The Barplays Fest brings theater to the pubs

Published June 10, 2010 at 2:31 a.m.
Line Readings and Libations
High concept and low-budget, the BarPlays Festival is happening all around Providence June 14 to June 27.

High concept and low-budget, the BarPlays Festival is happening all around Providence June 14 to June 27. If you are confused about the ambiguous title of the festival, don't worry, you guessed right. It's a dozen plays about bar habitues, and the performances will take place in actual bars.

The participating venues are Abe's, AS220, E&O Tap, Everyman Bistro, Nick-a-Nee's, Red Fez, Trinity Brewhouse, and the Wild Colonial.

Starting times will vary. Typically, performances will begin with a play that lasts a half-hour or less, followed by one or two performance pieces or tales from local storytellers. There will also be musicians performing halftime entertainment, to allow audiences to grab another round. For variety's sake, play themes will not stick strictly to the perils of alcoholism. According to the festival's announcement press release, subject matter, both serious and funny, extends to "work, texting, war, fortune-telling, love, bad art, friendship, betrayal, [and] pooping."

Sixteen local playwrights and performance artists are participating. Some of the plays were not only written expressly for the festival but also for the specific bar in which they will be performed.

David Higgins, who is presenting a play, came up with the idea.

"I had been thinking of different venues to present my own work," he says. "And I also had the idea that going to theater should be as accessible and as normal as going to see a band.

"Part of it was inspired by the way that fringe festivals tend to be organized," he adds, "in that they will put a performance in any space available."

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