Baltimore Playwrights Festival

Upcoming Production

TOM MIDDLETON AND
THE UR-THELLO

Imagine a world where black men are beaten and killed by white men in power simply for being black. Now put down today’s paper and imagine it’s the English Renaissance. This is Urthello’s world. But not Urthello’s play. This is Tom Middleton’s play, a tragedy in five acts about a white writer who has no idea what it’s like to be black. But he tries. Before Shakespeare wrote all those racist tropes in Othello, Middleton did it better.
Tom Middleton and The Ur-thello—black comedy at its best.
Tom Middleton and The Ur-thello
by James Lewis Huss
Presented at the
Eubie Blake Cultural Center
847 N Howard St
Baltimore, MD 21201

Performance is at 11:00 a.m.,
Saturday, April 4, 2025

Directed by John C. Wilson
Characters:

Louis Blanke, Musician – Wordsmith
Tom Middleton, Playwright – John Dignam
Philip Beaumont, Director – Jonathon Shorr
Brett/Elizabeth Cary, Actor – Will Beckstrom
Mary Sidney, Patron – Natalie Pilcher
Lucy Blanke, Partner – Shelby Sullivan
Pat Butch, Bartender – Jane Nitsch
First Constable – John Dignam
Second Constable – Janine Marie Boulad

Stage Manager – Janine Marie Boulad

Upcoming Production

FLOATING DOWN TO CAMELOT

Things are looking up for Prof. Julian Chapel - he has a new exhibition and possibly a new boyfriend. Scandal erupts when the Dean believes one unabashedly homoerotic painting is a portrait of one of Julian’s male students. Before Julian can decide what to do, the painting mysteriously disappears. Set in 1977 at the dawn of the modern gay rights movement, Floating Down to Camelot is about love, art, and finding allies in unlikely places.
Floating Down to Camelot by Steven J. Satta
Presented at the
Eubie Blake Cultural Center
847 N Howard St
Baltimore, MD 21201

Performance is at 1:30 p.m.,
Saturday, April 5, 2025

Directed by Timoth David Copney
Characters:

Paris Brown – Assistant Director
Julian Chapel – Chad Tyler
Roberto Montalvo –Adrian Bagarić
Roz DiStefano – Clare Peyton
Leo Starr – Chris Reed
Nora Walsh –Joan D’Adamo
David Pierson – Bill Kamberger
Alan Starr – Jim Hart

Join us for our new season

Learn more about becoming a reader
The Baltimore Playwrights Festival is looking for readers for the 2025 play submissions period. From March 1st to April 30th we will be accepting works from local playwrights but we also need you! Interested in reading some of the finest plays by local playwrights? Send an email to librarian@baltplayfest.org for more details. Happy reading!

Season 44 - 2025 Reading Series

Our thanks to the Eubie Blake National Jazz and Cultural Center for hosting this year’s readings.
Play
Playwright
Director
Date
Time
Mrs. Richardson
Peter Levy
James A. Brown
Saturday, March 15
11:00 a.m.
Merryborough
Jacob Zach
Miriam Bazensky
Saturday, March 15
1:30 p.m.
Repair of the World
Paul Sambol
Miriam Bazensky
Saturday, March 22
11:00 a.m.
Apartment Swap
Allison Hartley-Kong
Darren McGregor
Saturday, March 22
1:30 p.m.
Elephants in the Basement
Amy S. Hansen
Belle Gaskin-Burr
Saturday, March 29
11:00 a.m.
Ink & Paint
Danielle Moore
Ta'Von Vinson
Saturday, March 29
1:30 p.m.
Tom Middleton and the Ur-Thello
James Lewis Huss
John Wilson
Saturday, April 5
11:00 a.m.
Floating Down to Camelot
Steven J. Satta
Timoth David Copney
Saturday, April 5
1:30 p.m.
Wise
Jerry Slaff
Leslie Byrne
Saturday, April 19
11:00 a.m.
Light
Jarrin Davis
Lydia Davis
Thursday, May 8
7:00 p.m.
All Five of Us
Ilana Rothman
George Andre Tittle
Thursday, May 15
7:00 p.m.
BPF’s mission is to provide an environment that nurtures the talents of Maryland and DC playwrights. BPF does this through readings, discussions, critiques and
workshopping of new plays. Our summer season is devoted to the presentation of these newly-developed works for the entertainment and cultural edification of
our audiences.

How it Works

Every year, the BPF receives a number of original, never-produced plays by people who live in Maryland or Washington, DC.  Those plays are reviewed by our members and some are selected to eventual be put into production by BPF and member theaters.

Outline of the process

  1. Submission
  2. Review
  3. Public Readings
  4. Selection for Production
  5. Production
Learn More

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