FAITHLESS Set for December at Boston Playwrights' Theatre

Boston Playwrights' Theatre (BPT) continues its 2016-17 season with Faithless by Andrew JosepH Clarke. Running from December 8-18, this new drama is directed by Stephen Pick.

Faithless centers on two generations of an Irish-American family who gather in a hospital waiting room while awaiting the passing of their family matriarch. The unexpected return of Skip-the family black sheep-causes decades of baggage to resurface.

Playwright Clarke says the characters in the play will be familiar to area audiences and the play's themes widely relatable.

"While this story is by no means autobiographical, these are the people I know, these voices, these characters, are people any Boston audience would recognize," Clarke says. "We take family dynamics for granted but they're universal in a way-so everyone has this innate shared vocabulary, a shared understanding when watching a family in crisis. . . Family is the perfect example of how nobody can ever fully comprehend the experience and the existence of another person, no connection is absolute, even if those people know everything you've ever done since birth, even when they know all your secrets and failures. People can't ever form an absolute connection, and you have to accept what you do have or else you end up abandoning it entirely."

A post-show conversation with the playwright, director, and cast members of Faithless will follow the Dec. 10performance.

Clarke is a member of the Boston University M.F.A. Playwriting Program class of 2017. His work has been produced at Sarah Lawrence College and in various festivals around New York, most notably the 2012 run of his first play Outside Providence at the Cherry Lane Theatre as part of the New York International Fringe Festival. Director Pick is working toward his M.F.A. in Directing, also at Boston University. He is originally from Portland, Oregon, where he co-founded Valley Repertory Theatre in 2011.

The cast of Faithless includes Maureen Keiller, Abby Knipp, Greg Maraio and Christine Power.

Five of this season's plays were written by the Boston University M.F.A. Playwriting Program class of 2017. Four of them, including Faithless, are being co-produced with the Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre-part of its New Play Initiative-and feature collaborations between graduate-level playwrights and directors.

BPT's season continues in January with The Atheist by Playwriting faculty member Ronan Noone; The Honey Trap by Leo McGann (February); Franklin by Samantha Noble (March); and Every Piece of Me (April) by Mary Conroy.

Founded in 1981 at Boston University by Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott, Boston Playwrights' Theatre (BPT) is an award-winning professional theatre dedicated to new works. At the heart of BPT's mission is the production of new plays by alumni of its M.F.A. Playwriting Program, the latter in collaboration with Boston University's renowned School of Theatre. The program's award-winning alumni have been produced in regional and New York houses, as well as in London's West End. BPT's productions have been honored with numerous regional and Boston awards, including 12 IRNE Awards for Best New Script and six Boston Critics' Association Elliot Norton Awards.

The BU New Play Initiative (NPI) expresses the Boston University College of Fine Arts' commitment to the School of Theatre's participation in the development of new work. This special initiative provides playwrights, directors, designers, and actors with a variety of developmental options to support the collaborative creation of new work for the theatre. Students, faculty, alumni, and guest artists are given the opportunity to utilize the creativity of the rehearsal room to develop their plays, which are then presented through workshop productions. The life of these new plays doesn't end on the BU stages. Many New Play Initiative productions are often later fully produced by member companies of our Professional Theatre Initiative, including the School of Theatre's professional extension-Boston Center for American Performance. www.bu.edu/cfa/npi

Founded in 1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized private research university with more than 30,000 students participating in undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs. BU consists of 17 colleges and schools along with a number of multi-disciplinary centers and institutes which are central to the school's research and teaching mission. Established in 1954, Boston University College of Fine Arts is a top-tier fine arts institution. Comprised of the School of Music, School of Theatre, and School of Visual Arts, CFA offers professional training in the arts in conservatory-style environments for undergraduate and graduate students, complemented by a liberal arts curriculum for undergraduate students.

Playwright ANDREW JosepH ClarkE is a third-year graduate student in Boston University's Playwriting M.F.A. program, and a Boston native. He received his B.A. at Sarah Lawrence College in 2013, and has since been a licensing associate for Samuel French, a literary intern or Ensemble Studio Theatre, and a Graduate Teaching Fellow at BU where he taught his own undergraduate class. His work has been produced at Sarah Lawrence and in various festivals around New York, most notably the 2012 run of his first play Outside Providence at the Cherry Lane Theatre as part of the New York International Fringe Festival.

Director STEPHEN PICK is a director from Portland, Oregon, where he co-founded Valley Repertory Theatre in 2011. As Artistic Director, he has enjoyed developing new plays in addition to giving fresh life to established works. A signature piece for the company, the Stories of Newberg series has produced four new plays since Valley Rep's inception. Created in an ensemble-driven environment and based on true stories of local people, Walk a Mile, A Break in the Clouds, In the Family of Things, and O Little Town have been some of his most rewarding projects.

Transplanted to Boston to earn his M.F.A. at Boston University, Stephen's recent productions include Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, David Lindsay-Abaire's Rabbit Hole, and JanuszG?owacki's Hunting Cockroaches. Other favorite directing credits include My Name is Asher Lev adapted byAaron Posner, It's a Wonderful Life adapted by James W. Rodgers, Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, and The Lion in Winter by James W. Rodgers. Stephen directs in both Spanish and English.

IF YOU GO:

Faithless by Andrew JosepH Clarke

Directed by Stephen Pick

December 8-18, 2016

Press Night: Saturday, December 10 (8 p.m.)

Thurs. 7:30 p.m., Fri. and Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m.

Two generations of an Irish-American family gather in a hospital waiting room while awaiting the passing of their family matriarch. But when black sheep Skip unexpectedly returns, decades of baggage surface. A funny and moving look at family, faith, and forgiveness.

A BU New Play Initiative production, produced by Boston Playwrights' Theatre and the Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre.

Boston Playwrights' Theatre
949 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215

Adults ($30); BU Faculty/Staff ($25); Seniors-62+ ($25); Students with valid ID ($10); Three-Play Flex Pass ($50)

Call 866.811.4111 or visit www.bostonplaywrights.org

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