A Quarterly Publication of the New England Theater News Conference, Inc. NETCvolume 13 number 2 spring 2004 Gassner Playwriting Award New England High Schoool Goes to Connecticut Playwright Drama Festival at Lawrence inside 2003 saw the awarding of the thirty-sixth John Gassner High School in ME Memorial Playwriting Award. The winner is Bruce Post, a playwright from Sandy Hook, Connecticut. The All over New England in January and February hun- this issue play is an extraordinary script called Size Matters. dreds of high school drama programs are abuzz with rehearsals, set building, costume stitching, and light Size Matters is design to prepare a one-act play for competition. The Forum: insightful, frank Throughout the months of March and April the schools Do the Best Translations and brutally funny. present their shows for competition at local and region- It’s about a gentle- al levels with winners advancing to their State Read Themselves? man who predicts Competitions. Two winners emerge from each of the six and his fortunes by the State Finals to represent their state at the New England Now What? size of his penis. Drama Festival, a regional showcasing of the best in sec- A Graduate Student’s He’s displeased ondary theatre. when his daughter 2004 Gassner Award winner Thoughts on Academia discovers she has This year the New England Drama Festival will be held page 6 the same skill vis-à-vis her breasts, and he discredits her at Lawrence High School in Fairfield, Maine. Lawrence inventing her personal history. will host the twelve state representatives for an exciting three-day event on April 22–24. At the NEDF schools Two Views from If there’s obscenity in the script, it’s the obscenity of the no longer compete. Instead, they showcase their work way we behave. It has a truthful distortion of life cou- for each other, special guests and the general public. North of Boston pled with strident comment on our obsession with body Each school is given written commendations from stu- page 8 parts—as if Carl von Sternheim had teamed up with dents and members of the New England Drama Karen Finley. If you would like a copy of the script, con- tact NETC. continues on page 4 Area News Bruce Post is a playwright, a director, and a teacher at page 2 the Milford Alternative Program, a public school for 2004 Convention Headed to secondary students-at-risk in Connecticut. He has an MFA in Theatre from Sarah Lawrence College, where South Portland, ME Ovations he worked with Eduardo Machado. He’s the Executive page 5 Plans are well underway for the 2004 Convention to be Director of the Maxwell Anderson Playwrights Series held on November 11-14. The convention will take and the Producer of the Annual Young Connecticut place at The Sheraton Twin Towers in South Portland, Playwrights Festival. Opportunities Maine, just off Exit 7 on the Maine Turnpike. The page 10 We asked Bruce to tell us about the script from his per- Sheraton is conveniently located minutes from the spective. This is what he wrote: Portland Jetport and Amtrak. It is adjacent to the Maine Mall and there are dozens of eateries within I wrote Size Matters in response to my father’s death. Upcoming walking distance. The accommodations are exquisite The character of Dick is not my father. I didn’t know and the room rates will be very reasonable making the Events my father well; he left when I was one year old. He was weekend very affordable. page 13 an okay guy, I guess. But he did, literally, try to erase me from his life. When he remarried, he agreed to his new The convention weekend will include the popular wife’s demand to never mention his earlier children to High School Theatre Olympiad on Friday and three her family. The result was, for her parents and siblings, days of programming for all levels of theatre including I never existed. children and youth, secondary education, college, com- continues on page 2 continues on page 4 2 NETC News Stoneham Theatre This spring, the theatre premieres two productions that Symes calls emblematic of the company’s mis- When a newly-renovated 1917 movie house in the sion: The Sweepers, a tale of Boston’s North End by Area heart of Stoneham Square first welcomed audiences John C. Picardi, and Lizzie Borden, a hauntingly beau- through its doors just three years ago, Artistic Director tiful new musical about the infamous alleged axe mur- News Weylin Symes could only imagine what was in store derer. New works like these anchor Stoneham for the young company. It’s been a whirlwind ever Theatre’s subscription season as its audiences become since. increasingly more accustomed to its consistent quali- ty and broad appeal. “Sometimes it’s hard to keep up,” says Symes with a smile. “We’re delighted with