From September through May, the Gallery
Players’ stage is devoted to revivals of classic and contemporary
plays and musicals. But in June, the stage is turned over to
emerging playwrights from all over the tri-state area.
The Black Box New Plays Festival, now in its sixth year, provides
workshop environments for playwrights, who work in collaboration
with directors, actors and producers. This year, Heather Curran
became the producer of the festival after Sidney Fortner stepped
down due to other commitments.
"We’ve really focused this year on play development,"
said Curran, who has both acted and directed with the Gallery
Players several times and is now a member of the board. "Every
playwright will come in at a different stage in development.
We are interested in working with playwrights who are interested
in working on their plays. The festival is a culmination of this
work."
Each weekend, from May 29 through June 22, a separate "box"
is administered by its own dramaturge, who ensures each box is
what Curran calls "a cohesive evening of theater,"
and plays are grouped appropriately.
Dramaturges also act as liaisons between playwrights and director.
"The dramaturge makes sure that what the playwright has
to say is up there on the stage," says Curran.
Over the years, several playwrights have established an ongoing
relationship with the festival.
Joe Lauinger, a 55-year-old professor of dramatic literature
at Sarah Lawrence College, has had a play in the Black Box series
every year of its existence.
"I like the people and the respect they give the playwright,"
he says.
This year, Lauinger’s full-length "Holy Child" will
be presented in Box 1 (May 29 – June 1) and his two one-acts,
"Mushroom Pie" and "Fish Pond," will be presented
in Box 4 (June 19-22).
"Holy Child" is about an alcoholic Italian-American
priest who goes to the Holy Child home to be rehabilitated.
In Act I, he meets his three brothers, a lawyer, a neighborhood
businessman and a high school basketball coach and womanizer.
In Act II, his brothers visit the home.
"It’s about family love and the ways in which one finds
how to believe in life again," explains Lauinger.
"Holy Child" began life as a one-act, but after its
initial reading, director Heather Curran suggested the piece
might be developed into a full-length play.
"We worked on it, and it grew into a well-crafted piece,"
says Lauinger. "I couldn’t have done it without Heather."
"Mushroom Pie," which Lauinger calls "a send-up
of the yuppie lifestyle," is about a couple that finds a
special mushroom and cooks up the perfect dish with it.
"The Fish Pond" is about a couple that disagrees over
what they see and what they don’t see in a fish pond. Both one-acts
are directed by Jonathan Summey.
Staci Sweeden is now in her fifth year with Black Box. "Requiescut
In Pace (R.I.P.)" in Box 2 (June 5-8), directed by Matt
Schicker, is about a young girl who orchestrates the funeral
of her parakeet, and her divorced parents who unexpectedly meet
at the funeral.
"Deux Femmes, Un Homme," about a dinner party among
close friends, and "Good Vibrations," about three women,
sex and a writers’ colony in Florida, are both in Box 3 (June
5-8) and are both directed by Yvonne Conybeare.
"She’s directed many of my pieces," says Sweeden, who
is also a visiting guest artist at the Stanford Center for the
Arts. "As long as she’s willing to direct my pieces, I’m
willing to return, because she’s so good at it."
This is the second year for Joshua Scher, 27, whose one-act,
"Flushed," a comedy that takes place in the men’s room
of the Peter Luger Steak House in Williamsburg, will be presented
in Box 3 (June 12-15).
Scher says he is grateful for the space and the community provided
by the Gallery Players.
"It’s a great place to have a production. And productions
are always helpful," he says.
Curran believes what makes the Black Box Festival special is
its focus on the process.
"In other festivals, playwrights send the play in, get to
come on opening night and may or may not like what they see.
We focus on meeting, interviewing and talking to the playwright.
We give readings. We get feedback. Dramaturges get involved very
early in the process, even helping to select directors,"
says Curran.
For Sweeden, however, it’s all about leadership and meeting the
"challenge to keep things fresh, moving forward and new."
Surely, many theater-goers will agree that at a time when most
commercial theater is unwilling to take risks with new work,
it’s a pleasure to see a group willing to take a step into the
void.
The Gallery Players presents the Black
Box New Plays Festival, May 29-June 22, at 199 14th St. between
Fourth and Fifth avenues in Park Slope. Performances are Thursdays
through Saturdays, at 8 pm, and Sundays, at 3 pm. Tickets are
$15 for adults, $13 for children under 12 and seniors. A festival
pass is available for $20. For reservations, call (718) 595-0547.
