1999 Ohio University Seabury Quinn Jr. Playwrights’ Festival

Guest Mentors

Ed Herendeen founded the Contemporary American Theater Festival in 1991. Through his leadership the Contemporary Theater Festival has produced fourteen world premieres, commissioned seven new plays, expanded its audience from two hundred to over eleven thousand, and has gained the reputation as one of America’s most important producers of new work. His directing credits include the following world premieres: The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa by John Olive, The Occupation by Harry Newman, Miss Golden Dreams, A Play Circle by Joyce Carol Oates, Compleat Female Stage Beauty by Jeffrey Hatcher, Carry the Tiger to the Mountain by Cherylene Lee, Octopus by Jon Klein, Psyche Was Here by Lynn Martin, What are Tuesdays Like? by Victor Bumbalo and Still Waters by Lynn Martin. Other CATF directing credits include The Late Henry Moss by Sam Shepard, Thief River by Lee Blessing, Something in the Air, Gun-Shy, and Below the Belt by Richard Dresser, The Wather Children by Wendy MacLeod, BAFO by Tom Strelich, Lighting up the Two Year Old by Benjie Aerenson, Beti the Yeti by Jon Klein, Shooting Simone Lynne Kaufmann, Alabama Rain by Heather McCuthchen, Black by Joyce Carol Oates, and The Swan by Elizabeth Egloff. In addtion to the CATF, Ed has worked in a variety of regional theaters including The Milwaukee Repertory, The Missouri Repertory, The Old Globe, The Lyceum Theater, and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Ed has also served on the 2002 admissions committee at New Dramatists, NYC and as a panelist for the NEA.

Seabury Quinn, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Theater, received his B.A. from Harvard University, M.A. from Columbia University, and Ph.D. from Yale University. Before joining Ohio University faculty, he taught at the University of Denver at Vassar College and worked for the New York Public Library’s Theater Collection. He directed Ohio University’s 1987 production of The Trojan Woman and acted in the 1988 production of Trevor Giffith’s Comedians and the 1990 production of Kaufman and Hart’s You Can’t Take it With You. Translator with Evert Spinchorn of The Chamber Plays of August Strindberg, he also participated with Howard Stein in the 1987 National Endowment for the Humanities summer seminar “The American Playwright 1920-1980” at Columbia University. Quinn retired in 1996 and passed away in November of 2008.

Jean Reynolds is a playwright whose work includes Dance with Me which was produced off-Broadway by Abingdon Theater Company. The play won the Beverly Hills Theater Guild – Julie Harris Playwright Award Competition, and the Playwrights First Award for Best Play. It is published in the anthology Women Playwrights: Best Plays of 1995. Her play The Last Intimacy premiered at Geva Theater and won the Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays. Her work has been showcased and developed at Circle Repertory Company, Theater Regenesis, Williamstown Theater Festival, One Dream Theater, Soho Rep, Theater of the Open Eye, Expanded Arts, Pulse Theater, Lost Nation Theater, Merrimack Repertory Company, Stages, Matrix Theater, and the Art League Theater among others. She was a member of the Playwrights Project at Circle Repertory Company where she taught in the School of Theater.

Milan Stitt was born in Detroit and attended Cooley High School and the University of Michigan. Long associated with the Circle Repertory Company in New York City, which produced all of his plays including Back in the Race and The Runner Stumble with William Hurt. He wrote and directed “Labor Day” for company member Christopher Reeve. The Runner Stumbles was named Best Broadway Play of 1976 in the annual Best Plays book. It has been published in four American versions and translated into several languages. The film version with his screenplay was made by Stanley Kramer. Among his teleplays are The Gentleman Bandit, Kentucky Ride, and Long Shadows, which was nominated for an International Emmy for best film. As an educator, he was chairman of the Playwriting Program at the Yale School of Drama and also taught writing at Princeton, New York University, University of Michigan, and was Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Worchester State University. He founded The New American Theater School at the Women’s Project and Productions. He was also the Head of the Dramatic Writing Program at Carnegie Mellon University where he was awarded the Raymond W. Smith Chair in Dramatic Writing. His articles on theater and travel have appeared in The New York Times and Horizon magazine. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, he received writing grants from both the New York and Michigan Councils for the Arts and from the National Endowment for the Arts. Stitt passed away in March of 2009 at the age of 68.

1999 Festival Line Up:
MFA Featured Productions:

Niagra Falls
by Ronnie Koenig
directed by Robert W. McMaster
Thursday, May 27th 8:00PM

Synopsis: Phil has issues. In search of confidence, he goes to the office of psychiatrist Dr. Jill Roberts and leaves with a dangerous and powerful little pill.

Killing El Cid
by Dan V. Shea
directed by William Fisher
Saturday, May 29th 8:00PM

Synopsis: 64-year old Jessica is pitted against her stubborn fantasy lover, Rodrigo, in a comic, winner-take-all showdown for control of her life. How do you kill a fantasy when he’s grown fond of your sticky buns?

Readings

May 27th
3:00PM boneyard by Thomas Frattare

May 28th
3:00PM Taking Your Chances by Brian Lindecker
8:00PM Sophie by Anne Cofell

May 29th
1:00PM In Search of X by Jennifer Ricciardi