Our Voices

Another Women's Play Festival worth attending this spring!

Congratulations to the following playwrights (some of whom are also featured in Our Voices 6 on March 24)who will be produced in the upcoming Image Theater's Fem Noire Festival to take place March 30 & 31, 2012 in Lowell, produced by Ann Garvin (who has previously co-produced Our Voices)

Wife Of Bobbo by M. Lynda Robinson
Zen Mode by Lynda Vernailia
Gay Paree by Andrea Fleck Clardy

Lapse by Gail Phaneuf
One Moment by Deborah Evans Hogan
House Broken by Monica Bauer
The Hollywood Alphabet by Britt Mitchell
The Parting Gift by Leslie Powell
The Waiting Room by Karla Sorenson

For more info about  "the only women’s playwriting
festival in the Merrimack Valley," go to Image Theater.

Our Voices 6 Morning Critique Group - Participating Playwrights & Plays

Our Voices Festival producers, Kelly DuMar and Wendy Lement, are pleased to invite the following women playwrights to be part of the 6^th Annual Our Voices Festival to present an informal reading and discussion with the all the festival playwrights during the 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. morning discussion group on March 24, 2012:

Rebecca Saunders, The Daffodil – A Spring Play

Debbie Weiss, Welcome Inn

K. Alexa Mavromatis, The Quiz

Andrea Fleck Clardy, In the Arms of the Tornado

Ann Marie Shea, Final Witness

We’ll meet in the Black Box Theatre of the Regis College Fine Arts Center, Regis College, Weston, MA, and the time will be shared by the five playwrights. Kelly and Wendy will facilitate.

For more info about the festival, e-mail Kelly DuMar.

6th Annual Our Voices Festival, March 24, 2012, Regis College Fine Arts Center Black Box

2012 Our Voices Selected Plays & Playwrights 

The 6^th Annual Our Voices Festival producers are pleased to announce the line-up of playwrights and plays for the Evening of Staged Readings to be held Saturday March 24, 2012, 7:00 p.m., in the Black Box Theatre, Fine Arts Center, Regis College, Weston, MA. This event is FREE and open to the public.  No advance reservations are possible; seating is on a first come first served basis. The Black Box is wheelchair accessible. There is a complimentary cheese & cracker reception in the lobby at 7:00 p.m. prior to the staged readings. There will be an audience discussion with the playwrights and guest dramaturg following the performances.

We look forward to sharing this 6^th annual evening celebrating Boston area women’s plays in development as staged readings performed by exceptionally talented Boston area actors! This annual all-day SWAN DAY (Support Women Artists Now) celebration also features a morning of more informal readings of women playwrights (TBA) and an afternoon workshop for participating playwrights. It’s going to be a great evening, and we look forward to sharing it with you!

The following is a list of plays and playwrights in no particular order (the line-up will change).

Wendy Lement, Six Pairs of Hands (excerpt)

Kelly DuMar, Wish (short play)

Ellen Davis Sullivan, Call of Duty (excerpt)

M. Lynda Robinson, An Egg is an Egg (short play)

Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich, Attention Shoppers (short play)

Geralyn Horton, A Monologue

Sarah Moon, Arbitrage Ends in Rage (short play)

Leslie Powell, The Way Life Should Be (excerpt)

Nina Louise Morrison, Fata Morgana (short play)

For more info, please e-mail [email protected], founder and co-producer.

DIRECTIONS to the Fine Arts Center:

If traveling north on Route 95 (128), take Exit 24 to Route 30 west 1/2 mile.

If traveling south on Route 95 (128), take Exit 26 to Route 20 west. Continue approximately one mile, and make a left turn onto Wellesley Street; bear right at the fork in the road. Regis College is on the right, approximately one mile.

If traveling east on the Massachusetts Turnpike (Rte. 90), take Exit 14 to Route 30 west 1/2 mile.

If traveling west on the Massachusetts Turnpike (Rte. 90), take Exit 15 to Route 30 west. Continue approximately two miles, and make a right turn onto Wellesley Street. Regis College is on the left, approximately 1/2 mile.

From Route 9 in Wellesley, take the Weston Road exit, and go north on Weston Road which becomes Wellesley Street at the town line. Cross Route 30. Regis College is on the left, approximately 1/2 mile.

Regularly scheduled bus transportation between the campus and the Riverside MBTA station near Route 95 (128) is provided by Regis College during the academic year. Consult the Regis College website for shuttle schedules: www.regiscollege.edu.

