The Boston Project

The Boston Project

The Boston Project is SpeakEasy Stage’s new works initiative that supports the creation and development of new plays set in Boston, all of which tap into the full breadth of experiences and identities that make up life in the Hub.

Each spring, SpeakEasy Stage accepts proposals for currently unwritten full-length scripts set in contemporary Boston. We select two projects and invite the playwrights to spend the upcoming season writing and developing their plays with us. The selected playwrights are each paid a commissioning fee.

SpeakEasy Stage works with the playwrights to build a development schedule. Potential available resources include: dramaturgical meetings, research assistance, table reads, and feedback sessions with the artistic staff. Each playwright will also be paired with a dedicated, professional dramaturg and director to assist with their process.

The development process culminates in a two-week workshop and invited staged reading approximately one year after proposals are submitted. We pair each playwright with a director for this process, and cast the reading with professional actors. 

Boston Project Updates

THE BOSTON PROJECT: Project Resilience

Introducing the 2021 Boston Project

Call for Submissions: Project Resilience

SpeakEasy Stage Company is seeking proposals from New England based playwrights for currently unwritten, location-specific, ten-minute monologues for our devised piece, The Boston Project: Project Resilience.

Boston Podcast Project

SERIES 1: THE USUAL UNUSUALBY MJ HALBERSTADTDIRECTED BY MEGAN SANDBERG-ZAKIAN The Usual Unusual is a scrappy and quaint bookstore where Boston’s LGBTQ+ community has gathered to shop, organize, and flirt since the 70’s. When the store’s charismatic founder Penn announces his …

Who’s Who: The Usual Unusual Cast

Meet the cast of our first Boston Project Podcast Series: The Usual Unusual!

2020 Call for Proposals

The Boston Project is a new works initiative supporting the creation and development of plays set right here in our hometown. Our goal is to create more plays that explore what it means to be in this city at this moment, …

Playwright Bill Doncaster

Bill Doncaster is a local playwright and our second Boston Project playwright. His new play Ward Nine will be featured alongside Nina Louise Morrison’s Born Naked this February.

The 2020 Boston Project

I didn’t make this by j. sebastián alberdi

Directed by Caley Chase
Dramaturgy by Melory Mirashrafi

Museum Play by John J. King

Directed by Dawn M. Simmons
Dramaturgy by Pascale Florestal

The 2019 Boston Project

The Usual Unusual by MJ Halberstadt

Directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian
Dramaturgy by Helen Lewis

Just Cause by Laura Neill

Directed by Dawn Meredith Simmons
Dramaturgy by Tonasia Jones

The 2018 Boston Project

DIASPORA! by Phaedra Michelle Scott

Directed by Pascale Florestal
Dramaturgy by Hayley Spivey

Hot Dog Christmas by Ethan Warren

Directed by Alex Lonati
Dramaturgy by Helen Lewis

2017 Boston Project

Ole White Sugah Daddy by Obehi Janice

Directed by Pascale Florestal
Dramaturgy by Phaedra Michelle Scott

Knock Down, Drag Out by Rick Park

Directed by Maria Silvaggi
Dramaturgy by Ramona Ostrowski

The 2016 Boston Project

Born Naked by Nina Louise Morrison

Directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian
Dramaturgy by Walt McGough

Ward Nine by Bill Doncaster

Directed by Darren Evans
Dramaturgy by Walt McGough

A Lasting Gift

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