Boston Playwrights Theatre Announces 2010-11 Season

Boston Playwrights' Theatre starts its 2010/2011 season close to home with Five Down, One Across, a comedy by recent Boston Playwrights' Theatre alum Michael Towers. In Five Down, One Across, Betty relocates her 85-year-old mother to her not-so-ordinary Brookline home, but now she's got to tell the truth about her failed marriage, her mysterious pet, her prestigious career and her sixteen-year relationship with her "roommate" Sharon. A serio-comic look at "coming out" in more ways than one. Directed by Sidney Friedman and featuring Alice Duffy and Chloe Leamon.

From Boston to Bangalore, Boston Playwrights' Theatre flies to the Indian subcontinent in Two Wives in India by Boston Playwrights' Theatre alumna Leslie Harrell Dillen. Becca and Mary Jo arrive in Delhi for the marriage of Emily, their daughter and stepdaughter respectively. Becca and Mary Jo may have had the same husband, but they share little else in common. Emily's marriage to Jaskanvar puts an emotional strain on the two women as they deal with culture shock and the death of Emily's father Sam. Directed by M. Bevin O'Gara and featuring Karen MacDonald, Two Wives in India asks when should we hold on and when should we let go.

Then it's off to Swansea, Wales, once again as Boston Playwrights' Theatre and Boston Children's Theatre present Dylan Thomas' A Children's Christmas in Wales, adapted by Burgess Clark. As seen through the eyes of a young Dylan Thomas, this second annual production retains the wonder and charm of last winter's performances with Christmas carols, presents, odd relatives, and yes, freshly fallen snow. Originally commissioned and performed by the National Theatre of the Deaf, Clark's adaptation stays true to the best of Thomas' vision, all the while leading to new wonderments.

The globetrotting continues with Walking The Volcano by Jon Lipsky-a collaboration between Boston Playwrights' Theatre and the Boston Center for American Performance. Walking the Volcano showcases a series of short vignettes exploring intense love relationships, those ranging from a meeting in an airplane bathroom over the Pacific to a tryst in a seedy room in Saigon during the Tet Offensive. Lipsky's characters are nothing if not complex, compelling, vindictive and in a search of truth, and there's no one better at writing dramatic confrontation. We've all walked the volcano at some point in our lives.

Finally, in celebration of Boston Playwrights' Theatre's 30th Anniversary, Underground Railway Theater and Boston Playwrights' Theatre present Ti-Jean and his Brothers by Boston Playwrights' Theatre founder and Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott. Directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian, with music and sound from Zili Misik's Kera Washington, the festive stop of the season is Haiti where Ti-Jean and his brothers enter into a dangerous game of chance with the Devil. This play with music is Walcott's celebration of life in the Caribbean, and it's at once a funny, dark and moving fable. Ti-Jean and His Brothers is not only a fitting addition to a season explored around the world, it begins our year-long celebration of 30 years of presenting new works in Boston.

September 30 - October 24
Five Down One Across
by Michael Towers
at Boston Playwrights' Theatre
949 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215

For tickets call 866.811.4111 or visit bostonplaywrights.org
$30/General Admission - $25/Seniors (62+) - $10/Students (with valid ID)

October 28 - November 21
Two Wives in India
by Leslie Harrell Dillen
at Boston Playwrights' Theatre
949 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215

For tickets call 866.811.4111 or visit bostonplaywrights.org
$30/General Admission - $25/Seniors (62+) - $10/Students (with valid ID)

December 1 - December 30
Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales
adapted by Burgess Clark
produced in collaboration with Boston Children's Theatre
at the Boston Center for the Arts
539 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02116

Tickets available soon.

February 10 - March 13
Ti-Jean & His Brothers
by Derek Walcott
produced in collaboration with Underground Railway Theater
at Central Square Theater
450 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139

For tickets call 866.811.4111 or visit centralsquaretheater.org
$40.00/Adult - $30.00/Seniors (60+) - $25.00/ Student (w/ University ID) - $15.00/Student (12-18)

April 14 - May 1
Walking the Volcano
by John Lipsky
produced in collaboration with Boston Center for American Performance
at Boston Playwrights' Theatre
949 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215

For tickets call 866.811.4111 or visit bostonplaywrights.org
$30/General Admission - $25/Seniors (62+) - $10/Students (with valid ID)

Playwrights' Pass Subscriptions available at bostonplaywrights.org or call 617.353.5443