FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Charlie Siedenburg, BSC Press Director
551-655-0968; Charlie_siedenburg@yahoo.com

BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY ANNOUNCES
Playwright Mentoring Project 2013 Public Performances, April 9-13;
Award-winning Program Now Serves Over 70 Berkshire Youths

(PITTSFIELD, MA) March 22, 2013 – Barrington Stage Company, the award-winning regional theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, announces the public performances for its award-winning Playwright Mentoring Project (PMP).  Performances will be held in North Adams and Pittsfield from April 9-13 and culminate in a final PMP performance on Saturday, April 13 at 2:00pm on the St. Germain Stage at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center, 36 Linden Street, Pittsfield.

Over the course of the six-month PMP program, teens create an original performance piece based on their own stories in a safe and confidential environment where they can express themselves, develop conflict resolution skills and together create a supportive community.

PMP has also collaborated with local Berkshire social services organizations such as the Brien Center, Counseling Center of the Berkshires, The Elizabeth Freeman Center, Tapestry Health, Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, as well as the Berkshire Juvenile Court and Probation Office, to not only deepen the knowledge of the PMP staff but help reach out to the network of agencies that serve youth in Berkshire County

The program has expanded to seven groups in two Berkshire County communities: three groups in Pittsfield (including a court-mandated group) and four groups in North Adams (including a new court-mandated group). At-risk students are referred to the program by counselors, community leaders, parents, and in the case of the court-mandated group, judges and probation officers.

“This year Barrington Stage Company is serving 70 students through the Playwright Mentoring Project as well as 20 alumni through two new programs,” said PMP director Frank La Frazia. “We are excited to present these very unique plays which bring young people’s voices to life on stage.  We are very proud of how bravely these students shared their personal stories and how they worked collaboratively to create very moving theatrical pieces.”

In 2007, PMP won the prestigious “Coming Up Taller” award from the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities—the nation’s highest honor for after-school arts programs.

The final performance on April 13 includes performances from all of the participating groups (excluding the court-mandated groups). The PMP groups will perform original plays developed during weekly sessions over the past six months. The scenes are based on issues and stories from the participants’ lives and include topics such as family stress, foster care, drug/alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancy and peer pressure. In addition to the final performance on April 13, year-end public performances for each Playwright Mentoring Project group will be held around the county.

Tickets to the final performance on Saturday, April 13 at 2pm at the St. Germain Stage at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center, 36 Linden Street, Pittsfield are free but reservations are required as seating is limited. To reserve a seat, please call the Barrington Stage Box Office at 413-236-8888. No reservations are required for the free public performances April 9-13 (schedule below). These performances are 30-35 minutes in length and are followed by a 10-15 minute question and answer period. These events are intended for mature audiences.

2013 BSC PMP Public Performance Schedule:

Tuesday, April 9: “Limping Through Reality;” featuring the Tuesday Evening Pittsfield Group, St. Germain Stage, 36 Linden Street, Pittsfield, 7pm.

Wednesday, April 10: “The Robbery;” featuring the Wednesday Evening Pittsfield Group, St. Germain Stage, 36 Linden Street, Pittsfield, 7pm.

Thursday, April 11: “You’ll Get Through This;” featuring the Tuesday Afternoon North Adams Group, MCLA Murdock Hall Room, 375 Church Street, North Adams, 8pm.

Friday, April 12: “We Got This;” featuring the Thursday Evening North Adams Group, MCLA Murdock Hall Room, 375 Church Street, North Adams 7pm.

Friday, April 12: “What I Think About;” featuring the Wednesday Evening North Adams Group, MCLA Murdock Hall Room, 375 Church Street, North Adams, 8pm.

Saturday, April 13:  All 5 Groups, on the St. Germain Stage at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center, 36 Linden Street, Pittsfield, 2pm.

About the Playwright Mentoring Project (PMP)

Now celebrating its 12th year, PMP is an intensive, six-month theatre program that offers at-risk youth in Berkshire County a safe place to tell their stories, learn theatre and improvisation techniques, and develop conflict resolution skills. Participants write an original play based on their own life experiences that they perform and discuss in their schools and communities. The Playwright Mentoring Project currently serves 65 youth in Pittsfield and North Adams, including a court-mandated program in association with the Pittsfield Juvenile Courts. PMP is sponsored in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and Berkshire United Way. To find out more about the Playwright Mentoring Project, please contact Frank La Frazia at 413-997-6117 or visit barringtonstageco.org/education.

About Barrington Stage Company

Barrington Stage Company, a professional award-winning Equity regional theatre located in the heart of the Berkshires, in Pittsfield, MA, was co-founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Julianne Boyd. Barrington Stage’s mission is three-fold: to present top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to find fresh, bold ways to bringing new audiences into the theatre—especially young people. Barrington Stage garnered national attention in 2004 when it workshopped, and premiered William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin’s musical hit The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which later transferred to Broadway’s Circle-in-the-Square Theatre where it won two Tony Awards and played more than 1,000 performances. In 2009/2010 Barrington Stage produced the world premiere of Mark St. Germain’s Freud’s Last Session, which later moved Off-Broadway to the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater and then to New World Stages and played 750 performances. Barrington Stage was voted “Best Live Theatre” by The Berkshire Eagle readers in 2011 and 2012 and was named “Best Theatre Company” in Metroland’s Best of the Capital Region 2009-2012.

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