Sep 4, 2010 :

The 7 Deadly Sins Festival, a juried festival of 14 short one-act plays, will be presented on two nights Saturday, September 18 and Sunday, September 19, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.  Held at the Capital Center for the Arts, in Concord, NH, each play relates to one of the traditional deadly sins.  Presented by the  Ghostlight Theater Company, the festival is co-produced by Platform member Don Tongue.  Several members of the Platform's work will be presented.  

Saturday, September 18th

Dress Rehearsal and Model Behavior by Hortense Gerardo

The Wheelbarrow by Ron Radice

Sex Ed by Jerry Bisantz

At the Gates of Paradise by Regina Eliot-Ramsey

Have you Tried the Shrimp by Terri Fisher

Sunday, September 19th

At the End of My Rope by Andrew Wetmore

Tow Lot by Peter Floyd

Tit for Tat and Memories for Sale by Jerry Bisantz

O Daddy, Poor Daddy, by Jyl Felman

The plays will be published in a collection by Ghostlight Theater Publications with an insightful foreward by playwright, Jack Neary.  It will be available on Amazon for $13.95 and through Ghostlight for $10.

For tickets call the Capital Center for the Arts Box Office 603 225-1111 or go to the website www.ccanh.com.  The Capital Center is located at 44 South Main Street, Concord, NH.

Special offer:  Purchase tickets to one night and get the second at half price - Adults $30 both nights and Students $22.50.  The offer is not available on-line so call the CCA box office.  

Jun 20, 2010 :

PLAYWRIGHTS’ PLATFORM 

38^th ANNUAL FESTIVAL

AWARD WINNERS 2010

Performing for enthusiastic crowds, the following winners were selected by audience and playwright ballot from six shows:

For Series A, June 10, 11, 12, 2010:

Best Play, Audience Choice – PERFECT MATCH, by Marika Barnett

Best Play, Playwright’s Choice – OY YEA, OY VEH, by Robert B. Boulrice

Best Actress, Audience Choice- Sally Nutt

Best Actor, Audience Choice- Wayne Fritsche

Best Director, Playwright’s Choice- (tie) Cindy Bell & Lau Lapides

For Series B, June 17, 18, 19, 2010:

Best Play, Audience Choice – ROUND TRIP TO MONTE CARLO, by George Matry Masselam

Best Play, Playwright’s Choice – ROUND TRIP TO MONTE CARLO, by George Matry Masselam

Best Actress, Audience Choice- (tie) Carey Winslow Cahoon & Alice D’Antonio Phillips

Best Actor, Audience Choice- Brian Wolfe –Leonard

Best Director, Playwright’s Choice- Ronni Marshak (for YOWL OF THE WILD)

Runners Up For Series A, June 10, 11, 12, 2010:

R.U. Best Play, Audience Choice –YOU DON”T, by George Smart

R.U. Best Play, Playwright’s Choice–(tie) MODL BEHAVIOR, by Hortense Gerardo & YOU DON’T by George Smart

R.U. Best Director, Playwright’s Choice- Jerry Bisantz

R.U. Best Actress, Audience Choice- Dorothy Clark

R.U. Best Actor, Audience Choice- Jonathan Welch

Runners Up For Series B, June 18, 19, 20, 2010:

R.U. Best Play, Audience Choice – THE YOWL OF THE WILD, by Peter Floyd

R.U. Best Play, Playwright’s Choice – KOI, by Ellen Davis Sullivan

R.U. Best Director, Playwright’s Choice- Ronni Marshak (for KOI)

R.U. Best Actress Audience Choice- Shelley Brown

R.U. Best Actor, Audience Choice- Ibrahim Miari

Publishing Prize for Winners:

Heuer Publishing, (www.hitplays.com), of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, sponsor of the Best Play Awards for the fifth year in a row, will offer a publishing contract opportunity to each of the Best Play winners.

Thank you!  It has been an honor and a pleasure to produce this festival.

