"Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter..."
from 'Ode on a Grecian Urn', by John Keats
Second Evening of Original One Act Plays
Friday, June 9 at 7:00pm
East Bridgewater Public Library
32 Union Street, East Bridgewater
Admission is free and open to the public.
Please RSVP here.
Recommended for ages 13+ due to some subject matter and language.
Open captioning will be provided for audience members with limited auditory abilities.
Friday, June 9 at 7:00pm
East Bridgewater Public Library
32 Union Street, East Bridgewater
Admission is free and open to the public.
Please RSVP here.
Recommended for ages 13+ due to some subject matter and language.
Open captioning will be provided for audience members with limited auditory abilities.
Playwright, MJ Halberstadt
MJ Halberstadt is a Boston-based playwright and alumnus of Emerson College (BA Theatre Education) and Boston University (MFA Playwriting). Full-lengths include Brute (Pingree School), Grindr (and other concerns) (The Survivalists), i don't know where we're going but i promise we're lost (Boston Teen Acting Troupe), That Time the House Burned Down (Fresh Ink Theatre, Reva Shiner Comedy Award Finalist), The Launch Prize (Bridge Rep of Boston, Elliott Norton Award for "Outstanding New Script"), and not Jenny (Bridge Rep of Boston). His work has been acknowledged and developed by: BCA/CompanyOne PlayLab, Boston University's Creative Writing Global Fellowship, KCACTF Region 1 Conference, Last Frontier Theatre Conference, and MASS MoCA’s Assets 4 Artists Grant. He is a founding member of Bridge Repertory Theater, member of Dramatists Guild of America, Inc, and affiliated faculty at Emerson College. He escaped Long Island and currently lives just West of Boston with his husband and their coffee maker. MJHalberstadt.com.
MJ Halberstadt is a Boston-based playwright and alumnus of Emerson College (BA Theatre Education) and Boston University (MFA Playwriting). Full-lengths include Brute (Pingree School), Grindr (and other concerns) (The Survivalists), i don't know where we're going but i promise we're lost (Boston Teen Acting Troupe), That Time the House Burned Down (Fresh Ink Theatre, Reva Shiner Comedy Award Finalist), The Launch Prize (Bridge Rep of Boston, Elliott Norton Award for "Outstanding New Script"), and not Jenny (Bridge Rep of Boston). His work has been acknowledged and developed by: BCA/CompanyOne PlayLab, Boston University's Creative Writing Global Fellowship, KCACTF Region 1 Conference, Last Frontier Theatre Conference, and MASS MoCA’s Assets 4 Artists Grant. He is a founding member of Bridge Repertory Theater, member of Dramatists Guild of America, Inc, and affiliated faculty at Emerson College. He escaped Long Island and currently lives just West of Boston with his husband and their coffee maker. MJHalberstadt.com.
Playwright, G.L. Horton
G. L. (Geralyn) Horton has been doing theatre since age 5: she wrote plays for classmates while in grade school, and has kept right on writing them. The IRS considers her a Performing Arts Professional, although it is a rare year when the remuneration for her efforts doesn't end up in the "loss" column. From 1982-2002, Horton reviewed Boston theatre for local weeklies and on the national web site AisleSay.com. The T Show, Horton's play-with-music about being the first woman trolly Starter for the MBTA, ran at the People's Theatre1979-80; and her play set in a threatened Boston abortion clinic, Under Siege (aka Choices) was picked for Redford's Sundance Lab in 1990. Horton performed Rosanna Alfaro's Martha Mitchell at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1987; and from 1991-2002 Christina Chan toured Horton's Unbinding Our Lives, monologues in the voices of women who were brought illegally into America during the years of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Ms. Chan helmed a 25th anniversary revival of Unbinding this year, which also found Horton singing in the chorus of the Needham Community Theatre premiere of Miriam Raiken-Kolb's Precious Bane the Musical, for which Horton was book writer and co-lyricist.
