Lauren Ambrose, Jay Thomas, Treat Williams and More Set for 2015 Berkshire Playwrights Lab Opening Gala Tonight

The Berkshire Playwrights Lab (BPL) will present its Eighth Annual Multimedia Gala Celebration tonight, June 5, 2015, at 8:00PM at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center.

The benefit evening will feature plays written for BPL by Chiara Atik, Joe Cacaci (BPL Co-Artistic Director), Richard Dresser and Dean Imperial. The Gala cast will include Lauren Ambrose, Jay Thomas, Treat Williams and others. In addition to the readings, "Love, Dad," a film starring Treat Williams and a number of Berkshire-area "extras," will premiere at the Gala.

Gala packages start at $250 and include the performance at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center (Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center,14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA) and reception next door at Castle Street Cafe. Gala tickets are available directly through BPL; call 413-528-2544 or visit www.berkshireplaywrightslab.org for more information. $50 show-only tickets are available through the Mahaiwe Box Office at 413-528-0100 or mahaiwe.org.

Proceeds from the Gala fundraiser help support BPL's Free Staged Reading series throughout the summer. There is no admission cost for BPL's readings (although reservations are required), providing area audiences a free opportunity to be part of the creative process through talkbacks and access to artists. This year's readings take place on the following Wednesdays at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center: June 24, July 15, July 29 and August 12.

Berkshire Playwrights Lab is the region's only theater exclusively dedicated to the development of new plays. BPL's mission is to provide new and established playwrights with a secure space in which they may develop new work and explore new avenues of creativity. More than 30 short and 35 full-length plays have been presented since 2007. Two plays presented under the BPL banner in recent years are being given full productions this summer. "Closure," by Richard Dresser (BPL 2013), will be presented by New Jersey Repertory Company under the direction of Joe Cacaci and starring Wendie Malick and Gary Cole. "Mother of the Maid," by Jane Anderson (BPL 2014), will be performed closer to home at Shakespeare and Company, directed by Matthew Penn and starring Tina Packer.

BPL plays go from the table to the stage in four days. Playwrights see their nascent works, still in development, acted by talented professional actors, allowing the writer to see where actors and directors stumble and what comes to life effortlessly. The talkback, held after every show, is an opportunity for the audience to have a role in shaping these new works. BPL playwrights state that the process is invaluable and saves them months of solitary labor. Past writers and performers have included Tony Shalhoub, Treat Williams, Dan Lauria, Wendie Malick, Eric Bogosian, Elaine May and David Mamet. Berkshire Playwrights Lab Co-Artistic Directors are Joseph Cacaci, Jim Frangione and Matthew Penn, all with long professional careers as actors, directors and writers for both stage and screen. Their complete bios may be found here: www.berkshireplaywrightslab.org/category/who-we-are/.

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