BEASTS Comes to Boston Playwrights' Theatre

Boston Playwrights' Theatre (BPT) concludes its 2021-22 season with Beasts by Cayenne Douglass. Running from April 7-17, the play is directed by Kelly Galvin.

The drama centers on the relationship between sisters-and on the secrets that are unearthed-when artist Judy pays a surprise visit to pregnant suburbanite Fran.

Playwright Douglass says she was moved to write this play because she found herself at the center of many conversations with friends regarding feelings around pregnancy.

"Women who were pregnant spoke about the loneliness of pregnancy and the abandonment of their childless friends-as well as friends who were not pregnant, but wanted to be-and shared that it was too painful to be around pregnant women and babies because they felt a guttural rage that they couldn't logically reconcile," Douglass says. "There are many plays and movies where we see men express their feelings in a 'balls-to-the-walls' manner, men at each other's throats, glorifying 'the chaos of American manhood.' But what about the chaos of womanhood? What about the bestial instincts, and rage, and action that women experience? We don't see it, or when we do, women are written off as being bitchy, or worse, something comical to laugh at."

Douglass says her primary goal for this production is to understand, on a deeper level, what she has written so that she may continue to evolve Beasts. She's also looking forward to being "in the room" for the next phase of the play's development.

"Writing is a such a solidary activity and I like that part of it, but even more I like collaborating in person," she says. "It's been forever since I've had this chance, and I'm so here for it! I'm also so eager to see what the designers do. This is my first full-length production, so I've never had a set built for one of my plays and had people thinking conceptually about lights, costumes, sound, etc. It's a great relief to have a team of people focused on how to tell the story. I can't wait to see how all the elements come together."

Douglass's work has been developed or produced at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Take Ten Theatre Masters, Fresh Ink Theatre, New Perspectives Theatre Company and Dixon Place, among others. Her full-length play Maiden Voyage won three KCACTF national awards: The Lorraine Hansberry Award (2nd Place), The Rosa Parks Award (Distinguished Achievement) and The Paula Vogel Playwriting Award (Distinguished Achievement). Additionally, Maiden Voyage is on the Kilroy List 2020 and was a Bay Area Festival Finalist in 2021. She is a member of Boston University's M.F.A. Playwriting Program class of 2021. Director Galvin has worked as a director and assistant director for Shakespeare & Company, Gloucester Stage, Boston Playwrights' Theatre, Berkshire Playwrights' Lab and WAM Theatre, among others. She received a 2018 Directing Fellowship with Asolo Rep and has completed directing internships with Arena Stage and Bedlam NYC. Galvin holds an M.F.A. from Boston University.

All the plays in BPT's 2021-22 season were written by the Boston University M.F.A. Playwriting Program class of 2021. Originally slated for the 2020-2021 season, the productions were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The plays are co-produced with the Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre as part of its New Play Initiative.

BPT's season of new plays concludes with this production.

BPT requires proof of full COVID-19 vaccination (two weeks after second dose in primary series) for all patrons, regardless of age, to attend our performances; booster doses are strongly recommended. Audiences are required to wear masks for the duration of their visit. Up-to-the-minute information regarding performance schedules, COVID-19 protocols and ticketing can be found on the BPT website (www.BostonPlaywrights.org) under Visit Us > COVID-19 Safety.

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