G. L. (Geralyn) Horton has been doing theatre since age 5: she wrote plays for classmates while in grade school, and has kept right on writing them. The IRS considers her a Performing Arts Professional, although it is a rare year when the remuneration for her efforts doesn't end up in the "loss" column. From 1982-2002, Horton reviewed Boston theatre for local weeklies and on the national web site AisleSay.com. The T Show, Horton's play-with-music about being the first woman trolly Starter for the MBTA, ran at the People's Theatre1979-80; and her play set in a threatened Boston abortion clinic, Under Siege (aka Choices) was picked for Redford's Sundance Lab in 1990. Horton performed Rosanna Alfaro's Martha Mitchell at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1987; and from 1991-2002 Christina Chan toured Horton's Unbinding Our Lives, monologues in the voices of women who were brought illegally into America during the years of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Ms. Chan helmed a 25th anniversary revival of Unbinding this year, which also found Horton singing in the chorus of the Needham Community Theatre premiere of Miriam Raiken-Kolb's Precious Bane the Musical, for which Horton was book writer and co-lyricist.
Playwright, Rosa Nagle
Rosa Nagle is an experimental playwright and a published poet who was born in Winthrop and raised in Revere. She was born to Italian immigrant parents. She combines poetry and movement in her drama. Abstract and Real worlds mingle onstage in her favored writing style of magic realism. And she strives to appeal to all the senses when writing both poetry and drama, to write beyond the visual. She writes both indoor and outdoor theater, and she is a writer and co-producer of the summer troupe Contemporary Park Shorts. She attended the University of Massachusetts at Boston, and earned a BA in English. She is an alumni of Company One Theatre of Boston, having been in the PlayLab and Masterclass in 2016. She has participated in Boston-area festivals for her short works: Swan Day, 2014, and Random Acts 12, in 2015. Her one-act play, On The Death Of June, was performed in New York City in 2014, during the NYNW Festival, 2014. Her play Blood Cake was adapted into a radio play by OnAir Players in 2015. Her plays have had staged readings in NYC, Houston, and in local venues. This year, her play Ghost Stories was a Semi-Finalist for the Eugene O'Neill prize. And, two of her plays were published in literary magazines. Rosa Nagle is married and has two children. She now resides in Ashland.
Rosa Nagle is an experimental playwright and a published poet who was born in Winthrop and raised in Revere. She was born to Italian immigrant parents. She combines poetry and movement in her drama. Abstract and Real worlds mingle onstage in her favored writing style of magic realism. And she strives to appeal to all the senses when writing both poetry and drama, to write beyond the visual. She writes both indoor and outdoor theater, and she is a writer and co-producer of the summer troupe Contemporary Park Shorts. She attended the University of Massachusetts at Boston, and earned a BA in English. She is an alumni of Company One Theatre of Boston, having been in the PlayLab and Masterclass in 2016. She has participated in Boston-area festivals for her short works: Swan Day, 2014, and Random Acts 12, in 2015. Her one-act play, On The Death Of June, was performed in New York City in 2014, during the NYNW Festival, 2014. Her play Blood Cake was adapted into a radio play by OnAir Players in 2015. Her plays have had staged readings in NYC, Houston, and in local venues. This year, her play Ghost Stories was a Semi-Finalist for the Eugene O'Neill prize. And, two of her plays were published in literary magazines. Rosa Nagle is married and has two children. She now resides in Ashland.
Playwright, John Minigan
John Minigan’s plays have been produced throughout the US and in Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia. He has developed new work with the Orlando Shakespeare Theater, the New American Playwrights Project, New Repertory Theatre (Boston), and Actors’ Repertory Theatre of Vermont; his work has been twice honored with Massachusetts Cultural Council grants, selected three times for the Samuel French Festival, and published in the Best Ten-Minute Plays (Smith & Kraus), Outstanding Short Plays (Dramatists Play Service), Best American Short Plays (Applause), and New England New Play Anthology (New Play Alliance). He is a four-time winner of the Firehouse New Works Contest, a winner of the Nantucket Short Play Contest, the Rover Dramawerks Competition, the Longwood 0-60 Contest, New York’s 8-Minute Madness Festival, the Nor’Eastern Playwriting Contest, Seoul Players Contest and the KNOCK International Short Play Competition. When not writing, John teaches theater, writing and Shakespeare in the Boston area. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild. Please visit johnminigan.com.