Bob Boulrice & Lida McGirr

Co-Producers

Aug 31, 2007 : DIRECTIONS TO ROSEN AUDITORIUM
Brennan Library
Lasell College
80-A Maple St., Newton, Ma. 02466

(PLEASE NOTE: THE ROSEN AUDITORIUM IS IN THE BASEMENT OF THE BRENNAN LIBRARY BUILDING)

The Brennan Library is No. 11 on the campus map (link attached) http://www.lasell.edu/images/userImages/fweil/Page_440/lasell_map05.pdf

Coming from 128: Take the Grove Street exit (they can see Holiday inn from 128), follow Grove Street for 2-2 1/2 miles until they reach Woodland Road. Take a right on Woodland and then a left (the next block down) on Maple Street. The Brennan Library (location of Rosen auditorium) is on the right.

Coming from Commonwealth Avenue: Follow Comm Ave down until you see a Lasell parking lot on the left. Take a left onto Central Street, follow that down for a couple of blocks and then take a left onto Maple Street. They will come to Brennan Library at about 1/4 of a mile.

If coming from Waltham or Watertown: Take Washington Street to Commonwealth Avenue, take the 3rd left onto Central Street, follow down for a couple of blocks, then take a left onto Maple Street.

Coming from Mass Pike: If getting off at Newton Corner, take Washington Street and follow it all the way down (past Whole Foods and past West Newton Square) until they get to Commonwealth Avenue, take the 3rd left onto Central Street, follow for a couple of blocks then take a left onto Maple Street. They can also get off at the West Newton exit, get on Washington St. from there, and then onto Commonwealth Avenue.

If getting off Pike in Newton Lower Falls, take Washington Street, pass the hospital and keep going until they see Woodland Avenue on the left. Take Woodland Ave and follow it down until they come to Maple Street on the right. Take Maple Street and Brennan Library is on the right.

Aug 26, 2007 : Our first meeting of the Playwrights'Platform 2007-2008 season is scheduled for Sunday, September 9, 2007, at 7:00 pm at Lasell College in Newton, MA, in Rosen Auditorium, our new home for the 2007-2008 season. All meetings will take place in Rosen Auditorium unless otherwise noted.Directions can be found here.

Lasell is accessible by MBTA public transportation on the Green Line at the Riverside stop.Take the Green Line, D train, that says Riverside. Riverside is the last stop. It is within a one-mile walk or ride to the Lasell College Admission Office.

Our meetings are open to the public, free of charge.

For more information, see our calendar.

Aug 26, 2007 : We have a new mailing address. Please change the address in your records. Thank you:

Playwrights' Platform
398 Columbus Ave.
#604
Boston, MA 02116-6008

Apr 11, 2007 : Kelly DuMar's full-length drama, Weekend at the Dreaming Cloud, will have a staged reading on April 16, 2007, 7:30 p.m., in the Hunt Memorial Building, 6 Main Street, Nashua, NH.

This free public reading, directed by Leah Belanger, is sponsored by Yellow Taxi Productions, who selected Weekend at the Dreaming Cloud as one of four finalists for the Susan Mcyntyre Play Festival. The finalists will have staged readings and one will be selected for full production in 2008 by Yellow Taxi Productions based in Nashua. Playwrights' Platform member Jerry Bisantz is also a finalist for his play, The Straight Line, which will have a staged reading in Nashua on Sept. 17, 2007.

This is the third time Weekend at the Dreaming Cloud has been selected as a finalist in a play festival and the current version is a revision based on the staged reading sponsored by the Boston Actor's Theatre exactly one year ago.

"I've been developing this play since 2001, and it has been through countless re-writes and four developmental readings. Leah Belanger, the director of the Nashua reading, has invited me to her full-day rehearsal with the cast and this is a phenomenal opportunity for me to show up, collaborate with talented people, and really make the script production ready," DuMar said.

Set at a bed and breakfast in coastal Maine, Weekend at the Dreaming Cloud is "about first love, loss, addiction, grief, remorse, and recovering and healing from trauma,” DuMar said. The characters are “facing the impact of a tragedy in order to transform it. The journey of the play is how the ghost of a teenage boy who tragically died haunts the characters into adulthood and ultimately steers them toward redemption," DuMar said. "Does that sound dark? I hope not, because it's also tender, funny, sexy at times, and hopeful!"

