Congregation Bet Ha'am

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A Dramatic Affair

May 1, 2021 at 8pm

Join Us for 3 World Premiere Pieces by Maine Dramatists

Tickets are now on sale for Bet Ha’am’s spring gala event!

As we did last year we have lined up 3 outstanding writers to share their work with us over Zoom and this year we have added a dramatic twist to make for an even more exciting event. Those of you who attended last year remember this fantastic fundraiser, and this year we have made it even better by adding a dramatic component. David Bass Clark returns as Master of Ceremonies and Andrew Kosak will again moderate Q&A segments. We hope that you will give generously to support the evening and Bet Ha’am. Click below to register to attend (sliding scale), make a contribution, join the Host Committee, advertise with us or purchase tickets for the Adventure of a Lifetime Raffle.

We are thrilled to be featuring these world premiere pieces by 3 of Maine’s best-known playwrights:

Tikkun Olam, by Brent Askari
A humorous and insightful examination of how one congregant’s crisis of faith results in some unexpected advice from his rabbi.

June 20/20 reVision(s): A Fire Diary, by Bess Welden 

A  brand new, totally untested solo performance text-in-progress of truer than true tales about whiteness, Jewishness, and what she inherited from her father.

 

The Male Gaze, by Monica Wood

A woman feeling overlooked by her husband asks an older neighbor for advice. Be careful—very careful—what you wish for.

Final PostcardAsset 1

ASL interpreting provided.

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All of these pieces will be brought to life by the talented artists at Mad Horse Theatre Company.

Our Host Committee

The support of our host committee lays the foundation to ensure A Dramatic Affair is a successful and profitable event.

For a $250 tax deductible donation you will be named and thanked on our host list which will appear in the Bet Ha’am weekly email, email blasts and the digital event program. You will receive two household tickets for A Dramatic Affair so you can share one with family or friends.
Join the Host Committee

Adventure of a Lifetime Raffle

Our famous Adventure of a Lifetime Raffle is a playful way to expand the fundraising power of A Dramatic Affair. Wishing on your dreams helps secure an enduring future for Bet Ha’am. We hope you will play along!

Tickets are $100 each and only 150 tickets will be sold. One winner will be chosen by drawing to select from our two prize categories, each valued at $5,000. You can:

Travel the World – Got pent up travel desires? When the time comes to act on them confer with our travel mavens to create the trip of your dreams.
or
Feather Your Nest – Use your winnings to enhance your home or life. Be fanciful or practical. We encourage you to shop local!
Buy Raffle Tickets
Like a Good Neighbor State Farm is there.
Best of the Best Meat Market in Greater Portland 5 years in a row!
Keller Williams Realty
Every home has a story - let us help you find yours!
BRENT ASKARI
BRENT ASKARI is a Persian-American writer and actor. He recently won the 2019 National New Play Network Smith Prize For Political Drama for his upcoming play The Refugees. He has had plays produced at or developed by Ensemble Studio Theatre LA, Vital Theatre, Melrose Theatre, The 78th Street Theatre, The Boston Theatre Marathon, New American Theatre, The Drilling Company, Choice Theatricals, Penobscot Theatre Company, Swarthmore College, Eastern Connecticut State University, and the College of Southern Nevada. Brent has also been a finalist for the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville’s Heideman Award, the Reva Shiner Comedy Award, and the Mountain Playhouse International Comedy Playwriting Contest. He was part of HBO’s New Writers Project and has written screenplays for Paramount Pictures, Marvel Films, and MTV. Brent is a National New Play Network affiliate artist, an affiliate artist with Portland Stage Company, and a member of Mad Horse Theatre Company. He is currently working on a new commission for Barrington Stage Company.
BESS WELDEN
BESS WELDEN (www.besswelden.com) newest play with songs, Death Wings, recently won the 2020 Maine State prize of the Clauder Competition for New England Playwrights. The script was also a semi-finalist for the 2020 O’Neill New Play Conference and workshopped with Fresh Ink Theatre at Boston Center for the Arts. Her play Refuge Malja, winner of the Tel Aviv Jewish Plays Contest and a finalist in the 2020 National Jewish Playwriting Contest, was recently published by Smith Scripts, UK. Refuge Malja premiered on Portland Stage’s mainstage and was nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2018. The new full-length version of Madeleines was named a top 20 semi-finalist in the 2021 National Jewish Plays Contest and received workshop readings with Maine Playwrights Festival and North Shore Readers Theater this past year. In fall 2020 she co-produced and performed Hausfrau: The Webseries on YouTube. Mergirl Saves the Waves, Bess’ feminist, environmentalist adaptation of The Little Mermaid, is in development supported by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission. Her solo comedies The Passion of the Hausfrau (2009) and Big Mouth Thunder Thighs (2013) premiered in Portland Stage’s Studio Theater, and her collaborative play-project with live music and illustration, Legbala is a River, premiered at Mayo Street Arts (2017). Last spring she participated as an invited writer at the National Winter Playwrights Retreat (HBMG Foundation) in Grand Lake, CO and was a member of Company One Theatre (Boston) PlayLab Unit 2020 cohort. You can hear her 15-minute audio rom-coms “What I Miss Most” and “Under My Skin” on the Meet Cute Podcast (www.meetcute.com).
MONICA WOOD
MONICA WOOD is a novelist, memoirist, and playwright, the 2019 recipient of the Maine Humanities Council Carlson Prize for contributions to the public humanities, and the 2018 Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance Distinguished Achievement Award for contributions to the literary arts. In 2015 her first play, Papermaker, debuted at Portland Stage, the theater's highest-grossing show in its 40-year history. The play has had subsequent productions in several regional theaters, including Shadowland Stages in Ellenville, NY, and Chenango River Theatre in Greene, NY. Her second play, The Half-Light, recently debuted at Portland Stage, its second highest-grossing show ever. Her most recent novel, The One-in-a-Million Boy, has been translated into 20 languages in over 30 countries.
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81 Westbrook Street
South Portland, ME 04106

