Welcome and an Introduction!

Hello all! This is going to be a weird little micro-specific blog dedicated to reviewing the annual Boston Theater Marathon produced by the Boston Playwrights Theatre annually. A little background: This is the 16th year of the marathon, assuming my Roman Numeral calculus is correct and XVI means 16. It will be performing a week from today, Sunday May, 11th at the Calderwood Pavillion:



Here's the deal: Starting from Noon to 10:00pm, Five 10 minute plays will be performed back to back to back to back to back on the hour every hour. Each play is new and original and written for the marathon. Most plays have been rehearsed and directed from a variety of theaters in the greater boston/new england area (or at least that's how I remember it was done last year. Please correct me if I'm wrong). Tickets are $25 preorder or $35 on the day of. The great thing about the tickets is that they're for the full day. Each hour ends with a little seven minute intermission, which allows you to take a break or go and watch any hour slot you want. And once you've bought your ticket you can come back and watch some more later in the day.

So what am I doing, besides being a shameless shill to the Boston Playwrights Theatre (of whom I have no fealty towards (though, listen directors, cast me and let's change that, eh? ehhhhh?))?

Well a little background: My name's Brooks and I'm a local actor and have been doing theater in Boston for coming up... yikes two years. I'm also an itinerant playwright and I love watching and supporting new work. I know from doing fringe theater in the Boston scene how even smaller blogs get noticed and valued by the people doing this work. Theater is an ephemeral art form and while the memories of that standing ovation will carry with you across the decades, it's nice to be able to point at a nice review and say, "Look, I'm not deluded! Someone else thought I was pretty good too!"

And I love the idea of reviewing things because I'm an egocentric asshat who thinks that everyone else is just dying to listen to what I have to say. But I can barely make it to shows that my friends are in, let alone anything else (rehearsals are a bitch). Not to mention the weirdness of reviewing companies I'd like to work with/have worked with in the past. But I think reviewing the Boston Theater Marathon is going to be different and fun. Every show is it's own unique beast, and by knowing that I'm going to individually review each show it will force me to pay more attention to every single production.

Wait, wrong Boston Marathon...

I might set up a twitter account for the purposes of micro-blogging during the intermission. (if so, I'll include a little post about that later this week, and a reminder the day of) I'm a little concerned about maintaining battery life for my cellphone for the entire day, but now that I think about it my phone will be off for most of the day because when you're watching live theater YOU TURN OFF YOUR FREAKING PHONE. (public service message ended). As far as when the actual reviews go out, I'll try to put out at least two a day after the 11th. If I had to guess, they will be of variable length, and I can't guarantee that they'll all be glowing. I will be purchasing the little book of bound plays that they sell in the lobby for reference, but I'll also be taking notes throughout each of the shows so that they remain fresh in my mind.

So whether you're involved in the proceedings or if you're just a spectator, like me, join in the fun! I'm going to be there bright and blurry eyed at right before noon, bearing enough water and snacks to last me through ten post meridian!