Works by seven local playwrights will be performed later this month during the Queer Voices Festival run by the Boston Theater Company. In its second year, the festival continues to develop with new programming and family-friendly activities celebrating the LGBTQ+ experience.
Dozens of 10-minute plays were submitted to the festival. Queer Voices Producing Director Lyndsay Allyn Cox, along with the Boston Theater Company team, whittled the list down to seven standout performances. Cox as well as Shira Helena Gitlin, Hannah McEachern and Nathaniel Justiniano will direct these short plays.
A scene from the first annual Queer Voices Festival in 2024. This year’s Queer Voices Festival will feature seven 10-minute plays, a queer Shakespeare performance, drag story hour and more. PHOTO: NILE SCOTT STUDIOS
“We really wanted to make sure that we represented a swath of the queer community,” said Cox. “This year we were really trying to put together and to curate a group of plays that showed all the different ways folks could be queer and exist within the queer community.”
The plays included in this year’s festival are “The Balcony or The Last Night” by Pascale Florestal; “Halftime v. Intermission” by Michael J. Bobbitt; “Left Overs” by Roni Ragone; “Limpia” by Leonard P. Madrid; “Oop, Can’t Say That” by Tom Zhang; “Séance” by Dylan Horowitz; and “Zelda” by Haz Cady.
“Halftime v. Intermission” was inspired by Bobbitt’s experience growing up in a sports-oriented family as the brother who preferred to hone artistic talents. Though Bobbitt was different from his siblings, his family ultimately embraced his differences.
“The piece is a reflection, a comedic reflection, on all the times that I tried to express myself with my family. They didn’t understand me. I didn’t understand them,” said Bobbitt. “I hope audiences laugh. I hope they see that there is love, even though it’s a yin and yang kind of story.”
A scene from the first annual Queer Voices Festival in 2024. This year’s Queer Voices Festival will feature seven 10-minute plays, a queer Shakespeare performance, drag story hour and more. PHOTO: NILE SCOTT STUDIOS
When the festival debuted last year, the 10-minute plays were the highlight. The program has been expanded to include two different performances of the plays, as well as a Queer Shakespeare performance, Drag Story Hour for families, active art making and a full staged reading in collaboration with CHUANG Stage.
The Queer Voices Festival runs March 21-23 at the Boston Center for the Arts. Tickets are pay-what-you-wish and funding for the event came from Boston Theater Company’s annual Road of Rainbows Pride 5K.
The 10-minute play format allows audiences to experience many different stories and emotions related to the queer experience in one sitting. Cox hopes that the festival creates a safe and positive space for the queer community and supporters.
“During the current climate, this representation is more important than ever,” said Cox. “Sharing our stories, especially in this way, can be really impactful and moving, particularly for young people or folks who might still be trying to figure out who they are.”
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