This is Yellow Taxi’s third play contest in its five-year existence, and this is the second time Kelly has had a play selected. Her 15-minute play, Away Message, was given a staged reading as part of the New American Playwrights' Festival sponsored by Yellow Taxi Productions in 2003.

Mar 20, 2007 : Playwrights' Platform was pleased to present a production of member Chris King's one-act comedy, A Mother In My Head, at the Shea Theatre in Turner's Falls, MA., on March 10, 2007. Mother in My Head was read at Playwrights' Platform in 2006.

We'd like to congratulate the wonderful cast and director for their talent, energy and commitment in bringing this show to Turner's Falls, and we look forward to a local production soon.

This fine production was directed by Lau Lapides who teaches drama at Babson and Bentley. Lau also directed Chris King's Boston Theatre Marathon production in 2006, A Ticklish Situation, as well as a production of his Dark Retreat at our Playwrights' Platform Summer Festival 2006.

  Mother in My Head Cast:

Mary Able,  played by Emily Evans. Emily is a graduate in Theater from Brandeis. she has appeared in many productions around Boston.

  Manny Baker, played by Matt Mashburn, a sophomore at Babson who enjoys acting in film.

  Mrs. Baker, played by Penny Benson, a Playwrights Platform Actor in Residence and winner of Best Actor in the 2006 Playwrights' Platform Summer Festival.

Mrs. Able, played by Molly McDowell of New Hampshire a busy working actress.

 

Mar 13, 2007 : Playwrights' Platform members Jerry Bisantz and Kelly DuMar have had their full-length plays selected for the Susan McIntyre Playwriting Reading Series, 2007 sponsored by Yellow Taxi Productions, Nashua, NH. They are among four finalists who will have a staged reading of their play by actors with audience feedback, and one of the plays will be selected for a full production at their March 2008 Play Festival.

Kelly DuMar's play, Weekend at the Dreaming Cloud, will be staged on April 16, 2007 at the Hunt Memorial Building in downtown Nashua (time TBD). Jerry Bisantz' play, The Straight Line which has recently been read at Playwrights' Plaform, will receive a staged reading in September 2007 (date, time, location TBD).

Mar 13, 2007 : Gail Phaneuf's new play, Binding the Artful Dodger, previously read at Playwrights' Platform, was performed March 7, 2007, as part of the Provincetown Reading Series, Provincetown Theater at 238 Bradford St. in Provincetown, MA.

A dance. A confession. A lie. A bind. In a gripping new play, Boston playwright Gail Phaneuf brings the bright fluorescent halls of suburban high school life to the darker places adolescents sometimes go - places adults often fail to see.

"Binding the Artful Dodger" is a play about Cassie, a 17-year-old dancer battling teen angst and more, looking for connection and comfort in a reserved guidance counselor. In her quest for acceptance, Cassie pries into Ms. Minuck's private and solitary world, and in the end, she will push too far.

In one 90-minute act, Phaneuf explores the self-destructive toll of secrets kept in shame. A lovely dancer under the lights, Cassie starves herself behind closed doors. And Ms. Minuck, a woman of deep faith, feels foreign in her own skin.

Patrick Falco directed the reading and Terry Norgeot choreographed the dance numbers for the piece that was performed by Kara Griffin. Patti Hathaway portrayed Miss Minuk and Devon McFadden played the role of Cassie. Lee Roscoe read stage directions.

"This will not be your typical reading," says Phaneuf, "the integration of dance into the script is a central part of the piece. In order for the audience to experience the reading fully, we felt that it was vital to include some of the dance numbers, instead of simply having them described with stage directions. When we see a dancer we are awed by their beauty and grace, but are often unaware of the difficulties they face every day in a world where eating disorders are rampant and perfection is an expectation.”

