FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Berkshire Press Director Charlie Siedenburg
551-655-0968Charlie_siedenburg@yahoo.com

BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY
ANNOUNCES PLAYS AND CASTING
FOR 2018 10X10 NEW PLAY FESTIVAL

February 15 – March 4
Performances at St. Germain Stage

7th Annual New Play Festival part of
Pittsfield’s 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival

(Pittsfield, MA) January 2, 2018 – Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, announces the 10-minute plays and casting for the 7th Annual 10X10 New Play Festival, part of the 2018 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival.

Performances of BSC’s New Play Festival are February 15 – March 4, 2018 at BSC’s St. Germain Stage, located at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center, 36 Linden Street. Tickets ($42-$35) on sale now. The Press Opening will be Sunday, February 18 at 3pm.

“​We look forward all year to our 10X10 New Play Festival,” said Artistic Director Julianne Boyd. “It brings warmth and laughter to a very cold winter – and allows our Berkshire audience to come together and cheer on ten very talented playwrights.​”​

The 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival returns to downtown Pittsfield for the seventh year from February 15-25, 2018, and features music, theatre, dance, film, visual art, spoken word, comedy and more, including BSC’s 10X10 New Play Festival.

Directors for the 10X10 New Play Festival are BSC Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Matthew Penn, returning for his second year.  An Emmy nominated director (Law & Order), Penn is the co-Artistic director of the Berkshire Playwrights Lab in Great Barrington.

BSC’s 2018 10X10 New Play Festival:

BEATRIX POTTER MUST DIE by Patrick Gabridge, directed by Julianne Boyd. A desperate American farmer travels back in time for an unusual solution to his plague of rabbits.

FARGO 3D by Eric Wade Fritzius, directed by Matthew Penn. Security is at an all time high these days and the movie theater is no exception. For the would-be patrons of Fargo 3D, sneaking in food is a serious business requiring serious counter-measures.

THE FLY by Brad Systma, directed by Julianne Boyd. Everyone has had one of “those” days. Days where you just want to relax in the park and enjoy a sandwich, but with the buzz of one tiny fly, your dreams of a peaceful lunch are put into jeopardy.

JOY RIDE by Christine Foster, directed by Julianne Boyd. An estranged daughter brings her father’s ashes home for a dignified send off only to find her free-spirited mother has loftier plans.

KAMASUTRA by Tom Coash, directed by Matthew Penn. When Doris and Harold of Hackensack visit the Chandela Temples in India, they reexamine their love and marriage amidst famous erotic carvings.

OLD AQUATICS by Steven Korbar, directed by Matthew Penn. A volunteer driver must summon all his patience as he tries to shepherd home a very unruly reveler on New Year’s Eve.

PERSPECTIVE by James McLindon, directed by Julianne Boyd. When their painting moved to a new room at the Louvre, Mary and the Archangel Gabriel find their relationship threatened by a certain woman with an inscrutable smile.

RUN-ON SENTENCE by Cathy Tempelsman, directed by Julianne Boyd. A woman visits her aging father in prison and finds that, despite his penchant for telling jokes, coming home is no laughing matter.

SECRET TO A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP by Jamie Roach, directed by Matthew Penn. Couples therapy can lead to some revealing truths…and as one couple learns, to a difficult date night.

SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN by Eugenie Carabatsos, directed by Matthew Penn. Young teens Fredi and Martin have been thrown into a closet for a game of “seven minutes in heaven.” Intimacy, nerves, and hormones lead to some bizarre truth telling.

The cast of the 2018 10X10 New Play Festival features returnees Lucky Gretzinger, Matt Neely, Dina Thomas, Peggy Pharr Wilson, and Robert Zukerman. An additional cast member to be announced at later date.

The creative team includes set design/technical direction by Wil Deleguardia, lighting design by Eric Andrew Mitchell, costume coordination by Molly Walz, and sound design by Alexander Sovronsky.  Leslie Sears is the production stage manager. Rebecca Weiss is the 10X10 New Play Festival Producer.

Tickets to the 10X10 New Play Festival are on sale now. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm, with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 3pm. Tickets are $30 Thursday evening and Saturday/Sunday matinees, $35 Friday and Saturday evenings.  Low-priced preview tickets are $25 on February 16 and 17 at 7:30pm. Reserved seating. For more information, call the Barrington Stage Box Office at 413-236-8888 or visit www.barringtonstageco.org.

About 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival

The festival is a collaborative effort spearheaded by Barrington Stage Company and the City of Pittsfield, and coordinated through a steering committee that includes the Beacon Cinema, Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF), Berkshire Museum, Lichtenstein Center for the Arts and the City of Pittsfield.

Berkshire Gas is the lead sponsor of the 2017 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival.

For more information, visit discoverpittsfield.com/10X10, find 10X10 Upstreet on Facebook, or contact the City of Pittsfield’s Office of Cultural Development at 413-499-9348.

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