John Minigan’s plays have been produced throughout the US and in Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia. He has developed new work with the Orlando Shakespeare Theater, the New American Playwrights Project, New Repertory Theatre (Boston), and Actors’ Repertory Theatre of Vermont; his work has been twice honored with Massachusetts Cultural Council grants, selected three times for the Samuel French Festival, and published in the Best Ten-Minute Plays (Smith & Kraus), Outstanding Short Plays (Dramatists Play Service), Best American Short Plays (Applause), and New England New Play Anthology (New Play Alliance). He is a four-time winner of the Firehouse New Works Contest, a winner of the Nantucket Short Play Contest, the Rover Dramawerks Competition, the Longwood 0-60 Contest, New York’s 8-Minute Madness Festival, the Nor’Eastern Playwriting Contest, Seoul Players Contest and the KNOCK International Short Play Competition. When not writing, John teaches theater, writing and Shakespeare in the Boston area. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild. Please visit johnminigan.com.
One Act Play Director, Liana Asim
Liana Asim is a director/playwright/actor. She is The Front Porch Arts Collective Playwright-In-Residence as well as a Company One PlayLab Fellow and Curator of the FPAC--God’s Closet Reading Series at Central Square Theatre. She recently directed and co-wrote the world premiere of a family musical, The Hairy Scary for The Outside the Box festival 2016. She was also recently seen on stage as Mai Tamba in The Convert at Central Square Theater--winner of the Elliot Norton Award for Most Outstanding production. She is the proud wife of author Jabari Asim, mother to five brilliant children and a grandmother of two delightful grandbabes.
Liana Asim is a director/playwright/actor. She is The Front Porch Arts Collective Playwright-In-Residence as well as a Company One PlayLab Fellow and Curator of the FPAC--God’s Closet Reading Series at Central Square Theatre. She recently directed and co-wrote the world premiere of a family musical, The Hairy Scary for The Outside the Box festival 2016. She was also recently seen on stage as Mai Tamba in The Convert at Central Square Theater--winner of the Elliot Norton Award for Most Outstanding production. She is the proud wife of author Jabari Asim, mother to five brilliant children and a grandmother of two delightful grandbabes.
One Act Play Director, Erica Simpson
With Artists from Suburbia; the Moon. And she, (director). Erica is an Actor and Theatre Artist who graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2012 with a B.A. in Theater, emphasis in Performance. Since that time she has worked with a number of professional companies in a myriad of creative and managerial roles, including work as a Scenic Carpenter, Sound Technician, Stage Manager, and Touring House Manager, but always finds her way back to the stage. Most recently, she spent two years as a Creative Associate and Actor with The Bay Colony Shakespeare Company. Past credits include: The Winter’s Tale (Perdita, BCSC), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Peter Quince, BCSC), Blue Window (Alice, Brown Box Theatre Project), Macbeth (Lady Macbeth, BCSC), Hamlet (Horatio, BCSC), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet, Under the Stars Productions). Erica is also a Licensed Massage Therapist, and intends to continue studying various massage and body work modalities with the intention of building treatments to supplement voice work.
With Artists from Suburbia; the Moon. And she, (director). Erica is an Actor and Theatre Artist who graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2012 with a B.A. in Theater, emphasis in Performance. Since that time she has worked with a number of professional companies in a myriad of creative and managerial roles, including work as a Scenic Carpenter, Sound Technician, Stage Manager, and Touring House Manager, but always finds her way back to the stage. Most recently, she spent two years as a Creative Associate and Actor with The Bay Colony Shakespeare Company. Past credits include: The Winter’s Tale (Perdita, BCSC), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Peter Quince, BCSC), Blue Window (Alice, Brown Box Theatre Project), Macbeth (Lady Macbeth, BCSC), Hamlet (Horatio, BCSC), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet, Under the Stars Productions). Erica is also a Licensed Massage Therapist, and intends to continue studying various massage and body work modalities with the intention of building treatments to supplement voice work.
