Plays, Playwrights & Casts Set for Barrington Stage Company's 10X10 New Play Festival

Barrington Stage Company has revealed the 10-minute plays, playwrights and casting for the 13th Annual 10X10 New Play Festival, part of the 2024 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival. 

 “The 10x10 New Play Festival is one of my favorite events at Barrington Stage,” said Alan Paul. “In the cold of the Berkshires winter season, it's so much fun to come to the theatre and see 10 new plays.  The 10x10 Festival is a great local tradition and a celebration of new plays that are funny, outrageous, smart, and always engaging.”

The Berkshire Theatre Award-Winning 10X10 New Play Festival will be presented at the St. Germain Stage at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center (36 Linden Street) with performances February 15 through March 10, 2024. The Press Opening is Sunday, February 19 at 2:00pm. Low-priced previews and general performance ticket prices start at $40, with an increase beginning January 1st, at Barrington Stage Company. You can visit here to see potential discounts.

The 10X10 New Play Festival cast features 10X10 veterans Matt Neely, BSC Associate Artist Peggy Pharr Wilson and Robert Zukerman.  Additional 10X10 casting will be announced at a later date.

  

Directors for the 10X10 New Play Festival are BSC Artistic Director Alan Paul and returning for his eighth year, Matthew Penn (BSC's Judgment Day, Typhoid Mary). An Emmy-nominated director (Law & Order), Penn is co-Artistic Director of the Berkshire Playwrights Lab in Great Barrington.

The creative team includes Peggy Walsh (costume design), Marcus Kearns (scenic design), Lucas Palweski (lighting design) and Nathan Leigh (sound design). Renee Lutz is Production Stage Manager. BSC casting is by McCorkle Casting (Pat McCorkle, CSA; Rebecca Weiss, CSA).

BSC's 2024 10X10 New Play Festival:

A Doubt My Play by Glenn Alterman

A Playwright is sitting terrified, waiting to hear the comments from the other playwrights in his playwriting group. 

Glenn Alterman BSC: 10x10 2022. He is the author of 32 theater related books, including 13 books of original monologues. He's listed on Recordsetter.com as “The Author of the Most Published Original Monologues for Actors”. His plays have won over 50 playwriting awards, including The Arts and Letters Award in Drama and the Reva Shiner Award. His plays have received productions at EST, Circle Rep, Santa Cruz Theatre, HERE, and Nylon Fusion among many other theaters, nationally and internationally. He's been awarded two international arts grants. His plays and monologues have appeared in over 45 “Best Plays” and “Best Monologues” Anthologies.

The Consultant by Brent Askari

A couple works with the most personal of consultants. 

Brent Askari BSC: Andy Warhol in Iran, American Underground, 10x10 2023. Brent is thrilled to be working with Barrington Stage Company once again! His past credits at BSC include the world premiere of Andy Warhol In Iran, which had a subsequent production at Northlight Stage in Chicago and will appear at City Theatre of Pittsburgh this spring. BSC also produced the world premiere of his play American Underground, which was a runner-up for the Burman New Play award. Gulfshore Playhouse recently presented the world premiere of his play The Refugees, which was the winner of National New Play Network's Smith Prize for Political Theatre. He was part of HBO's New Writers Project and is an affiliate artist of the NNPN and a company member of Mad Horse Theatre.

Meeting Fingerman by Mark Evan Chimsky

When novice writer Nate Crane shows his new short story, set in a small village in Eastern Europe, to his idol–-the literary lion of Yiddish fiction, Saul Fingerman–-things take an unexpected turn.

Mark Evan Chimsky BSC Debut. Mark's musical The Pledge received a staged reading as part of James Madison University's Madison New Works Lab. His short musical Albert was presented by the Boston Conservatory at Berklee as part of the Boston Theater Marathon XXIII and by the Left Coast Theatre Co. in San Francisco as part of "Queerstory: Forgotten Figures from Queer History." Mark's short play Meeting Fingerman was presented at the Seventh Annual 5-Minute Play Festival in La Jolla, California, and was chosen as a semi-finalist in the Maine Playwrights Festival. Recently, Mark's 10-minute monologue The Death of Juliet was broadcast as part of The Open Eye Theater Playtime series on WXIO radio. 