Phaneuf is well known to Provincetown theater, both as an actress and a playwright. She played the role of Anna Paula Vogel's "The Baltimore Waltz" for the Provincetown Players and has performed in several Provincetown readings. Her edgy 10-minute play "Random Selection" was performed at Provincetown Theatre Company's Spring Playwrights' Festival and has gone on to be published and produced several times in Boston.

This new work comes on the heels of Phaneuf's professional fall production of “Monsters!” in Boston, a comic musical she co-wrote with Ernie Lijoi.

The reading was sponsored by The Provincetown Realty Group.

Contact: Michelle McGrath - 617-688-4297 - threeandwe@mac.com

Mar 13, 2007 : Playwrights' Platform member Judith Plummer's short play, The Eskimo Rule, which was revised following its first reading at Playwrights' Platform, has been accepted for the Short Play Lab at the Great Plains Theatre Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. All selected playwrights will attend a two-day master class with Edward Albee and other playwrights.

In 1993, Edward Albee and Dr. Jo Ann C. McDowell began a collaborative project to produce a nationally recognized Theatre Conference. As a result, Albee and Dr. McDowell held the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Alaska for 12 years. The commitment was made the transition to a new frontier through the 1st Annual Great Plains Theatre Conference, and we are pleased to announce the dates for the 2nd Annual Great Plains Theatre Conference: May 26-June 4, 2007.

Congratulations Judith!

Mar 7, 2007 : Playwrights Platform member Phyllis Rittner, will be performing opposite Jimmy Tingle in The Boys of Winter, a dramatic reading of a new antiwar play co–written by Barry Brodsky, and featuring Jimmy Tingle, Sunday April 1, 2007, at 2:00 p.m. at Jimmy Tingle’s Off Broadway Theater, 255 Elm Street, Davis Squage, Somerville, MA.

The performance will be followed by a discussion with Iraq and Vietnam Veterans Benefit for Veterans For Peace. The event is co–sponsored by Newton Dialogues on Peace and War, Chelsea Uniting Against The War, United For Justice With Peace (UJP), and others.

Tickets are $20; $18 seniors, $10 students. The toll–free ticket number is 866–811–4111, and the box–office is 617–591–1616. For more info go to jtoffbroadway.com

Mar 5, 2007 : The Shea Theatre announced its Third Annual New Works Festival, showcasing plays by Massachusetts playwrights. Taking place this year on Saturday, March 10 at 8pm, the festival has become the major late winter event featuring new comedies and dramas.

“We’re delighted to see that the Shea New Works Festival has become an established home for the best in emerging Massachusetts theater,” said Shea Theatre executive director Debra J’Anthony. “Writers, theater groups, and audiences come literally from all over the state to create and enjoy new experiences.”

Currently on the evening’s bill are A Mother In My Head, a comedy by Christopher L. King being produced by Playwrights’ Platform of Boston, and Sammy’s Game by Christopher Lockheardt, produced by the Shadow Box Theatre of Fitchburg.

A Mother In My Head is a humorous peek inside just how much lasting influence mothers have on their offspring. The Shadow Box Theatre, which typically does shadow puppet productions for children, is adapting its methods for Sammy’s Game, a very adult life-and-death sport happening in the shadows of an alley.

To further expand the audience experience, The Shea has arranged for intermission refreshments to be provided by a gourmet coffee and tea shop.

Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for seniors. For reservations, please call (413) 863-2281 and leave your name, the number of tickets you want, and please mention that they are for the New Works Festival.

Feb 28, 2007 : Playwrights' Platform member Kelly DuMar's short play, Bloom, is currently airing on Studio Playhouse of NEWTV, and can be viewed until March 17 according to the schedule below. Produced by Playwrights Platform member Regina Eliot-Ramsay for NewTV, Bloom features Playwrights' Platform member Elizabeth T. Rose as Kristy and Max Bisantz as Josh. In this vignette, KRISTY, a divorced mother, wakes suddenly from an afternoon dream to find her son, JOSH, dressing for his senior prom. His father has already provided all the essentials – money, a condom, a car – and what KRISTY hopes will be a chance to share a special milestone with her son becomes a poignant awakening to change, loss and letting go.

