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Congratulations to the Season 33 BPF Award Winners

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The Baltimore Playwrights Festival proudly announces the winners of this year’s Festival, the 33rd annual celebration of Baltimore theater:

For the script:

  • 1st place (Carol Weinberg Award, $250 cash prize): Under the Poplar Trees by Rosemary Frisino Toohey, directed by Miriam Bazensky, and produced by Fells Point Corner Theatre.
  • 2nd Place ($100 cash prize): Fourteen Days in July by Lewis Schrager, directed by Barry Feinstein, a production of the Theatrical Mining Company
  • 3rd Place ($50 cash prize): The Soulman’s Soul by Joycelyn Walls, directed by Nathan Couser, a production of the Theatrical Mining Company.

This is the third time Frisino Toohey has taken first place in the Festival. In 2005 she won for Cornered, and in 2009 she won for G-Man.

For the production:

  • 1st place: Under the Poplar Trees by Rosemary Frisino Toohey, directed by Miriam Bazensky, a production of Fells Point Corner Theatre.
  • 2nd Place: Fourteen Days in July by Lewis Schrager, directed by Barry Feinstein, a production of the Theatrical Mining Company.
  • 3rd Place: The Soulman’s Soul by Joycelyn Walls, directed by Nate Couser, a production of the Theatrical Mining Company.

The awards were presented in an event Sunday evening, September 28 at the Fells Point Corner Theatre.

More Rave Reviews for “Under The Poplar Trees” and “Fourteen Days In July”

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More rave reviews are in for Rosemary Frisino Toohey’s Under The Poplar Trees! Maryland Theatre Guide:

In spite of its serious subject matter, Popular Trees reminds us of the resilience of the human spirit and the need to celebrate those people who made a difference, especially because they did not have long to live.

while Baltimore Guide calls it a "perfect play".

Fourteen Days In July by Lewis Schrager has a review on WYPR by J. Wynn Rousuck and Jamyla Kay:

The insights in “Fourteen Days” help illuminate the misinterpretations and missed opportunities that not only prevented peace then, but continue to embroil relations today.

Baltimore Jewish Times profiles “Fourteen Days In July”

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Melissa Gerr has written a profile of Theatrical Mining Company’s production of Fourteen Days In July. The profile features quotes from playwright Lewis Schrager as well as director Barry Feinstein.

Schrager believes the facts of the agreement “put on the table in 2000” have been forgotten by many people, including government leaders, journalists and even the public. He is an educator at heart and believes people learn best if content is engaging and entertaining, not didactic; he hopes to achieve that with his play. It’s also important to him to remain objective in his role as playwright, he said, regarding the political content of the story as well as a great respect he holds for Ross as a trusted politician and a close friend.

“It is an interesting experience to have a Sunday afternoon basketball practice interrupted by a phone call by Yasser Arafat or Yitzchak Rabin.” recalled Schrager of time spent with Ross playing on Rockville’s Kol Shalom Congregation basketball team, where they are both still members. “But that was the nature of the game. We’ve been friends ever since, and I cherish that friendship,” which began about 20 years ago when Ross was actively involved in the peace negotiations, he added.

TheatreBloom reviews “Under the Poplar Trees”

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Check out Amanda Gunther’s review in TheatreBloom of Fells Point Corner Theater’s production of Under The Poplar Trees by Rosemary Frisino Toohey:

…this play is a startling gem; a true testament that engaging ideas are still being produced in the world of theatre. Balanced with levity and hope against enormous sorrow and agony, Toohey has written the perfect play; a masterpiece with vision.