Voices of BTM XV: Lisa Burdick

Lisa Burdick

I was going to write a compare and contrast essay about what it’s like to participate in both Boston Marathons. In fact it was almost done. That was before. That essay is saved on my hard drive waiting for the right time to share it, perhaps next year. Perhaps the year after that. 

Instead I find myself thinking about what it means to participate in this year’s Boston Theater Marathon. It’s got those words in the title, Boston and Marathon. Those two words will forever be linked with the events of Monday, April 15th, 2013. We can’t escape it. It’s like having your birthday be September 11th. People will always pause. 

But this is our event, 50+ playwrights from New England, 50+ theater companies from Boston, 50+ directors, dozens of crew members, hundreds of actors, all Bostonians. I find myself thinking about art’s place in the world after a tragedy. Here in Boston we’ve had our sports teams to inspire us after a difficult week. But we also have our artists. Art can inspire and heal and bring people together. The Boston Theater Marathon brings the theater community together like no other event. It inspires us too. Perhaps this year it will even help heal us. This city has adopted the phrase “Boston Strong” as a rallying cry, a slogan to use as we pick ourselves up and show our resiliency. The theater community understands because when we keep going, when we pick ourselves up, when we show our resiliency, when we say “Boston Strong,” we’re just finding a new way to say “The Show Must Go On.”

--Lisa Burdick


We hope you’ll join us on Sunday, May 12 for Boston Theater Marathon XV (and for The Warm-Up Laps on May 11!). Click here for tickets and event details. See you there!