The schedule for Bloom until March 17:

Blue Channel Comcast 10
Sunday 4:30 pm and 11:30 pm
Monday 3:30 pm and 11pm
Tues 4:30 pm

Green channel Comcast 26
Sat 4:00 pm
Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs - 4:00 pm

Bloom was first produced by Playwrights' Platform at the Shea Theatre in Turners Falls, MA, 2005, and at the Playwrights' Platform Annual Summer Festival 2005 where it won the Playwrights' Choice Award. Nominated by Playwrights' Platform, it was accepted into the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival, New York City, July 2005, where it was produced in 2005 featuring Elizabeth T. Rose. Additionally, it has been produced by The Philipstown Depot One Act Festival, NY, 2005, Acme New Works Winter Festival, 2006, and the Flint City Theater Festival, MI, 2006. Bloom is published by Heuer Publishing .

Following the play, there is a televised interview with Kelly DuMar by Playwrights' Platform member Geralyn Horton, discussing the development of the play, Playwrights' Platform, and the International Center for Women Playwrights'. For more information, contact Kelly DuMar.

Feb 18, 2007 : Three current and former members of Playwrights' Platform have had their plays selected for production in this spring's Provincetown Players Spring Playwrights Festival. The plays will be produced between April 1 and April 15th, 2007, at the Provincetown Theater.

Platform member George Sauer's play Trick will be read on April 7th at 2 PM.

Former Platform member Jillian Weise's play Chief of the Dinner Table will be performed on April 6th and 7th at 7:30 PM.

Platform member Patrick M Brennan's play Milgram's War will be performed on April 14th at 7:30 PM and April 15th at 2 PM.

All readings and performances will take place at:

The Provincetown Theater/New Provincetown Players
238 Bradford Street
Provincetown, MA 02657
508-487-7487 x2

Feb 14, 2007 : in vivo Productions and The Cambridge Center for Adult Education present “The Gecko In Winter” at 56 Brattle Street – February 24th at 8pm

On February 24th, 2007, in vivo Productions and The Cambridge Center for Adult Education bring the season’s second installment of “The Gecko In Winter,” its annual play-reading showcase, to Cambridge.

Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro presents, Sir Rat and Squire Mouse, an adaptation of Don Quixote for children, their parents, and especially their grandparents.

Hortense Gerardo premieres her new work, The Rosewater of Doña Felicidad, an allegorical tale for children and adults based on Marlowe’s, Doctor Faustus.

Featuring: Anthony Cafcio, Judy Davis, Owen Doyle, Chris King, June Lewin, Scott Severance, Phil Thompson and Charles Turner.

After the readings, the playwrights and actors will answer questions from the audience.

This reading is co-produced by The Cambridge Center for Adult Education and sponsored in part by Hi-Rise Bread Factory, Cambridge, 1 and Peet’s Coffee & Tea.


Date: February 24, 2007
Time: 8pm
Location: The Cambridge Center for Adult Education
Blacksmith House
56 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA 02138

Tickets: $10 / $5 for students, elders, and members of: Playwrights’ Platform, New Opera and Musical Theatre Initiative (NOMTI), Stage Source, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Dramatist Guild, International Centre for Women Playwrights, Writers’ Guild of America.

CCAE Box Office - 617-547-6789

URL’s: www.ccae.org

Feb 13, 2007 : Playwrights' Platform Member Chris King's one act play A Mother In My Head has been selected to be performed at The Shea Theatre of Turners Falls, Massachusetts, as part of a night of one-acts to be performed on Saturday, March 10, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. We were very pleased by the quality of scripts submitted for the festival, and we're looking forward to the performance!

Feb 12, 2007 : Eight Playwrights' Platform members will have plays featured in the "Celebration of Women's Voices Festival," hosted by Wellesley Summer Theatre, in the Ruth Nagel Jones Theatre, March 3, 2007 at 7:00 p.m.

