For this Theater Marathon, added festivities
The 11th annual Boston Theater Marathon adds a day of free readings of new plays to its festivities this weekend, and organizers say it's the first step to becoming something more expansive.
"We are partnering with the BCA to expand the Marathon and hopefully in years to come to expand even more fully, from a weekend to a week," said Kate Snodgrass, the Marathon's cofounder and artistic director. "We have big dreams, or at least I do."
As always, the Marathon includes 50 10-minute plays by 50 New England playwrights performed by 50 theater companies from across New England. The event runs from noon to 10 p.m. Sunday in the Wimberly Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts. The playwrights include big names (Robert Brustein, Israel Horovitz), local favorites (Ryan Landry, who offers "Joan, Joan, Joan, and Hitler"), and lots of fresh blood.
Nearly two-dozen of the playwrights are new to the Marathon, Snodgrass said. She said she's particularly looking forward to the plays about "three Somerville guys doing some girl watching" ("Mikey D" by John Shea), "a wife stabbing her husband in a fit of pique, but it's a comedy" (Not Funny" by Chris Lockheardt), and "a half-man, half-bird surviving the apocalypse" ("The Second Coming" by Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro).
This year's event will be broadened with what are being called the Warm Up Laps - free readings of full-length plays by established writers on Saturday at the BCA's Deane Rehearsal Hall. The Publick Theatre presents "Jacob and the Stranger" by Alan Brody at noon, Company One offers "At the Ready" by Kirsten Greenidge at 4 p.m., and the Huntington Theatre Company presents "The Novelist" by Theresa Rebeck at 8.
"I think new work can really put us on the map, not just with theater, but culturally, artistically bring to the fore in Boston all the wonderful talent that exists here," Snodgrass said.
Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. The Warm Up Laps are free. 617-933-8600, www.bostontheatrescene.com.
All five shows play the Roberts Studio Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts. Subscriptions are available now; 617-482-3279, www.SpeakEasyStage.com.
