Short Plays Showcased
Blacktown Theatre Co. (NSW) will showcase short plays by one of their favourite international playwrights Mark Harvey Levine (USA) for one weekend from September 14 - 16. Over many years, Levine has submitted plays into the company’s annual 4 Short Plays seasons and his plays have always proved popular, which is why the company has produced this special event showcasing his work.
BTCo told Stage Whispers – it’s like playing one our favourite albums just for you. We love his comedies and feature them regularly so we have put them together in one show and think we've got it covered with romance, friendship, time travel and crayons. We promise to tickle your funny bone and tug at your... heart strings so bring a drink, a snack, your sense of humour and get a table of friends together... Let us do the rest!
Mark Harvey Levine has had over 800 productions of his plays around the world, from New York to Sao Paulo to Seoul to Sydney. His plays have been produced in Australia, Brazil, Canada, The Czech Republic, Egypt, England, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Morocco, The Netherlands, The Philippines, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland. Now a collection of his plays staged in Western Sydney by Blacktown Theatre Company, where he made his Australian debut, will be the 100th Australian production of his plays.
The playwright has been featured in Blacktown Theatre Company’s short play seasons for the last 7 years.
“Mark Harvey Levine plays can be everything from poignant to comical but they are always entertaining and always well received by our audiences. It was a logical choice to put together an evening of our favourites” President John Hanna said
Mark Harvey Levine’s plays have won awards including the Annual Fifteen Minute Play Festival in New York, Boston PlaySlam Best Play Award, the Chester Horn New Play Festival two times, Chameleon Theatre Circle's Annual New Play Contest two times, Lakeshore Play Festival two times, and the "In A NY Minute" Play Festival five times -- every single time he has entered.
Levine has also had several works published Laugh Lines: Short Comic Plays, Best of 10 minute Plays and Shorter, Faster, Funnier, not bad for the Pittsburgh born Carnegie-Mellon University graduate.
His work has been translated into Portuguese, French, Hebrew, Japanese, Arabic, American Sign Language and now, Conversational Australian. When asked where he gets his ideas he says he would tell you the name of the store “but then everyone will want one”. But quickly confesses, “When I get stuck I buy my wife a coffee and we sit and talk over my ideas. This works great, but my wife hasn’t slept since 2008.”
A weekend of Mark Harvey Levine Plays will be presented by Blacktown Theatre Company on Friday 14thSeptember 8pm, Saturday 15thSeptember 8pm and Sunday 16thSeptember 6pm. Each performance will also feature a special sneak peak of Blacktown Theatre Company’s High School Musical, which opens on Friday 28thSeptember.
Tickets available at the door or at http://btco.iwannaticket.com.au
(Phone Bookings: 0432 477 777 John Hanna)
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