and Performance Collaborative (WP)
Melanie Yergeau Samuel, How You've Changed QE2 Players (WP)
Vladimir Zelevinsky And Then MIT Theater Arts

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