Ludmila Anselm's Russian Master Class

Photos June Lewin as Olga Chekhova in Ludmila Anselm's Russian Master Class (I directed)

SwanDay Photos of Precious Bane

Prue and Gideon Sarn

Here are some shots from ICWP/March Madness Women Playwrights staged readings of Miriam Raiken Kolb's musical on SwanDay, March 29th, at Boston Playwrights Theatre

Platwright's Platform member John O'Brien's Obituary

Platwright's Platform member John O'Brien's Obituary appeared in the Globe, along with his photo.

There's no photo credit for John's picture, so I assume it is one supplied by the family that I'm free to use.  I have a few dozen photos of John from the thirtysome years I knew him, but none are "newfangled digital" .

QUOTE: "One of his plays that I worked on was called 'Due to Die at Dawn,' about a guy who was going to get executed in the morning," said Jason Taylor of Boston, who directed or acted in more than a dozen of Mr. O'Brien's plays. "I don't know how he did it, but he managed to put laughs into the play, and it's not a particularly humorous subject. When he gave me the script, I have to say I didn't know if it was going to work, but it did."

I remember that play well.  Another memorable one is about a couple staying in a luxury hotel outside the US who see out their window the police clearing out a gypsy camp of squatters.  It is similar to one of Wallace Shawn's works, but based on John's personal experience, and written before Shawn's.   John chose it as the play to summon his theatre friends to hear read at Community Church when he was told that he had not long left to live.  His voice was diminished and his energy limited, but he served as chief jokester and story teller at his own Irish Unitarian wake, giving us all a chance to say, "Thanks, friend, for the memories.  We love you."

I'm thinking of sending in a Correction.   The Globe says "more than 20 works for the stage..."

In the early 1980's, when I known him for a decade, I asked John how many plays he'd written.  He said "One hundred and five."  In the quarter century since, surely John at least equaled that rate of production-- so somebody must have slipped a decimal point.  It should be "more than 200 works for the stage...".  

Surely I'm not the only Boston-area playgoer who has personally seen far more than 20 of John O'Brien's plays! 

Annoncement: ICWP/Swanday Celebration

2^nd Annual MARCH MADNESS

SWAN Day Celebration! 

Readings and Performances of the work of 

Boston-area Women Playwrights and Artists

Boston Playwrights' Theatre

Saturday Afternoon, March 29 @ 2-5 PM

Come join us for a program of readings and performances of eleven theatre pieces created by local Boston playwrights and artists.  This year there is a theme of relationships and all work treats the subject in some way.  The work, all new and not previously presented, includes short plays and scenes (including one from a new musical!) plus a movement piece---  from area artists Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro, Ludmila Anselm, Sue Brody, Hortense Gerardo, Lyralen Kaye & Amy West, Lynn Liccardo, Miriam Raikin-Kolb & Geralyn Horton, Monica Raymond, Diane Ripstein, Phyllis Rittner and Debbie Wiess.  Some of the Boston theatre scene's favorite directors and actors will be involved such as Danny Gidron, Ken Baltin, June Lewin, Bobbi Steinbeck and Jerry Bisantz.  After the program, there will be a party with light refreshments for mingling and socializing

This event is part of a new international celebration of women artists called SWAN Day (Support Women Artists Now Day), and is being organized under the auspices of the International Centre for Women Playwrights.  March Madness takes place at the Boston Playwrights' Theatre located at 949 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, (Pleasant Street stop on B-line) on Saturday afternoon, March 29, from 2-5pm.  There will be no ticket sales, but donations ($5 suggested) at the door are welcome.  All proceeds of the event will go to The Fund for Women Artists organization, one of the two groups, which conceived SWAN Day, to support its efforts.  For more information, please contact Debbie Wiess