Moonbox Productions’ Boston New Works Festival (BNWF) Presented by Moonbox Productions June 26 – 29, 2025 Multiple Spaces at the Boston Center for the Arts. 539 Tremont St Boston, MA 02116
Critique by Kitty Drexel
BOSTON — Last week, Moonbox Productions produced its Boston New Works Festival with seven original plays and musicals at the Boston Center of the Arts in the South End. It was the final weekend of Pride, the Supreme Court issued its final opinions before its summer recess*, the Bezos’ married in Venice, baseballers baseballed, and The Theater Offensive hosted another festival across the river in Cambridge. With the various and sundry events occurring across our city and the nation, I hope everyone attended events that brought them joy and a modicum of peace.
This year’s BNWF featured fully realized productions and semi-staged readings from local playwrights, crew and actors. I attended two productions: Mox Nox by Patrick Gabridge and Guts by Rachel Greene. These are two vastly different plays in subject and creative temperament. Mox Nox is a finished work (if such things exist). Guts remains a play in progress. Both show Boston audiences what is possible and point to our collective future as a community. Continue reading →
It’s almost May. Most of us have been in lockdown for nearly two months. There is a great amount of streaming content available online. Theatre companies aren’t providing us with this content solely out of some altruistic mission of heroic proportions. They are also sharing their work in order to stay relevant.
If you are a person who is consuming content and you can afford to, DONATE. If you can’t donate now, buy a ticket/tickets when the theatres reopen. If you can do both, DONATE now and BUY A TICKET later.* Consuming streaming content without making a donation means that our theatres might not exist when the economy reopens. Artists deserve to be paid. DONATE.
We wish you all the best! Please wash your damn hands, get enough exercize, Zoom your friends, and stay home as much as you can.
All our love from six feet away,
Kitty, Queen of the New England Theatre Geeks
*P.S. It should go without saying that if you don’t have the cash/are unemployed/are an essential worker, don’t donate.
City of Boston Arts and Culture – The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture for the City of Boston is tasked with ensuring equity in the storytelling and the distribution of resources related to COVID-19. There is now a survey designed, in partnership with MassCreative, to gather information about creative workers and artists in Massachusetts> It will help advocate for freelancers, gig workers, and the self-employed in our cultural communities and to ensure that artists and creative workers are getting the support they need. ACCESS THE SURVEY
Exiled Theatre – Exiled Theatre is proud to present it’s Living Room Series. Hanging Tree and Nurse Call are up on its site now.
Flat Earth Theatre – Flat Earth is bringing its collaboration with the Cambridge Science Festival into outer space. A. Lehrmitt’s new sci-fi radio play Fine-Tuned Universe will stream for FREE on Saturday nights at 7pm, April 25th – May 30th. Each week brings a new 20-minute chapter. Fine-Tuned Universe: a radio play< by A. Lehrmitt. Directed by Jake Scaltreto. Saturdays, April 25th – May 30th, 7pm EST; Streaming on Facebook Live Featuring: Juliet Bowler, Kristen Heider, James Hayward, Chris Chiampa, Melissa de Jesus, and Liz Salazar with sound design by James Rossi.
Gamm Theatre – Gamm Theatre is offering classes online as well as “Study Breaks with Susie Schutt, Gamm Education Director.” Please go to the site to learn more.
Gamm Classes include Online Script Analysis, Online Scene Study, Online Comedic Monologue Workshop. ALL are online
“Study Break with Susie Schutt” Description & Details>: Catch this ongoing series of educational, energizing, and inspirational study break activities with Gamm Theatre Education Director Susie Schutt on the Gamm’s YouTube Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/user/gammtheatre/. Each Study Break is between 1-5 minutes long and focuses on a different theater game, technique, or exercise. Past Study Breaks are also available on The Gamm’s YouTube Channel.
HowlRound– So busy! Please check the site for more information and current listings.
Lemon Punch Theatre Lab – Inspired by the One Minute Play Festival’s Coronavirus Plays, Lemon Punch Theatre Lab presented the LEMON LIVE MICROPLAY FESTIVAL on March 31st. It was so successful, we are doing it again! The 2nd Lemon Live Microplay Festival will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, May 12th at 7 pm, with an additional performance on Sunday the 17th at 2 pm (for those who prefer matinees!). SUBMISSION GUIDELINES are HERE: The Deadline is Monday, MAY 4 AT 7 PM!
