Queer Voices festival will showcase a ‘crazy mix’ of short plays
When Joey Frangieh and Lisa Rafferty put out an open call for submissions to their Queer Voices festival, they had no idea what to expect.
The Boston Theater Company colleagues — who stepped out of the gate with 2017’s “Finish Line,” a documentary play about the Boston Marathon bombings — were cautiously emerging from a pandemic pause and didn’t want to be overly ambitious.
“We chose the 10-minute play festival as our trampoline for returning to live productions,” Frangieh says. “We thought a lot about whether to repeat them or use each night of performance for different plays, but we finally decided to mount full productions of just seven plays.” The festival runs Friday through Sunday at the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theatre.
“We were blown away by the response,” says Frangieh. “We received 75 scripts, with very little repetition of themes. These 10-minute plays are a crazy mix of love stories, comedy, transitions, heartbreak.”
Boston Theater Company was founded by Frangieh, a director, designer, and producer, with the goal of “creating programs that amplify voices that are often left out, including a particular focus on the LGBTQ+ community.”
“With Queer Voices,” Frangieh says, “we love the idea that in just 80 minutes you can experience seven short plays and experience a range of stories. You might not connect to every one of them, but they showcase the diversity of this community, which is so unique. The tight confines of the 10-minute structure also demand a great deal from the playwrights in terms of character development and storytelling.”
Frangieh praises the playwrights’ ability to make very individual stories feel universal. He cited “Right Field of Dreams,” which tells the story of a young Little Leaguer sent to right field, far from the action.
Playwright Stephen Kaplan “captures that feeling of being the outsider and what it’s like to be sent off to the edges of the field,” he says.
A committee reviewed the submissions in two rounds, winnowing the group to seven titles. In addition to Kaplan’s “Right Field of Dreams,” they include: “Thanks for the Mammaries!” by Bailey Jordan Garcia; “Little Black Dress,” by John Mabey; “All I Want for Christmas,” by De’Aveyon Murphy; “Sharing Slices, or The Unfortunate Way I Still Love You,” by Elijah Punzal; “Remembering When I Used to Remember,” by Patrick Riviere; and “Frigid,” by Emma CR Skinner. Three directors will helm the works and nine actors will perform.
“We are very aware of the power of theater to unite people through a shared experience,” Frangieh says. “We hope to make this an annual event and empower more people to tell their story.”