I Don't by Jordan Ealey

Erin is running away from her wedding. Her only option? Her ex-boyfriend, Aaron's, apartment of course! A play that explores the old adage: old habits die hard.

Jordan Ealey BSC Debut. Jordan is a playwright, dramaturg, and scholar currently based in upstate NY. Their plays and musicals include: Jeannette (co-bookwriter with Lauren Gunderson, music and lyrics by Ari Afsar); Silhouettes (bookwriter/co-lyricist with Ari Afsar); Women Without Virtue (Single Carrot Theatre Company); Lift Every Voice (Out of Hand Theatre); and Self Portrait with Dirty Hair (The Keegan Theatre). A dramaturg specializing in new play and musical development, Jordan has worked with institutions such as Round House Theatre, Latiné Musical Theatre Lab, Mosaic Theatre Company, and Hush Harbor Lab, among others. Currently, Jordan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Black Studies at the University of Rochester.

The Mount Greylock Fish Hawk Squawk by John Mabey

Three couples are searching for the mysterious Mount Greylock Fish Hawk. But when you're lost as well as in pursuit, sometimes being found is what really matters.

John Mabey BSC Debut. John's plays have been produced on stage in seven countries and throughout the United States, exploring themes of sexual identity and spirituality across the lifespan. Recent honors include the Panowski Playwriting Award, the Essential Theatre Playwriting Award and the Getchell New Play Award. In each of the past three years, they also had plays published in Smith & Kraus' Best 10-Minute Plays, Best Women's Monologues and Best Men's Monologues. Their award-winning full-length play A Complicated Hope will be published by Dramatic Publishing in 2024. When not writing, John enjoys teaching and performing improvised comedy and true storytelling around the world. Mabeyplays.com.

The Welcome by Jennifer Maisel  

When Greta invites Jana into her home, a shared experience – even though it's a past and future one - becomes the link that will connect them through the night.    

Jennifer Maisel BSC Debut. Plays produced nationally and internationally include Eight Nights, The Last Seder, Out of Orbit, There or Here and @thespeedofJake. The Last Seder premiered Off Broadway with Gaby Hoffmann and Greg Mullavey and the critically acclaimed Eight Nights was nominated for nine Ovation Awards, winning for Best Playwriting. Its recent production at Detroit Public Theatre received nightly standing ovations. Honored by PEN West, The Kennedy Center, the Woodward/Newman Award for Drama and The Kilroy List, Jennifer was tapped for the Humanitas PlayLA workshop, where she wrote Better, and the Travis Bogard Residency at Eugene O'Neill's Tao House, where she wrote Yellow Wallpaper 2.0 2020. She also writes film and television. JenniferMaisel.com.

Snow Falling Faintly by James McLindon

A mother and son shovel their driveway, comparing techniques for snow clearance … and life.

James McLindon BSC: 10x10 2017 & 2018. James is a member of the Nylon Fusion Theatre Company in New York. His plays have been produced or developed at theaters across America and around the world including the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference (selection and six-time semifinalist), Lark, PlayPenn, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, hotINK Festival, Irish Repertory, CAP21, Samuel French Festival, Victory Gardens, Hudson Stage, Abingdon, New Repertory, Lyric Stage, Detroit Rep, Great Plains Theatre Conference, Seven Devils, Telluride Playwrights Festival, Ashland New Plays Festival, Boston Playwrights Theatre, Colony Theatre, Theatricum Botanicum, Circus Theatricals and Arkansas Rep. They have been published by Dramatic Publishing, Smith & Kraus, Brooklyn Publishing, Applause Books, Next Stage Press, and Original Works Publishing.

High Time by Diana Metzger

Expectations are subverted and biases are challenged when a retiree couple visits a new store in town. 