Mark Your Calendar for the 6th Annual Our Voices Festival of Boston Area Women Playwrights, March 24, 2012, Regis College Weston Fine Arts Center Black Box

Produced by Kelly DuMar, Wendy Lement and Ann Garvin

Saturday, March 24, 6:30pmRegis College Fine Arts Center, Weston, MA
Black Box Theatre
Admission: Free and open to the public. General Seating

An evening of staged readings of new plays performed by talented Boston-area actors. This day-long event provides artistic support for local women playwrights, including Regis College students. There is an audience/playwright reception prior to the evening performance, as well as a talk-back following the plays. The festival, which is free and open to the public, is produced by Kelly DuMar, playwright and festival founder, Wendy Lement, playwright and director of Theatre Program at Regis College, and Ann Garvin of Image Theatre. Guest Dramaturg & Playwright: Sybil Roberts, who teaches playwriting at American University in Washington, DC. Participating playwrights will be announced in February. Hope to see you there!

Our Voices VI is open for submissions from Boston area women playwrights

Call for Plays – Staged readings of short works by

Boston Area Women Playwrights

 Our Voices Festival VI 

6^th Annual Celebration of Boston Area Women Playwrights!

March 24, 2012 – 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Fine Arts Center, Black Box, Regis College, Weston, MA

 Highlights of this year’s festival:

 Morning & Afternooon Workshops for Participating Playwrights (TBA)

Tech Rehearsal & Food for evening performance participants 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Welcome Reception in Lobby for friends/audience 7:00 – 7:30 p.m.

Staged Readings of New Plays by Women:  7:00 - 9:15 p.m.

Feedback & Discussion with Playwrights & Guest Dramaturg:    9:15 – 9:45 p.m.

 The 6th Annual Our Voices Festival will be produced by Kelly DuMar, Ann Garvin of Image Theater, and Wendy Lement, Regis College Theatre Dept. Chair, faculty member and participating playwright.  The festival will include free workshops for playwrights (topic & format announced soon!) and discussion with Guest Playwright & Dramaturg Sybil Roberts Williams from Washington, D.C. Thanks to the generosity of Regis College for the use of the Black Box, the festival will be free & open to the public!

 Submission Guidelines – Two Opportunities 

For the Evening Staged Readings:

• E-mail submissions only of short plays, scenes or monologues, 10 minutes or less – sorry, nothing longer can be considered, and playwrights should submit only the selected portion if the piece is from a longer work.  We’d like to include as many playwrights as possible.
• Please be sure to include your contact info, title of your piece, and production history (if any). 
• No published scripts; scripts that have had a prior staged reading are preferred.  (Please don’t send one that has been done a lot in the Boston area).
• Selected playwrights will be responsible for arranging for a director & actor(s)
• No set items, minimal tech requirements; lights up, lights down.  We’ll have a designated volunteer to read any and all stage directions.
• Selected playwrights must be willing to participate in morning or afternoon workshop as well as tech rehearsal, reception & evening of readings
• Content is open
• There is no budget at all to pay playwrights, actors or directors!  This is an all volunteer festival with a spirit of building networking and community support.
• Deadline:  Please send in Microsoft Word or pdf to [email protected] no later than January 25, 2011, sooner the better.  Selected playwrights will be notified by February 10, 2011 and a required production meeting will soon follow.

Submissions For the Morning Critique Group

 

• New Work – these are new works that have not had a prior reading that you will present informally and there will be the opportunity for feedback & discussion.  Short plays, scenes, monologues, 10 minutes or less – sorry, nothing longer can be considered, and playwrights should submit only the selected portion if the piece.
• Deadline:  Please send in microsoft Word or pdf to [email protected] no later than March 1, 2012.  Selected playwrights for the critique group will be notified by March 10, 2011.

For more information, contact Kelly DuMar ([email protected]), (508) 647-0596

Or visit: www.diarydoor.typepad.com/ourvoices

 

Madge Kaplan's play, The Last Appointment, to be produced by the Vineyard Playhouse

Our Voices participant, Madge Kaplan, will have the play she presented at the Our Voices Festival 2011, The Last Appointment, produced by the Vineyard Playhouse, Martha's Vineyard, Saturday October 8 and Sunday October 9, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. MJ Bruder Munafo will direct. Congratulations, Madge!

Evening One

Saturday October 8th
Sunday October 9th
7:30pm

THE GRADUATION OF GRACE by Wendy Kesselman

THE LAST APPOINTMENT by Madge Kaplan

SLOW TRAIN COMING by Maureen Hourihan

 

 

Our Voices Participants Have Plays in Annual Playwrights' Platform Festival

39th Annual Playwrights' Platform Festival of New Plays

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Series A: June 9, 10, 11 – 8pm
Series B: June 16, 17, 18 – 8pm

At Boston Playwrights’ Theatre
949 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02466
(directions)

Tickets: $17 ($14 qualified discounts*)
To purchase tickets, visit Boston Playwrights’ Theatre http://www.bu.edu/bpt/ or call 866-811-4111.

*Discounts are available for seniors, students; for Playwrights' Platform, NOMTI, and Stage Source members; and for BPT subscribers.

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Overview

Each year in March a Playwrights' Platform committee selects a vibrant variety of member scripts to be produced in our annual June showcase. These new short plays include comedies and dramas performed by our talented Actors-in-Residence — Boston area actors of all ages who perform our plays throughout the year. Each play has its own director, selected by the playwright, from a pool of well known and talented directors from the Boston area.