New World Theatre presents Snow Fall, Episode 2: Nor’Easter by Donald Tongue, As the storm intensifies, Ashley reaches out to her friend, Peggy, for help. An audio play on YouTube.
Luminarium Dance – Their latest TEN4TEN Performance is titled “The Beginnings.” The performance is available to view now through May 4. Luminarium presents its TEN4TEN Performance Series celebrating its tenth anniversary season with curated shows every two weeks, highlighting its award-winning repertory spanning 2010 to present. Be sure to tune in soon, as every two weeks the current “performance” will be removed, with a new one in its place!
North End Music & Performing Arts Center – NEMPAC has started FREE online programming for its community. From Open Mic Nights to Live Stream Classes and a variety of Educational Programs, they have something to offer everyone. Weekly virtual programs take place through its social media Instagram account. Tune in this Friday for the next NEMPAC Open Mic Night! To perform, please email Allie Meek-Carufel ameek@nempacboston.org by Thursday at 5:00 p.m.
Open Theatre Project – OTP Core Members Alexandra Smith, Cathy Messier, and Sarah Jacobs introduce TP’s “Community Write.” It unites some of OTP’s favorite Playwrights with the community, to create something new and uplifting with their online community every week. Playwrights select writing prompts from the community and write short, 1-2 minute plays. Playwrights will choose favorites from OTP actors to perform digitally.
The Company Theatre – On Friday, May 1 at 7:30PM, The Company Theatre will livestream its 2019 production of Paragon Park: The Musicalon its YouTube page. From the YouTube page, “Join The Company Theatre as we relive the heydays of Nantasket Beach with Paragon Park: The Musical! Streamed live on our YouTube channel- enjoy our dynamic 2019 production, professionally produced for your viewing pleasure. Take “One Last Ride” with Paragon Park: The Musical!”
Elsewhere, Outside of New England: Streamed content to view!
Presented by Also Known As Theatre In partnership with Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (barcc) By William Matrosimone Directed by Alexandra Smith Fight choreography by Jessica Scout Malone
Trigger warning: assault, sexual assault, gas lighting, victim blaming
(Cambridge, MA) It’s a cruel and unusual punishment to be found at guilty of assault when protecting oneself from attacker. Cyntoia Brown served 15 years in prison for murdering a man who bought her for sex so she could flee. At 16 years old, she was tried her as an adult and sentenced to 51 years in prison without parole. She has only recently received clemency for her unreasonably harsh and unjust sentencing. Also Known As Theatre’s production of Extremities puts into stark relief just how easy it is for the US legal system to turn on women for not performing victimhood to exacting standards. Brown is receiving a modicum of justice but how many women will not?Continue reading →
Presented by Also Known As Theatre Written by Shelley M. Hobbs Directed by Alexandra Smith Produced by Kelly Smith
August 17 through September 2 Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00PM Sundays at 2:00PM Calderwood Pavilion at Boston Center for the Arts 527 Tremont Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116 The Stanford Calderwood Pavilion on Facebook
Written by Bishop C. Knight
(South End, Boston, MA) OOH child, nothing but praise for A Good Death! I’m about to provide a review that’s emotionally charged with encouragement – for you to see this play and to bring loved ones; especially for you to bring religious relatives you have trouble communicating with. I’ll use the words love and queer repeatedly, because it is a play about lesbian companions who are platonic life partners. I’ll show why Boston is damn lucky to have Also Known As Theatre (AKA) as it newest independent theatre company. I want AKA to flourish. I want Alison Bechdel to attend. I want YOU to attend, and here’s why:Continue reading →
(Cambridge, MA) The Ghost Sonata is a fever dream wrapped in layers of turmoil and funny, disturbing absurdity. It’s staged to juxtapose the philosophical musings of a 1907 play on the material evils of the world with the current, oppressive toxicity of the contemporary political climate which social media does a great job of worsening. It’s a beautifully-executed nightmare. Continue reading →
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