Press Release
Featuring 25 New Short Plays by Local Playwrights
Culture*Park will present the 16th Annual Short Plays Marathon on Saturday, November 17, 2018, from 2:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., in the Whaling Museum Theater, featuring a full day of new plays with far-reaching themes, by local and regional playwrights. The Marathon will present staged readings of 25 plays, presented by an ensemble of more than 50 actors and directors. The Marathon is presented under the co-directorship of Rebecca Schade and Patricia Thomas, in collaboration with the reading committee of theatre artists and writers, and the dozens of playwrights, directors, and actors involved.
Themes range from the serious to the slapstick, comedic and fantastical, offering a provocative theatre experience, with something for everyone.
Corner, by Ian Vincent, which will open the Marathon at 2 p.m., explores race and expectation, as its characters occupy the same space…or do they? Also in the afternoon, Reach, by Rob Levinson, takes place in the Bergen Belsen Camp, in February, 1944, and tells a story of the young Abraham as he navigates the horrors of the concentration camp, finding the humanity that exists within.
Comedic plays pepper the afternoon and evening, and include Barely There, by E. Ann Sheehan, Going Postal by Gerald FitzGerald, The Trouble Ann Boleyn Was In, by Ray Veary, (a hysterical account of the historical events), and Shopping With Wendell, by James Marlow.
The evening segment features the dry comedy, Org Chart Ambush, by James English, (exploring just what happens in a corporate meeting), When the Cows Come Home to Roost, the latest installment of the Detective Series, Cyjoe Barker, by Barbara Schweitzer; The Interview, by Andrew Clark, and One Dog One Cat One Man One Woman One Altercation by Jim Sullivan, will be on offer in the evening. Gals Who Dream, by Gayle Hanrahan, which will be presented in the evening, explores an imagined conversation between Monica Lewinsky, and her accuser.
Kenha Ke Nos, Who are We? A solo bilingual Kriolu/English performance piece by Sylvia Ann Soares, about the Cape Verdean people, will be featured in the afternoon. The eight minute long “poem” describes the Cape Verdean contribution to society.
The evening will include a performance of Speak No Evil, by April Brown, of Providence. Ms. Gomes was born in New Bedford. Speak No Evil was featured at Trinity Repertory Company, under the direction of Patricia Thomas, as part of a 16-play journey into “America Too: Providence’s Housing Crisis.” The play tells the story of an elderly couple hoping to return to their home in Faja de Agua, Cape Verde. Speak No Evil will be acted by Sylvia Ann Soares of Providence, and Tony Cruz of New Bedford, and directed by Patricia Thomas.
Some plays explore the dynamics of relationships, and what happens when “things break.” They include Dating in New England in the Wintertime, by Jayne Hannah, One on One by Elaine Brousseau, Game Changer, by Kay Bullard, and Change of Life, by H.B. Ussach. Up in the Air, by Ben Jolivet, award-winning playwright and Playwright-in-Residence of the Wilbury Theatre in Providence, RI, will end the evening.
Playwrights’ Panels, offering talk-backs with the playwrights, punctuate the Marathon.
Playwrights from the Greater New Bedford area include Andrew Clarke, Taylor Corbett, Rob Levinson, E. Ann Sheehan, Ray Veary, Gerald FitzGerald, James Marlow, Ian Vincent, and Harvey Ussach. Also included are plays by Candace Perry, of Wellfleet, and Elaine Brousseau, Kay Bullard, James Celenza, David Eliet, James English, Jayne Hannah, Gayle Hanrahan, Barbara Schweitzer, David Eliet, Katherine Sheridan, Monica Staaf, Martha Douglas-Osmudson, Ben Jolivet, and Jim Sullivan of Providence, Rhode Island, and Vicki Meagher, of Nashua, New Hampshire,
Actors and Directors include Tracy Allard, Fred Cabral, Andrew Clarke, Tracy Oliverio-Clarke, Bob Colonna, Taylor Corbett, Derek Correveau, John Costa, Korey Pimental, Carol Drewes, Eli Amartins, Michele Mastroianni-Darche, Grace Mastrioanni, Max Mastrioanni, Nancy Leary, Nicole Conlon-McCombe, Tim McCombe, Kris O’Brien, Chantal Deane, Eric Paradis, Caroline Paradis, Alyn Carlson, Jim Sullivan, Margaret Melozzi, Chuck Doherty, Ian Vincent, Tom Grady, Joseph Twomey, Ray Veary, Patricia Thomas, Hillary Webster, Christina Wolfskehl, Chuck Smiler, Harvey Ussach, and others.
Enjoy the day in the comfort of the Whaling Museum auditorium, and come and go as you want!
Tickets are $20 for the full event, and $15, for afternoon or evening only.
Senior and Student tickets are $15 for the full event, $10 for afternoon or evening only.
Tickets may be purchased at the door at any time during the event. For information and to make reservations call Culture*Park at 774-202-0588 or email culturepark.ed@earthlink.net or by contacting via facebook. Tickets may be picked up and paid for at the door. Group rates are available. Full schedule of plays with times, will be posted online, and in the newspaper. Visit our web site at culturepark.org for information about Culture*Park and the Short Plays Marathon.
The Culture*Park Short Plays Marathon began in 2001 when a group of local writers met with Culture*Park theatre artists to discuss finding a way to present new short plays. The first Marathon took place at the Unitarian Church on Eighth Street in New Bedford. It has been a signature theatre event for new plays ever since.
The Culture*Park Short Plays Marathon gives playwrights opportunity to hear their plays before an audience, and to be a direct part of the collaborative process by attending rehearsals, and has been a first venue for numerous new works. Over 300 plays have been presented over the past 15 Marathons. Plays are by award-winning writers, playwrights and poets, alongside works by new writers and students. Plays presented at past Marathons have found further development and full productions.•••
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