Audience members participate in the festivities by voting for their favorite plays and actors after each performance. Our festival culminates in a popular Awards Ceremony where we honor Audience Choice for Best Play, Best Actor, Best Director and Playwrights' Choice for Best Play for each series. We sell out, so get your tickets early!

Series A

Have a Nice Evening

Sherry Alpert

Christmas in Rio

Regina Eliot Ramsey*

 

The Chair

James C. Ferguson

 

Parallel Lives

Roberta Kosberg

 

Going Down

Phyllis Rittner*

 

It Doesn't

George Smart

 

Destined

Donald Tongue

 

Drive In

Scott Welty

Series B

 

Business Trip to Paris

Ludmila Anselm*

 

Inner Serendippiness

Hortense Gerardo*

 

Kiss The Twins For Me

G.L. Horton*

 

Mr. Leach and the Nurse

Michael Keamy

 

Cupid's Night Out

Chris King

 

Abby, Bert, and Millie

George Masselam

 

Do Like Papa Says

Ron Radice

 

Queen of the Ten-Minute Play

Ellen Davis Sullivan*

 

Beware the Phoebie Jeebies

Sandra Weintraub*

*Past Our Voices Festival Participant

Our Voices Participant Deirdre Girard Announces her Upcoming Play Reading

 

Our Voices Playwright, G.L. Horton, will have "Ruling Passion" performed in the Newton South High School Student Directing Festival, April 2011

Ruling Passion, by G.L. Horton, will be directed by Abi Oshins, as part of the Student Directing Festival at Newton South High School, Newton, MA, April 28, 29, 30 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $8. The festival will also include, The Land of Cockaigne by David Ives, directed by Ellie Crowley.

 

About Ruling Passion, Geralyn Horton writes: "It's an OLD play, dating back to 1974, when I was in grad school at Goddard/Cambridge working on the Women Studies M.A. I was awarded in 1976.  Some of the characters are based on women- students and teachers- I met in that program.  But the script was inspired by Arthur Kopet's One Act with a similar length and cast, "Chamber Music".  It aspired to be the second half of a Kopet/Horton double bill.  (Hasn't happened. Yet.) The first draft of Ruling Passions was read at Playwrights' Platform, the Boston writers' co-op then in the first decade of what in 2003 will be a 40 year run: probably some kind of record for longevity. The original Boston production featured as Cleopatra the then-wife of Frank Shefton, an excellent actor/playwright/singer still active locally with Up You Mighty Race and Our House theatres in Roxbury/Dorchester, and last time I checked still DJ of the blues show on MIT radio.  Ruling Passion was in a number of women's theatre festivals -- that was back when there WERE women's theatres!-- and was recorded for the blind in the mid 1980s.  Since I put the script on my web site in the mid 1990s it has had a few productions every year -- including England, Ireland,and Australia-- but never one close enough to home that I could see it. So this is a play I have not seen performed in 25 years."

 

CAST of Ruling Passion:

 

Eleanor:  Stephanie Foster
Price: Alex Levy
Mary: Jess Dagg
Cleo: Hannah Dober
Joan: Sydney Morin

Our Voices V Featured Artist, Lida McGirr

2011 Participating Playwright Artist Statement

The Poker God, A Monologue, by Lida McGirr

Our Voices Festival V

March 26, 2011

Fine Arts Center, Black Box, Regis College

Artist Statment

The Poker God was inspired by a family member.  One thing that surprises me about the monologue is that several actors have asked me if they could use it for an audition piece.  The play is built upon my strong belief that gambling is an addiction; however, one thing I have learned from this monologue is that just because I believe something to be true doesn’t make it so and vice versa.  My three wishes for this play are: 1) For it to have a companion piece written from the POV of the woman mentioned in the piece; 2) For it to be a YouTube phenomenon and 3) That it stimulates a dialogue about gambling and addiction.

 
Staged Reading Cast

Jerry Bisantz as The Poker God

PLAYWRIGHT BIO

Lida McGirr began her acting career as a 7- year-old singing and dancing leprechaun at Nathan's on Coney Island. She spent her early twenties as one of three start-up members of the Little Theater on 26th Street before moving to Boston. Since then, she's won an EMACT DASH Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, appeared as Dean Kenny in the Elliot Norton Award-winning Spinning Into Butter, received rave reviews for her portrayal of Shirley Valentine at the Amazing Things Arts Center in Framingham and most recently as Mrs. Banks in Barefoot In the Park at the Zero Point Theater in Watertown. She has directed a short opera protesting the cancellation of Saturday's at the Met, productions for libraries and private functions, as well as many local community theater productions including TCAN's award-winning A Piece of My Heart nominated for four EMACT DASH Awards. Her short plays have been performed in festivals, retirement centers, a romance novelist convention, a bakery, and board meetings throughout New England.