About Artist Retreat

Burrell High School's first premiere of a new play has been in the works for over 2 years. Mr. Connolly first began talks with friend, playwright, and fellow former Duquesne University Red Masquer alum Matt Smith about the possibility of him writing something that the group could potentially perform in April of 2019. Matt Immediately offered Artist Retreat as a possibility. The work, however, was in early stages of development. As a result, the BHS Theatre Co. participated in a table read for Smith as an aid to developing his next draft. The original plan was to stage the new play in the fall of 2020, however, the pandemic stymied efforts to put the play on stage out of a desire to fully develop the potential of the play, as well as avoid playing it in masks to an empty house. With some restrictions now lifting in 2021, we saw the potential to finally bring Artist Retreat to life. Near the end of the 2020-21 school year, Burrell High School Theatre Company students read a newer draft for Smith via Zoom and he once again went to work re-drafting the work. In August of 2021 Matt came to Pittsburgh to hear the group do a third reading of the play and get student feedback prior to finalizing the draft that Connolly and the group began working on. Now in November of 2021, we are proud to present the first run of Artist Retreat by Matt Smith.

Artist Retreat tells the tale of retired dancer, Mother Dee, who now lives in the aging mansion of her deceased parents. Over the years she has slowly turned the home into a haven for artists and creatives who need a place to work, live, and ply their trades. But the house is in dire need of upkeep. In spite of the overtime efforts of resident handiwoman, Hacksaw, the roof is caving in, and as Hacksaw puts it, “the duct tape is structural”. As a result, Mother Dee attempts to draw on a trust left to her by her parents in the hopes of securing the much needed moneys for appropriate repairs. However, when bank representative Penny shows up, it becomes clear that the money cannot be accessed unless Mother Dee is using it for what the bank deems to be “a viable business”. As Penny becomes embroiled in the wild antics of the resident artists the group must come together in a way that will help them stay together as a collective under a crumbling roof. Meanwhile Penny begins to second guess her ties to corporate America as she begins to find life among these quirky artists oddly satisfying.

About the Playwright:

Matt Smith is a Seattle-based playwright whose plays have appeared at the Seattle Outdoor Theater Festival, Balagan Theatre, Playlist Seattle, the Eclectic Theatre (Los Angeles), the Pittsburgh New Works Festival, Pittsburgh Playwrights’ Theatre, and 14/48: The World’s Quickest Theatre Festival. His full-length plays Cork Dinosaur and March were performed at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where he studied Journalism. His play The Hanford Invasion! was developed at the 2018 Seven Devils Theatre Conference and featured as part of Macha Monkey’s Distillery reading series in 2017.

Burrell High School Theatre Company

Burrell High School Drama Club prides itself on its entirely student run productions. Students construct the set, fill all cast roles, tech and cue the show and run all consoles. The club stages two main stage productions a year. A play in the fall and a musical in the spring. The group is overseen by director and supervisor Martin Connolly. This year's officers are President and senior Technical Director Kimly Hong, Vice President and senior deck stage manager Abby Siwak, Secretary and junior deck stage manager Samantha Bibza, and Sophomore Treasurer and production stage manager Emily Roos.

Burrell High School Drama Club has an inclusive philosphy that means any student at BHS can find a place within the production. However, we pride ourselves on our ability to prepare those who want to move on to make careers of theatre to enter college and university programs that will make those aspirations possible. You can currently find Burrell High School Drama Club alums in both MFA and BFA design and technical programs studying their craft, as well as actors training to pursue dreams on stage at the University level.

The adult creative team includes Director Martin Connolly, Choreographer and Properties Supervisor Mallory Codita, Co-Music Directors Michael Pagnotta and Kala Williams, and Costume Designer Nancy Albinini