Watch a 10-minute play every day and raise money for the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund
March 31, 2021 Twitter Facebook
M. Bevin O’Gara has supported the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund, but never expected to ask for its help herself.
The nonprofit was established in the late 1990s to help local theater artists facing unanticipated catastrophes, be it a medical emergency, a stolen laptop, or a house fire. Veteran Boston director O’Gara (CFA’04), whose credits include plays at the Huntington Theatre Company and Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, donated to the fund and even performed in a fundraising video. She has also regularly bought tickets for the Boston Theater Marathon, an annual festival of 10-minute plays that is the fund’s largest revenue source.
Looking to the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, a pair of Boston city councilors are pushing to make remote, virtual participation in public hearings and meetings a permanent fixture of city government.
Wicked Local
The 2021 recipients of the Lauren Dunne Astley Memorial Fund s mini-grants have been announced.
This marks the eighth year that the fund has awarded funding for creative initiatives in the three areas of its mission Effective Teen Relationships & Violence Prevention, the Arts, and Community Service.
Applicants this year had the burden of planning around the significant challenges presented by COVID-19, but this still turned out to be the most competitive application season ever.
After difficult choices, a total of 15 project proposals were funded this year, all of which carry Lauren Dunne Astley’s spirit and memory into their important work. They are:
A Year Apart From Family
A man wearing a mask walks the Brooklyn Bridge in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak on March 20, 2020 in New York City.
Victor J. Blue/Getty Images
Callie s Commentary | March 8, 2021
If all had gone according to plan, my sister, niece and nephew would have been in Boston now for a mini-reunion. My nephew was scheduled to be back here performing with his dance troupe at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. We made the plans when he was here last March performing in Cambridge. He didn’t have much time then, so we were looking forward to the extended visit especially some adventurous eating out, with stops at some of my favs, some arts-based sightseeing, maybe some shopping and downtime just hanging out at my house. We didn’t really understand what COVID was then or how would upend our lives. Two days after my nephew’s final March 2020 performance, Gov. Charlie Baker issued the first stay-at-home advisory.