Diana Metzger BSC: 10x10 2023. Diana is a playwright, screenwriter, and fiction writer from Silver Spring, Maryland. This is Diana's second year with a play in the 10x10 (last season featured her play "A Date"). Diana has been a teaching artist with Round House Theatre, Everyman Theatre Company and Art Stream. Round House commissioned and produced Diana's play Beach Week with their teen performance company. Diana wrote for the MTV scripted series Faking It and worked on the ABC Family show Greek. Diana was a finalist for the Humanitas New Voices writing award two years in a row for both comedy and drama writing. Diana received her MFA in Creative Writing at American University and her BS in Communication (Theatre Major with a certificate in Creative Writing for the Media) from Northwestern University. 

can i tell you a story? by Christopher Oscar Pena

In order to keep the memory alive, every year, Cory goes on a pilgrimage to revisit all the spots where he and his recently deceased friend spent time together.

Christopher Oscar Peña BSC Debut. Christopher is a playwright, screenwriter, actor and educator who resides in New York City. His work has been commissioned by Yale Repertory Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, Miami New Drama, and Center Theatre Group among many others. He is a three-time Sundance Theatre Lab Fellow, a Van Lier fellow at the Lark Play Development Center, and an alumni of New Dramatists. He has written shows for Netflix, the CW, ABC, Freeform, HBO and many others. He was the artistic associate at Arizona Theatre Company, and is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect.

The Open Door by Jessica Provenz

Debbie and Dan have both been searching for love in the quagmire that is modern dating. But what happens if it's just on the other side of the door? 

Jessica Provenz BSC: BOCA, 10x10 2020 & 2021. In the Berkshires, Jessica was Writer in Residence at The Mount, her comedies Andromeda and Better than Chocolate were workshopped at Berkshire Playwrights Lab and her short, Baker's Revenge, was produced by Great Barrington Public Theater. Other plays have been workshopped/produced at Irish Rep, Pioneer Theatre, Cape Cod Theatre Project, New Georges, among others, and commissions include Killer Films, The Araca Group, and BOCA for BSC, published by Theatrical Rights Worldwide and produced around the country. Her feature for NY Magazine details her stint as Policy Director for Anthony Weiner's NYC Mayoral run and she conducted research on the Apple+ series Masters of the Air for creator John Orloff. Jessica is a two-time recipient of the Lecomte du Nouy award for emerging playwrights, a graduate of Northwestern, and was artist-in-residence at Juilliard. Jessica is the Director of Development at BSC.

The 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival is a winter arts festival located in Pittsfield's Upstreet Cultural District in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, organized by the City of Pittsfield and Barrington Stage Company.

ABOUT BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Alan Paul, is an award-winning theatre located in Pittsfield, MA, in the heart of the Berkshires. Co-founded in 1995 by Julianne Boyd, BSC's mission is to produce top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to engage our community with vibrant, inclusive educational outreach programs. Alan Paul succeeded Ms. Boyd as the company's Artistic Director in 2022.

BSC attracts over 60,000 patrons annually and has gained national recognition for its superior-quality productions and comprehensive educational programming, including the award-winning Playwright Mentoring Project, the Musical Theatre Conservatory, Youth Theatre, KidsAct! and other initiatives. The company has become integral to the economic revitalization of downtown Pittsfield.

BSC's reputation for excellence began with a smash revival of Cabaret that moved to Boston in 1997 for an extended run. The theatre's prominence grew with the world premiere of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin (BSC 2004; Broadway 2005-2008, winner of two Tony Awards). Other notable productions include the world premiere of Christopher Demos-Brown's American Son (BSC 2016; Broadway 2018); Mark St. Germain's Freud's Last Session (BSC 2009; Off-Broadway 2010-2012); Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden & Adolph Green's On the Town (BSC 2013; Broadway 2014, four Tony Award nominations); Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Company, starring Aaron Tveit (2017); and West Side Story in honor of Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins' centenaries (2018).

BSC develops and commissions new work with two programs: PlayWorks, which supports the creation of new plays, and the Musical Theatre Lab, which develops new musicals. Since 1995, BSC has produced 45 new works, 22 of which have moved to New York and major US regional theatres.

BSC was the recipient of 15 Berkshire Theatre Awards for the 2023 season, including Outstanding Production of a Musical for its production of Cabaret, directed by Alan Paul, and the Sally and Robert Sugarman Award for a world premiere of a New Play or Musical for The Happiest Man on Earth, by Mark St. Germain.

Barrington Stage Company celebrates its 30th Anniversary Season in 2024.

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