(Pittsfield, MA) By popular demand, Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership of Artistic Director Alan Paul, has announced the 12th Annual 10X10 New Play Festival, part of the 2023 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival, will be extended through March 12.
Added performances are Thursday, March 9 at 7:30pm, Saturday, March 11 at 2:00 and 7:30pm and Sunday, March 12 at 2:00 and 7:30pm at the St. Germain Stage at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center (36 Linden Street). Tickets are $45 and available at www.barringtonstageco.org/10×10.
The 10X10 New Play Festival cast features 10X10 veterans Matt Neely, BSC Associate Artist Peggy Pharr Wilson and Robert Zukerman. Making their BSC 10X10 debuts are Skyler Gallun, Sky Marie and Camille Upshaw.
Directors for the 10X10 New Play Festival are BSC Artistic Director Alan Paul and returning for his seventh year, Matthew Penn (BSC’s Judgment Day, Typhoid Mary). An Emmy-nominated director (Law & Order), Penn has been co-Artistic Director of the Berkshire Playwrights Lab for the last 14 seasons in Great Barrington.
The creative team includes Peggy Walsh (costume design), Marcus Kearns (scenic design), Lucas Palweski (lighting design) and Eric Shimelonis (sound design). Hope Rose Kelly (Production Stage Manager), Merit Glover (Assistant Stage Manager). Casting by Pat McCorkle CSA and Rebecca Weiss CSA.
BSC’s 2023 10X10 New Play Festival:
Real Magic by Brent Askari
Directed by Matt Penn
Magician Carl has a bad gig at a children’s party as well as an encounter from his past.
If I Go First by Michael Brady
Directed by Matt Penn
Harry and Lizzy have lived a good life together. Lizzy is now sick and in pain, and wants to exit on her own terms. It’s time to have “the Talk”.
All Aboard! by Michael Burgan
Directed by Alan Paul
While taking a train home to attend a memorial service for his father, Neal’s trip turns into a physics lesson, with some unexpected people along for the ride.
Piece of Cake by Allie Costa
Directed by Alan Paul
Baking is the family business, but it’s not that easy — especially when you’ve got big shoes to fill.
The Haunting Package by Deirdre Girard
Directed by Matt Penn
Bethany is delighted with her surprise anniversary weekend — until the hotel room seems to have a mind of its own…
Anything You Want by Arlene Jaffe
Directed by Matt Penn
A college kid needs to take a celebrity photo to graduate. Problem is, she’s in a blizzard in the middle of the Berkshires. The solution? The prolific man who illustrated Americana.
Right Field of Dreams by Stephen Kaplan
Directed by Alan Paul
Ten-year-old Tim would much rather be watching ‘Damn Yankees’ than playing right field in his Little League game.
A Date by Diana Metzger
Directed by Alan Paul
Two 20-somethings, in a post-pandemic society, attempt a face-to-face first date, with some outside assistance.
The Moon is Full of It by Jim Moss
Directed by Matt Penn
The King’s jester attempts to woo the King’s chief scientist.
Gimme Shelter by Robert Weibezahl
Directed by Alan Paul
An unconventional septuagenarian and a 20-something with an uncertain future forge an unexpected connection at a retirement village’s bus stop.
The 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival is a winter arts festival located in Pittsfield’s Upstreet Cultural District in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, organized by the City of Pittsfield and Barrington Stage Company.
ABOUT BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY
Barrington Stage Company (BSC) is an award-winning theatre located in Pittsfield, MA, in the heart of the Berkshires. Co-founded in 1995 by Julianne Boyd, BSC’s mission is to produce top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to engage our community with vibrant, inclusive educational outreach programs. Alan Paul succeeded Ms. Boyd as the company’s Artistic Director in 2022.
BSC attracts over 60,000 patrons annually and has gained national recognition for its superior-quality productions and comprehensive educational programming, including the award-winning Playwright Mentoring Project, the Musical Theatre Conservatory, Youth Theatre, KidsAct! and other initiatives. The company has become integral to the economic revitalization of downtown Pittsfield.
BSC’s reputation for excellence began with a smash revival of Cabaret that moved to Boston in 1997 for an extended run. The theatre’s prominence grew with the world premiere of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin (BSC 2004; Broadway 2005-2008, winner of two Tony Awards). Other notable productions include the world premiere of Christopher Demos-Brown’s American Son (BSC 2016; Broadway 2018); Mark St. Germain’s Freud’s Last Session (BSC 2009; Off-Broadway 2010-2012); Leonard Bernstein, Comden & Green’s On the Town (BSC 2013; Broadway 2014, four Tony Award nominations); Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company, starring Aaron Tveit (2017); and West Side Story in honor of Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins’ centenaries (2018).
BSC develops and commissions new work with two programs: PlayWorks, which supports the creation of new plays, and the Musical Theatre Lab, which develops new musicals. Since 1995, BSC has produced 38 new works, 19 of which have moved to New York and major US regional theatres. Following the industry-wide shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, BSC was the first Equity theatre in the US to return to live performance with its critically acclaimed production of Harry Clarke, starring BSC Associate Artist Mark H. Dold and directed by Ms. Boyd.
The 2022 season featured a critically acclaimed revival of Ain’t Misbehavin’, which won two Berkshire Theatre Awards, including Outstanding Ensemble; Nilo Cruz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Anna in the Tropics; Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s A Little Night Music, winner of eight Berkshire Theatre Awards including Outstanding Production of a Musical; the world premiere play All of Me by Laura Winters, winner of two Berkshire Theatre Awards; the world premiere play Andy Warhol in Iran by Brent Askari, winner of a Berkshire Theatre Award for world premiere of a new play; May Treuhaft-Ali’s world premiere play ABCD; the Youth Theatre’s world premiere production of The Supadupa Kid; and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, winner of three Berkshire Theatre Awards including Outstanding Production of a Play.