One Act Play Director, Lisa Troy
Lisa is currently on faculty in the Theater Department of Bridgewater State University and serves as Producing Artistic Director of BSU’s Family Performing Arts Center, where she recently produced sold-out productions of Seussical the Musical and Beauty and the Beast (winner of the 2016 Moss Hart Award for Outstanding Production in New England), as well as co-directed Mary Poppins. Additionally, Lisa currently serves as director of Arts for Youth, a year round arts program in Bridgewater which encourages children of all ages to experience the joy of performing and visual arts. Lisa has her undergraduate degree in Theater Arts from UMass-Boston, and a M.Ed. in Integrated Arts and Teaching from Lesley University. Lisa worked for many years with the Living with AIDS Theater Project, designing curricula and developing original theater scripts at a variety of high schools in the Boston area. Lisa worked as actor, stage manager, lighting designer, and Board Member for Theater Works, an innovative Boston theater group whose primary mission was to develop new scripts. She also performed with numerous local theater companies, including the Lyric Stage, the New Ehrlich, Publick Summer Theater, the Nickerson, Wheelock Family Theater, and Merrimack Repertory Theater. For nine summers, Lisa worked at Summer Arts for Derby in Hingham, directing numerous Mainstage Musicals, and teaching drama classes in Storytelling, Radio Drama, Creative Dramatics, Auditioning, and Make-up for the Stage. As a drama specialist, Lisa has had over 20 years teaching experience, working in a variety of public school systems including Cambridge, Boston, East Boston, South Boston, Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, Dorchester, Brockton, and Bridgewater. She was a storyteller-in-residence for several years at the Paul A. Dever School in Dorchester, and has been designing and leading professional development workshops for teachers on Drama infusion in the Classroom for the past twelve years. Lisa worked as a Drama Consultant for the Cambridge Public Schools between 1996 - 2005, where she enjoyed working with hundreds of K-8 students and their teachers, enhancing their curricula with drama, and directing numerous curriculum-based productions.
Lisa is currently on faculty in the Theater Department of Bridgewater State University and serves as Producing Artistic Director of BSU’s Family Performing Arts Center, where she recently produced sold-out productions of Seussical the Musical and Beauty and the Beast (winner of the 2016 Moss Hart Award for Outstanding Production in New England), as well as co-directed Mary Poppins. Additionally, Lisa currently serves as director of Arts for Youth, a year round arts program in Bridgewater which encourages children of all ages to experience the joy of performing and visual arts. Lisa has her undergraduate degree in Theater Arts from UMass-Boston, and a M.Ed. in Integrated Arts and Teaching from Lesley University. Lisa worked for many years with the Living with AIDS Theater Project, designing curricula and developing original theater scripts at a variety of high schools in the Boston area. Lisa worked as actor, stage manager, lighting designer, and Board Member for Theater Works, an innovative Boston theater group whose primary mission was to develop new scripts. She also performed with numerous local theater companies, including the Lyric Stage, the New Ehrlich, Publick Summer Theater, the Nickerson, Wheelock Family Theater, and Merrimack Repertory Theater. For nine summers, Lisa worked at Summer Arts for Derby in Hingham, directing numerous Mainstage Musicals, and teaching drama classes in Storytelling, Radio Drama, Creative Dramatics, Auditioning, and Make-up for the Stage. As a drama specialist, Lisa has had over 20 years teaching experience, working in a variety of public school systems including Cambridge, Boston, East Boston, South Boston, Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, Dorchester, Brockton, and Bridgewater. She was a storyteller-in-residence for several years at the Paul A. Dever School in Dorchester, and has been designing and leading professional development workshops for teachers on Drama infusion in the Classroom for the past twelve years. Lisa worked as a Drama Consultant for the Cambridge Public Schools between 1996 - 2005, where she enjoyed working with hundreds of K-8 students and their teachers, enhancing their curricula with drama, and directing numerous curriculum-based productions.