News
2020 Festival Announcement!
May 9th, 2020 by Karla Sorenson
Below are the plays and playwrights selected for Playwrights’ Platform 48th Festival of New Plays. Congratulations to all! Due to Coronavirus restrictions, the festival will take place on Zoom over the first two weeks of June (exact dates and times to be determined).
PLAYWRIGHTS’ PLATFORM 48TH FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS
HEART BROKER by Maryanne Truax
VENDETTA by Andrea Aptecker
JENNY MUST DIE by Bill Lattanzi
THE TAMED by William Ivers
LIVE FROM COPLEY SQUARE by Johnnie Dun
IS IT ME? by Lawrence Hennessey
LOST SEASON by David Beardsley
HOME FOR THE HOLIDAY by Karla M. Sorenson
STAIN by Laura Olifiers
THIS by Carolyn Palo
Stay tuned for more information.
Check out the Playwrights’ Platform Table at the Greater Boston Theater Expo
August 30th, 2017 by Hortense Gerardo
Let’s bring our theater community together at the #GBTE17 on 9/12! http://bit.ly/GBTE2017
Directors needed
January 18th, 2017 by George Smart
CALL FOR DIRECTORS – OTP’s GAY SHORTS by George Smart
Open Theatre Project is pleased to present its inaugural evening of short plays about gay men by award winning local playwright, George Smart on March 30-April 2 at Club Cafe. We are currently looking for 2-3 Directors to produce eight 10 Min Plays featuring prominent stories about Gay men. The directors chosen will approach the pieces as a collaboration, but may rehearse specific scripts / casts separately. Members of the LGTBQ identifying community are strongly encouraged to apply. There will be a stipend for this position.
To request an interview please submit your RESUME and COVER LETTER to dustin@theopentheatre.com
If you are in the Phillipines in October 2016
September 30th, 2016 by George Smart
My short play “It Doesn’t” will be performed the 3rd & 4th week of October until 1st week of November at Power Mac Spotlight, Makati, Philippines. If you are in the area I would love to hear how it went.
And this year’s audience choice winners are…
June 6th, 2016 by Webmaster
Each year, our Summer Festival of New Plays culminates in Audience Choice Awards, where audience members identify their selections for Best Play, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Director. For our 2016 Festival, the winners are…
Series A:
Best play: DOG PARK AFTERNOON by Nancy Temple
Best director: Diana Kerry, THEATRE PEOPLE
Best actress: Gloria Papert, THEATRE PEOPLE
Best actor: Eric Skoglund, DOG PARK AFTERNOON
Series B:
Best play: WATER by Greg Hovanesian
Best director: Haris Leferti, WATER
Best actress: Kathleen Henderson, NO DOMINION
Best actor: Greg Hovanesian, WATER
Thanks to all of our audience members who shared their picks. Congrats to all the winners. And to everyone who made this another terrific season of new plays with the Playwrights’ Platform!
We are also excited to share the release of a new book, edited by Board Chair Hortense Gerardo, featuring nine of the plays from this year’s festival. Now available at Amazon.com.
Announcing Plays and Playwrights for our 44th Annual Festival!
April 14th, 2016 by Stefan Lanfer
We are pleased to announce the plays and playwrights for our 44th Annual Festival of New Plays!
1. FAST CASUAL by David Susman
2. WATER by Greg Hovanesian
3. SAVING FACE by Margie Semilof
4. THE DEBT by Charlie Edwin Fisher
5. DEATH IN VENICE BEACH by Hortense Gerardo
6. PITCHFEST by Patti Cassidy
7. DOG PARK AFTERNOON by Nancy Temple
8. NEMATODES by Ron Radice
9. IT’S ALL CRAP by George Smart
10. THE SISTERS by Sherri Stepakoff
11. THEATRE PEOPLE by Jack Rushton
12. NO DOMINION by Lawrence “Nick” Hennessey
A terrific mix of work by both new and veteran members, comedies, dramas, and everything in between. The Festival will be held over the first weekend in June at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. Stay tuned (here on our blog and on our Festival Page) for details about which plays will be on which nights and how to buy tickets.
Congrats, playwrights! We can’t wait to see your work come alive on stage.
