Boston Theater Marathon (BTM>

On May 20th, The Nora Theatre Company & Underground Railway Theater both participated in the 9th Boston Theater Marathon. This play festival is held annually to raise funds for the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund, an organization that provides assistance to members of the theater community who are handling catastrophic occurrences and have few or no resources to do so.

The Nora presented MILK by Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro. In this play, an unemployed father takes on the traditional duties of the female of the species with startling results. Underground Railway Theater (URT) presented Theseus by Alan Brody. Theseus is a modern twist on a Greek classic, where the makings of a hero are examined and challenged.

While each theater company staged their own individual plays, the theaters benefited from what the Boston Foundation has called "a model partnership" by sharing their resources and talent. Both 10 minute plays were directed by The Nora Theatre Company's Associate Director, Daniel Gidron; and if you attended The Nora or URT's spring productions, you might have seen some familiar faces on stage at BTM. Matthew Shawlin, who played Vince in The Nora's production of Buried Child, was in URT's Theseus. Steven Barkhimer, an actor in URT's production of Einstein's Dreams, stared in The Nora's MILK.

Stay-tuned!

This fall, The Nora Theatre Company & Underground Railway Theater will team-up to present a week's worth of Susan Lori-Parks' 365 Days/365 Plays. Read our next issue of Front & CENTRAL and visit our website for more details.