the response we’ve seen. Stoneham also takes seriously its commitment to edu- We’ve tripled in size over the past three years and we cation, an important part of building new audiences. continue to welcome new people every day. It’s really The flagship of its education programs is the Resident just exciting to be a part of it.” Youth Ensemble, an advanced training program for high school students. Fifteen select students partici- Stoneham Theatre is now the fifth-largest regional pate in intensive master classes with theatre profes- theatre in Greater Boston—an impressive feat for a sionals—the current course of study is an eight-week company that just passed its third anniversary. This curriculum on movement-based techniques. year nearly two hundred performances are planned on its stage and 40,000 people are expected to pass Advanced, ongoing programs like this for the high through its doors. It’s an ambitious schedule like this school level are rare, and the theatre is quick to that makes Stoneham Theatre the only company declare their importance to the company. Members of founded within the past ten years that’s ranked by the the Ensemble are an integral part of the theatre’s daily Boston Business Journal among the area’s ten largest life, participating alongside professionals as assistant performing arts organizations. directors, production assistants, and occasionally actors. Only in its first year, the Resident Youth “What makes this theater intriguing is that it takes a Ensemble is expected to become even more promi- chance or two,” says Boston critic Bill Marx, a senti- nent as time goes on. ment echoed by audiences and critics alike. In an October 2003 article, the Boston Globe suggests that With all that’s happened over the past three years, it’s Stoneham Theatre’s willingness to take calculated Symes is hesitant to guess where Stoneham Theatre risks that inspires its growth. might be three years from now. “Whatever happens, we just plan to continue producing the best theatre we “We’re focused on new theatre for new audiences,” can.” Symes says. “We produce new and less familiar works that still appeal to a wide variety of people.” Stoneham Theatre is a professional Equity company just minutes north of downtown Boston with easy access to I- It’s a concept that the staff, the board, and the audi- 93 and I-95 and free parking right across the street. ences take seriously. Gassner Award continued from page 1 I became fascinated with the idea of a parent rewrit- At first it was Dick’s play, but it was clear after it ing the history of his child in order to maintain an wrote itself that the play really belonged to Steph advantage or gain a personal benefit. As is often the [the daughter]. I really wanted to write about the case with my plays, I first saw a stage image. The pressure we receive to limit our goals, even to live image I saw was of Dick, his back to the audience, below expectations so as not to make any waves. measuring the size of his penis. I like literal imagery. Our culture is so fascinated with penises and breasts, My favorite playwrights are Ibsen, who WAS the in dangerously self indulgent obsession, and so I Master Builder, Beckett, who is my god, Albee, who wanted to focus on those body parts as potent sym- taught me to think literally about the abstract, and bols of the power of size. Americans are manic about Mamet, who teaches us all how to master subtext. size; witness SUV’s and McMansions. Unfortunately Like Beckett, I believe that less is more. this obsession results in a nation that consumes most of the world’s resources and no longer cares about the consequences. volume 13, number 2 3 NETC a Lively Presence at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Area Once again, the College University Division of Brianne Beatrice who performed the character NETC was active and visible at the annual Region I Clytemnestra from Aeschylus’ Oresteia, was awarded News Kennedy Center American College Theatre the classical prize. The winners were selected at the Festival. The festival, which took place January 29 semi-finals phase of the competition by judges through February 1, was based at the Crowne Plaza Rebecca Hilliker of University of Wyoming and Hotel in Warwick RI, with performances staged at Steve Stettler of the Weston Playhouse in Vermont. Rhode Island College, Providence. The prizes represent NETC commitment to support On Friday afternoon, NETC Audition chair Joe KCACTF’s efforts to keep the classics alive and Juliano gave a spirited and informative presentation comedy rolling in the undergraduate scene, and prize on the process of applying for and auditioning at the money is available to encourage students to develop annual NETC Auditions.