Posts By catherineforever666

Mentors for Seabury Quinn announced!!

March 21, 2016
by catherineforever666
· Chicago · Events · Festival · News

Tanya Palmer, Merri Biechler Kara Corthron will be the three mentors that will be giving feedback to the MFA playwrights at the Seabury Quinn Playfest this year! Tanya Palmer is the director of new play development at the Goodman . Laura Jacqmin is an OU alumni and award winning playwright whose work has been featured at the Humana Fest and Williamstown Theater festival! Kara Corthron is a NYC based playwright who is a current resident at New Dramatists and whose work has been featured at New Georges and the Women’s Project Theater. We are so excited about our mentors this year! Check out the Seabury Quinn playfest this April!

More about the mentors!!

Tanya Palmer is the director of new play development at Goodman Theatre, where she coordinates New Stages, the theater’s new play program, and has served as the production dramaturg on a number of plays including the world premieres of Smokefall by Noah Haidle, Robert Falls and Seth Bockley’s adaptation of Roberto Bolaño’s novel 2666, Another Word for Beauty by José Rivera with music by Hector Buitrago, The Happiest Song Plays Last by Quiara Hudes, The Long Red Road by Brett C. Leonard and the Pulitzer Prize–winning Ruined by Lynn Nottage. Prior to her arrival in Chicago, she served as the director of new play development at Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she led the reading and selection process for the Humana Festival of New American Plays. She is the co-editor, with Amy Wegener and Adrien-Alice Hansel, of four collections of Humana Festival plays, published by Smith & Kraus, as well as two collections of 10-minute plays published by Samuel French. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, she holds an MFA in playwriting from York University in Toronto. She lives in Evanston, IL with her husband and two children.

Kara Lee Corthron’s plays include Julius by Design (Fulcrum Theater), Etched in Skin on a Sunlit Night (InterAct Theatre, Philadelphia), AliceGraceAnon (New Georges), Holly Down in Heaven (Forum Theatre, DC area), Spookwater, Listen for the Light, and Welcome to Fear City. Kara is also the author of the young-adult novel, The Truth of Right Now, forthcoming from Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse, January 2017—the first of a two-book deal. Awards/Honors: member of New Dramatists (class of 2022), 2014-2015 Naked Angels/New School Issues Project Resident Playwright, Boomerang Fund for Artists Grant, Berkeley Rep 2014 Ground Floor Lab Residency, 2012-2014 Women’s Project Lab Time Warner Foundation Fellowship, The Vineyard Theatre’s 3rd Annual Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, the Princess Grace Award, two NEA grants, the Helen Merrill Award, Lincoln Center’s Lecomte du Nouy Prize (three-time recipient), the Theodore Ward Prize, the New Professional Theatre Writers Award, four MacDowell fellowships, residencies at Skriðuklaustur (Iceland), Djerassi, Hawthornden (Scotland), the Millay Colony, and Ledig House, and Fulcrum Theater (a company Kara helped launch with its inaugural production) received a 2013 Obie Grant. Her work has been sometimes produced and mostly developed at places like the African Continuum Theatre (DC), Ars Nova, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Berkeley Rep, CenterStage (Baltimore), Electric Pear, E.S.T., Haulbowline Theatre Group (Cork, Ireland), Horizon Theatre (Atlanta), the Kennedy Center, Midtown Direct Rep, Naked Angels, New Dramatists, New Georges, The Orchard Project, P73, Penumbra, PlayPenn Conference, The Shalimar, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference (Guest Artist, 2012), South Coast Rep, TheatreWorks (Palo Alto), the Vineyard Theatre, Voice & Vision, and the Women’s Project. TV: writer for NBC’s Kings (2008-2009). Kara’s also working on a graphic novel with cartoonist, Shawn Ferreyra. She has taught at various institutions including Primary Stages’ Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA), Ohio University, NYU-Tisch, Playwrights Horizons Theatre School, and Temple University. Juilliard alumna, New Georges Affiliated Artist, and member of Interstate 73 (2007-2008), the Ars Nova Play Group (2010-2011), ‘Wright On! Playwrights Group (co-founder), Blue Roses Productions, the Dramatists Guild and the Writers Guild of America. www.karaleecorthron.com

*Ohio University Alumnus, Laura Jacqmin, was scheduled to appear, but was unable due to illness. We hope to have her back for a future Seabury Playwrights’ Fest!

Charles Smith’s new play at the Goodman Theater’s next season!

March 17, 2016
by catherineforever666
· News

Head of Ohio University’s MFA Playwriting program, Charles Smith, has his new play Objects in the Mirror premiering at the Goodman as part of their 2016/17 season. The play recently was apart of their “New Stages” development series.