Mon: Office Closed
Tues - Fri: 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM

Phone: (207) 879 - 0028
Fax: (207) 879 - 1866

Mon: Office Closed
Tues - Fri: 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM

81 Westbrook Street
South Portland, ME 04106

Phone: (207) 879 - 0028
Fax: (207) 879 - 1866

Get the Newsletter

Get Involved. Have Fun. Feel more connected.

We need your help to produce A Dramatic Affair!

Tasks are short-term with few meetings and high reward. 

 

Can you help with: 

  • mailings

  • virtual greeting during event

  • record keeping

  • composing various letters

  • technical assistance during the event

  • selling ads or raffle tickets

 

For more information, contact Toby Rosenberg at story@bethaam.org

Promote your business while you support this event.

Producer ($1500)

  • Premier hyperlinked logo placement in program and on event webpage

  • Verbal acknowledgment at the event

  • Mention in social media and email blasts

  • 8 tickets to A Dramatic Affair for you, clients, family, or friends

Director ($750)

  • Prominent hyperlinked logo in program and on event webpage

  • Logo placement on publicity materials

  • 4 tickets to A Dramatic Affair for you, clients, family, or friends

Assistant Director ($350)

  • Hyperlinked logo in program and on event webpage

  • Logo placement on publicity materials

  • 2 tickets to A Dramatic Affair for you, clients, family, or friends

Advertise With Us

The Talented Artists from Mad Horse Theater Company

Tikkun Olam, by Brent Askarid
directed by Marie Harmonand featuring Allison McCall and Jake Cote

June 20/20 reVision(s): A Fire Diary, by Bess Welden 
directed by Stacey Koloski  and featuring Reba Askari 

The Male Gaze, by Monica Wood
directed by Chris Price and featuring Brent Askari, Janice Gardner and Christine Marshall

MAD HORSE THEATER COMPANY was founded in 1986 in Portland as a professional resident theater ensemble. The Company quickly developed a reputation for innovative interpretations of cutting-edge contemporary plays as well as the dramatic classics. After performing in a variety of venues, they secured a lease on our own building in 2009 from the city of South Portland. Being in their own space allows the actors to create and rehearse a production in the same 50 seat black-box theater where it will be performed. The company’s mission has been the driving force behind a history of productions that, they believe, have added to Maine’s artistic enrichment and to the social discourse that is at the heart of a strong community. It is their sincere hope that the audience’s experience is entertaining and engaging. In 2020, Mad Horse Theatre appointed Janice Gardner and Mark Rubin to two-year terms as the new Executive Director and Artistic Director of the company.

More About Mad Horse

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