This evening of staged readings is part of the International Center for Women Playwrights', month-long presentation of Boston-area women's plays celebrating International Women's Day March 8. Featured playwrights include: Ludmilla Anselm (Three Friends), Marika Barnett (Chekhov and Pinter Take a Pause), Kelly DuMar (Clay), Hortense Gerardo (The Dress Rehearsal), Holly Jensen (an excerpt from Stripped), Gail Phaneuf (New Tricks), Regina Eliot Ramsay (The Perfect Stranger), and Phyllis Rittner (Breeding Season).

Following the plays, Nora Hussey, head of the theatre department at Wellesley College and Artistic Director of the Wellesley Summer Theatre, will moderate a panel discussion with Boston-area directors to discuss the plays and explore how the theatrical culture can be influenced to be more receptive to producing plays by women. Featured directors include: Michelle Aguillon (Hovey Players), Jerry Bisantz (Playwrights' Platform/Image Theater), Rose Carlson (Executive Director, Devanaughn Theatre), Lisa Rafferty (Freelance Director and Producer/MOMologues Productions) and Nancy Curran Willis (formerly with Gloucester Stage Company & Boston Theatre Works).

The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served from 7:00 until 7:30 when the readings begin. The Ruth Nagel Jones Theatre is on the lower level of Alumnae Hall and is wheelchair accessible. There is ample free parking in the Davis covered parking structure adjacent to the theatre. Reservations are not necessary.

Feb 5, 2007 : Long-time Playwrights' Platform Member Geralyn Horton, has been nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Award for her role in Talking To Terrorists by the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE). Congratulations Geralyn! The results will be announced March 19, 2007.

THE 10th ANNIVERSARY IRNE AWARDS will be held at The Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) in its CYCLORAMA on Monday March 19, 2007 at 8 P.M.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA or COMEDY
Large :
Geneva Carr in RABBIT HOLE (Huntington)
Barbara Meek in THE CHERRY ORCHARD (Trinity Repertory Co)

Small:
Marina Re in HOLES (Wheelock Family Theatre)
Maureen Keiller in THE WOMEN (SpeakEasy)
Mary Klug in THE WOMEN and FIVE BY TENN (SpeakEasy)
Eve Kagan in TALKING TO TERRORISTS (Sugan)
Geralyn Horton in TALKING TO TERRORISTS (Sugan)

Jan 26, 2007 : Marika Barnett's short play, The Eleventh Minute was filmed recently by Newton Cable TV. The Eleventh Minute won numerous awards last year, including the Audience Choice Award (Series A) at the 2006 Playwrights' Platform Summer Festival held at the Boston Playwrights’ Theater, June 2006. Heuer Publishing instantly published it.

Studio Playhouse of Newton Cable TV is a program featuring short original plays by Boston area playwrights. The play selected for January is The Eleventh Minute, a satire about 10-minute plays, written by Marika Barnett, features actors Jerry Bisantz and Mark Leahy, and it ran last week in Newton to very favorable reviews. For more information, visit NEWTV, Playwrights' Platform Member Regina Eliot-Ramsay is in charge of this project with Newton Cable Television.

In Marika's opinion, "The play has no redeeming social value what so ever. As a matter of fact, it is about nothing. Absolutely nothing! But that – I am told - it is written very well!"

Marika adds, "If you have an opportunity to see it, please do! Or please forward it to friends who live in Newton. If you wish to have this play for your own town’s Cable TV, please let me know."

The schedule (posted on February 26th) for next two weeks is as follows:
Blue channel (Comcast 10; RCN 15)
Sunday - 4:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.
Monday - 3:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.
Tues - 4:30 p.m.
Green channel (Comcast 26; RCN 3)
Friday 2:00 p.m.
Mon - 4:00 p.m.
Tues - 4:00 p.m.
Wed - 4:00 p.m.
Thurs - 4:00 p.m.

Jan 23, 2007 : Playwrights' Platform member Eliza Wyatt has taken several workshops from the Royal National Theatre's Jack Bradley and will pass on valuable hints, especial emphasis on Story in a workshop, below:

Date: 24th Feburary
Time; 10.30 am to 4 pm.
Place: Boston Playwrights' Theatre, 949 Comm. Ave., Boston, MA
Cost: $45, $15 for students

For more information contact: Eliza Wyatt