The Chicago Tribune writes, “Another premiere follows with “Objects in the Mirror,” Charles Smith’s work about a Liberian refugee. Chuck Smith, no relation to Charles, will direct the new play, which runs in the Albert from April 29 through June 4.”

Look at full season lineup here and click here to watch a video from Charles about the play

Congrats Charles!

Here is more information on the play from the Goodman’s website:

In 2009, playwright Charles Smith traveled to Adelaide, Australia, to see a production of his play Free Man of Color, which originally premiered at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theater and earned Smith the 2004 Jeff Award for Best New Work. A dramatization of the life of John Newton Templeton, an African American man who graduated from Ohio University nearly 40 years before the abolition of slavery, the Adelaide production featured a young Liberian actor named Shedrick Yarkpai in the title role. Impressed by Shedrick’s talent and intrigued by his life story, Smith got to know the young actor and learned about his tumultuous journey from war-torn Liberia, through a number of refugee camps in Western Africa, before his final relocation to Australia.

Shedrick came of age during the bloody rule of Charles Taylor, an American-educated freedom fighter turned warlord who served as president of Liberia from 1997 to 2002; during this time Taylor ran the country as a personal fiefdom, looting its resources and instigating rebellion across the region. Opposition to his rule culminated in the outbreak of a civil war in Liberia that lasted from 1999 to 2003, a conflict marked by its rampant use of child soldiers, young boys abducted and pressed into service by both pro- and anti-government forces. Taylor’s forces organized these child soldiers into “small boy units.” Roving groups were composed of up to 10,000 boys, most of whom were between the ages of eight and 10.

It was from this environment that the young Shedrick escaped with his uncle John, moving from refugee camp to refugee camp in hopes of finding their names on a list of those shortlisted for relocation to the United States. Along the way Shedrick lost family members to war and disease–and when his dead cousin Zaza’ s name appeared on a list of refugees granted asylum in Australia, Shedrick took on his late relative’s identity in order to gain a new home and a new life.

He arrives safely in Adelaide, but Shedrick Yarkpai has vanished in the rear-view mirror, leaving Zaza Workolo in his place. Shedrick has lost his country, his childhood, most of his family and now his own name. He’s now haunted by the ghost of the cousin whose name he assumed and can’t relinquish the person he used to be. Playwright Smith, reunited here with longtime collaborator and Goodman Resident Director Chuck Smith, chronicles Shedrick’s quest to recover his sense of self is the in this moving new play about hope, memory and survival.

More about Charles

Charles Smith’s plays have been produced Off-Broadway and from coast to coast by theaters such as Indiana Repertory Theatre, Goodman Theatre, New Federal Theatre, The Acting Company, People’s Light & Theatre Company, Penumbra, Ensemble Theatre in Cleveland, Crossroads Theatre Company, Penguin Repertory Theatre, Ujima Theatre Company, The Colony Theatre, St. Louis Black Rep, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Jubilee Theatre, Ensemble Theatre in Houston, and Berkeley Repertory Theater.

Nine of his plays received their world premiere productions at Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago. Three of his plays, The Gospel According to James, Sister Carrie, and Les Trois Dumas, were all commissioned and produced by Indiana Repertory Theatre. Les Trois Dumas has also been produced by People’s Light & Theatre and by Independent Theatre in Adelaide, South Australia, and his play The Gospel According to James was also produced by Victory Gardens Theater. His play, Denmark, was the inaugural production of the reopening of Victory Gardens Theater at the Biograph, and his play Pudd’nhead Wilson, commissioned and produced by The Acting Company, enjoyed a twenty-two city national tour before being produced Off-Broadway. His plays Takunda and City of Gold enjoyed tours of the west coast and his play Knock Me a Kiss was recently produced in New York, directed by Chuck Smith and featuring André De Shields. His work has also been produced for the HBO New Writers Project, the International Children’s Theater Festival in Seattle, and The National Black Theatre Festival.

“Partner” Madness coming Friday!

March 14, 2016
by catherineforever666
· Madness · News

Third Year MFA playwright, Aaron Johnson, shall be producing “Partner” Madness this week!!!! He has assigned each playwright a partner and for them to also write about partners. The partners are Aaron and Rachel; Philana and Catherine; Cristina and Tyler; and Natasha and Ryan.

The Madness show is March 18th, 11pm, in the Hahne Black Box theater. Admission is free. We recommend you get there 45 to 60 minutes ahead of time to assure yourself a seat.

For more information about Madness this spring semester, check out our Madness page.

