Frequently Asked Questions
1) What is Boston Playwrights' Theatre?
Our theatre has several programs supporting the local playwriting and theatre community. We are:
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The MFA Playwriting Program branch of the Graduate Creative Writing Program in the English Department at Boston University.
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A small professional theatre working under a NEAT contract. We hire professional actors, directors, and technicians to produce works written by our alumni.
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A venue for outside theatre companies to produce new plays. We do not rent our space - we donate it as part of our mission to support new works. See #11 below for more info.
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The Boston Theater Marathon (BTM). The BTM is a separate charity theater festival, organized and run by BPT staff and supported in part by the Humanities Foundation at Boston University and by the Huntington Theatre Company.
More information is available at our Mission and Programs page.
2) What is your box office line?
You can reach our box office at 866-811-4111.
For group and Playwrights' Pass subscription sales please call 617-353-5443.
3) Where is your theatre located?
Boston Playwrights' Theatre is located at 949 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215.
Directions, parking and a map are available on our directions page.
4) Why are other theatre companies listed at Boston Playwrights' Theatre?
As noted in #1 above, we are also a venue. As part of our mission, we donate our space to outside theatre companies to support a new play productions. Keep in mind that these companies are distinct from BPT and will have their own production funding as well as their own artistic staff, press contacts, and box office numbers.
5) Why do you have two names - "Boston Playwrights' Theatre" & "Playwrights' Theatre at B.U."?
We are a professional theatre under the producing name “Boston Playwrights' Theatre.” We produce two shows on average each year under this name.
We are also an educational program working under the name “Playwrights’ Theatre at Boston University.” Our MFA Playwriting Program is part of the Graduate Writing program at BU. We produce one show per year by one of our recent Masters in Playwriting students to enter in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.
Actors Equity, the professional actors' union, requires separate names for these programs.
6) Are you and the Huntington the same?
No - we are separate entities. BPT is a separate venue with our own professional Equity contracts and our own artistic staff. The Huntington is a self-contained, non-profit organization "in residence" at Boston University that works closely with BU's Theatre Program in the College of Fine Arts.
We work with The Huntington Theatre Company and with the Theatre Program in the College of Fine Arts in several collaborative ways. The Huntington generously donates spacein the Virginia Wimberly Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Theater Pavilion at the BCA for the Boston Theater Marathon. The theatre students who attend classes at the Huntington for BU's Theatre Program work with us in our "Playwrights' Theatre at BU" production, entered annually in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.
7) Are you in the Boston University Theatre?
No - our venue is Boston Playwrights' Theatre at 949 Commonwealth Ave. Directions are here.
“Boston University Theatre” is the proper name of the Huntington’s theatre venue at 264 Huntington Avenue.
8) Will you read/produce my play?
If you are not one of our alumni, we cannot consider your play for a reading or production. We are entirely part of Boston University and therefore produce only plays written by alumni of our Graduate Playwriting Program. There are no exceptions. Outside theatre companies using our stages may produce any new play (see #1 above), but if you have a play ready for production, you must contact those companies directly.
The only time we read non-alumni plays is for the "Boston Theater Marathon." We organize this festival of 10-minute plays but do not ourselves produce all the plays--only one of them. Each of the 50 10-minute plays of the BTM are produced by a different theatre company. Any New England playwright is welcome to submit a 10-minute play to the BTM.
9) What is your Graduate Playwriting Program like?
This information is explained in the Graduate section of our website, including how to apply.
We do not rent our space. Instead, we donate our theatre space to other companies who are producing new works. Our mission is to support new plays, and this is one of the ways in which we do that. Because free theatre space is rare, there is a great demand for our venue. We book the theatre up to at least a year in advance.
If your company is producing a new play, and this time frame will work for you, you are welcome to contact us about submitting a proposal. We would need a copy of the play, your wish list for the space (i.e. what days you would like to perform, how long you'd like the play to run, whether or not you need our space to rehearse), and who is involved (producing company, director, designers, actors, etc.)
11) How do I audition for your shows?
With regards to auditions, we often work through Stagesource, a non-profit group dedicated to promoting theater and theater professionals in Boston and New England. They hold their annual Summer Regional auditions here in our theatre space. We also hold one or two auditions every year in the early Fall (around September.)