My what a year! A 2015 #NewPlay Highlight Reel
December 28th, 2015 by Stefan Lanfer
As 2015 winds to a close, I asked members to share a few of their theatrical highlights from the year. Here is a sampling:
New productions of new plays, including at the:
- FemNoire 2015 festival
- Silver Springs Stage Co
- ATHE New Play Development Series
- Winthrop School of Performing Arts
- MBL Club
- Piney Forks at the New York Public Library
- Hollywood
- Aberdeen, Scotland
- Boston Theatre Marathon XVII (two entries by members!)
Other artistic highlights:
- A documentary film version of one member’s short story, which had been published in the the “REMEMBER US!” compilation book was premiered before the United Nations in NYC
- A Packard Foundation Writing Residency at the Lemon Tree House, Tuscany, Italy
- A Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship in Dramatic Writing
- A workshop on marketing tips for playwrights with Pat Gabridge.
- Another great workshop on craft with Kate Snodgrass – on great endings of great plays
- New members
- New actors in our resident actors company
- Packed houses for three nights at our 43rd annual festival of new plays
- The first-ever publication of a compilation of new works in the festival.
My what a year!
Happy New year to all!
Here’s to breaking more legs in 2016…
Take our 2015 Festival Home with You
June 6th, 2015 by Stefan Lanfer
Each year, an independent reading committee selects a vibrant collection of member scripts to be produced in our annual festival. These new short plays include comedies and dramas that directed and performed by local artists, including many from our talented Actors-in-Residence program. In concert with our June, 2015 festival – our 43rd (!) – are thrilled to offer a published compilation of eight of the nine short plays, now available via Amazon.com, at: http://tinyurl.com/qy3kjbe.
Since 1972, the Playwrights’ Platform has been helping Boston-area playwrights hone their craft, and advance their work from page to stage. At twice-monthly meetings during the academic year, our members gather to hear unrehearsed readings of new works, and to share reactions, critiques, and ideas. This book represents our first-ever publication, and the Platform extends its gratitude to Hortense Gerardo, Honorary Board Chair and one of this year’s featured playwrights, for the initiative and leadership in bringing this idea to fruition.
All proceeds from sales of this book directly support the Playwrights’ Platform. We are an all-volunteer nonprofit that depends each year on membership fees, donations, and festival ticket sales to raise our modest operating budget. All of our meetings are free and open to the public. Visitors and new members are always welcome.
Thank you for your investment in new theatre! We hope you enjoy these plays as much as we have.
Sincerely,
Stefan Lanfer
President
The Playwright’s Three P’s – Marketing Wisdom from Pat Gabridge
February 13th, 2015 by Stefan Lanfer
“The best thing you can do for your own career is help others.” – Pat Gabridge
At our January 25th meeting, Playwrights’ Platform members were treated to a terrific talk and discussion with Boston Playwright, Pat Gabridge, on strategies to more effectively market and promote our work. As highlights, I offer the Playwright’s Three P’s:
Be present (and patient)
Effective networking and relationship building means being present and accounted for (both in person and virtually) as much as possible. Patrick highlighted several of the many opportunities to do this in Boston, like at StageSource’s Boston Theatre Conference, Boston Theatre Marathon, New Play Alliance, HowlRound’s #newplay Twitter chats, and attending lots of local theatre. And when you go, be accounted for. Tweet about it. Go during previews and opening nights, when you can meet and engage with directors and production teams after the show. Tell them what you liked about their work. Patrick also reminded us to be patient. Developing relationships that open doors for a playwright’s work takes time. It’s like dating, he said. You can’t go too fast. Don’t start by pitching your script. Start with coffee, conversation, building connection.
Be positive, a force for new plays
When you’re out there, engaging, and being present, be positive about other’s work. One example Patrick gave was social media, where he recommended maintaining at least 7:1 balance, where, for every one piece of news you share about yourself and your own work, you should be sharing seven or more that are you engaging, commenting, praising, and promoting other’s new work. “The best thing you can do for your career,” Patrick encouraged us all, “is to help others” and be a positive force for new plays.
Be perspicacious about those submission piles
Theatre is a relationship business. So, there’s no beating being present, personal, positive, and active in your local theatre community. Yet, even when submitting to far flung contests, festivals, and theatres, there are ways a playwright can increase their odds. Patrick talked us through the critical four (which he also blogged about at: “What are the Playwriting Odds (and the 4 ways writers can improve their chances)):
- Write better plays.
- Enter the right piles.
- Enter smaller piles.
- Enter more piles.
Our thanks to Patrick for a terrific discussion, and reminder of what an exciting time it is to be a playwright in Boston.