In a recent essay for The New Yorker, novelist (and long-distance running enthusiast) Haruki Murakami writes:
Running the Boston Marathon, when you turn the corner at Hereford Street onto Boylston, and see, at the end of that straight, broad road, the banner at Copley Square, the excitement and relief you experience are indescribable. You have made it on your own, but at the same time it was those around you who kept you going.
This year especially, it seems apt to reflect upon the blend of individual and collective effort that makes up a marathon. Each individual faces hardship; as a community, the collection of individuals strains – and achieves – together.
On May 11-12, the New England theatre community unites for a sustained and concentrated engagement with new plays, the 15th annual Boston Theater Marathon. It begins Saturday, May 11, 2013 with the Warm-up Laps, free, public readings of new, full-length plays by local playwrights, including Steven Barkhimer (Dramatic Writing Fellow ’11), whose play Windowmen (read an excerpt) will be read at 12 PM.
Then, on Sunday, May 12, 2013, noon-10 PM, the Boston Theater Marathon presents 50 new 10-minute plays by local playwrights, performed by local companies, over the course of one day. Playwrights include current/past MCC awardees Ben Jolivet, Joyce Van Dyke, and William Donnelly. Proceeds go to the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund, a non-profit that benefits theatre artists in times of need. The Boston Playwrights’ Theatre runs the event.
Both the Boston Theater Marathon and the Warm-up Laps take place at the Calderwood Pavilion of the Boston Center for the Arts.
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