Boston Playwrights' Theatre (BPT) is a small professional theatre in
Boston, Massachusetts. Led by artistic director Megan Sandberg-Zakian, it is the home of the Graduate Playwriting Program at
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...
. As a venue, BPT rents its space to host other New England theatre companies who are producing new plays.
History
Founded in 1981 by poet, playwright and
Nobel Laureate
The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make o ...
,
Derek Walcott
Sir Derek Alton Walcott (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem '' Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as Walcot ...
. The program's alumni have been produced in regional and New York houses, as well as in London's West End.
In 2022, artistic director
Kate Snodgrass retired after 35 years of working at Boston University. Megan Sandberg-Zakian succeeded her as the theater's artistic director and playwright Nathan Alan Davis as the head of Boston University's MFA Playwriting Program. The building's front theater was subsequently named the Kate Snodgrass Theater, and its back theater the Derek Walcott Theater.
Partnership with Boston University
In 2014, Boston Playwrights' Theatre produced its first season of thesis plays by current MFA candidates under the name @Play Festival of New Work in collaboration with Boston University. In 2016, Boston Playwrights' Theatre made official this partnership with Boston University's School of Theatre and the BU Graduate School of Arts & Sciences on a series of MFA Playwriting thesis plays acting as a showcase for pieces written by graduating students in BU’s MFA playwriting program. In a major change for BPT, almost all of the onstage and backstage talent is provided by students in BU’s theater school, who work closely with the playwrights throughout the year.
In alternating seasons, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre will resume its practice of featuring three plays, written by alumni or faculty of the program and employing professional actors, designers and playwrights to stage them.
See also
*
Playwrights' Platform
References
External links
Boston Playwrights' TheatreBoston Theater Marathon
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1981 establishments in Massachusetts
Theatres in Boston