More about Aaron

Aaron Johnson hails from the land of cheese in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He received his Bachelor of the Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he majored in English with an Emphasis in Creative Writing and in Theatre and Drama. While not officially specializing in playwriting in his undergrad, Aaron took the only playwriting course offered twice and completed his creative writing thesis as a play instead of fiction or poetry writing which the school usually requires. During his time at UW-Madison, Aaron completed three full length plays, multiple One-Acts, and numerous short plays which were all workshopped and some eventually produced at the university in staged readings. In his Theatre and Drama major he specialized in props and was props master for a number of university shows including Ti-Jean and his Brothers and Eurydice. Working his summers during college as a technical writer, Aaron decided to take a year off from school and work full time but the call of academia was too much for him to resist though as he is currently pursuing his MFA in Playwriting from Ohio University. Aaron’s writing tends to take the complex and unnoticed topics of today’s culture and bring them to light by using them to create dramatic conflict and then ultimate understanding. Using these undiscovered topics and coupling them with a realistic style will grow people’s curiosity and actively induce them to gain knowledge about today’s world. Aaron feels immensely privileged and grateful to be working towards his MFA in Playwriting at OU with such great and inspiring mentors, colleagues, and friends.

Neal Adelmans new play “I, Custer”in New Mexico!

March 12, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News · Productions

Recent OU Alum Neal Adelman has a new play at Las Cruces Community Theater in New Mexico. “I, Custer” is a one woman play that deconstructs and wakes up Custers last stand. The Las Cruces Sun News writes, “Tony Award-winning playwright and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Mark Medoff, who selects and directs a student play each year at Las Cruces Community Theatre, chose Adelman’s work for the 2016 Mark Medoff Directorial Project Award.”

The review goes on to compliment the production, “Neal Adelman’s lyrical, poetic, “I, Custer” script brings to mind Greek odysseys and the evocative rhythms of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Song of Hiawatha.” And that’s quite a feat considering the play’s thoroughly modern, gender-bending millennial perspectives, and the often scatological, racist and sexist commentary from its controversial protagonist. Check out the full review here

Congrats Neal on your awesome new play!

Go see it!

I, Custer” runs through March 20, with Friday and Saturday performances at 8 p.m.; Sunday performances at 2 p.m. at LCCT. For tickets, at $12, $11 for students, seniors and military, and $10 for children 6 and under and groups of 10 or more, visit lcctnm.org or call 575-523-1200.

If you go

What: “I, Custer” by Neal Adelman

When: Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through March 20

Where: Las Cruces Community Theatre, 313 N. Main St.

How much: $10 to $12

Info: lcctnm.org, 575-523-1200.

More about Neal

Neal Adelman was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas. He writes plays and short stories. His one act play TARRANT COUNTY received an NPP workshop and was a 2014 KCACTF John Cauble Outstanding Short Play National Finalist; his fiction has appeared in Puerto del Sol and Caldera Culture Review. When he’s not writing, he’s either fishing or trying to start a rock and roll band. He is a recent graduate of Ohio University and currently lives in New Mexico.

Laura Jacqmin has play at the Humana fest!

March 9, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News · Productions · world premiere

OU Alumni Laura Jacqmin’s new play Residence is apart of 40th annual Humana Fest season. The festival runs March 2nd-April 10th in Louisville, Kentucky and features plays by such as playwrights as Stephen Dietz and Sarah Ruhl.

Here is a synopsis of Residence:

New mom Maggie returns to her medical sales job, checking into an extended-stay hotel in Arizona as she pursues the commission that will get her out of debt and back on track. When she befriends two hotel employees intent on making her visit a five-star experience, they discover that their lives are all on similarly shaky ground. A funny and sharply-observed play about hanging on when you’re at the end of your rope, and the times when letting go might be the most responsible thing to do.

Here is a nifty video about Laura’s new play! Congrats Laura!! Y’all check check it out if you’re in the area!

More info about the production

Dates-March 2 – April 10, 2016

by Laura Jacqmin
directed by Hal Brooks

316 West Main St. Louisville, KY 40202

Box Office: 502.584.1205 502.371.0956 TDD

Buy tickets here

More about Laura

Laura Jacqmin is a Chicago-based playwright, TV writer, and video game writer, originally from Cleveland. At Actors Theatre: Hero Dad. Regional: January Joiner (Long Wharf Theatre); Ski Dubai (Steppenwolf Theatre); Dental Society Midwinter Meeting (Williamstown Theatre Festival, 16th Street Theater, Chicago Dramatists/At Play). Other theatre: A Third (Finborough Theatre, London); Look, We Are Breathing (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Sundance Institute Theatre Lab); Do-Gooder (16th Street Theater); Ghost Bike (Buzz22 Chicago), and more. Jacqmin is the recipient of the Wasserstein Prize, two National Endowment for the Arts Art Works grants, The Kennedy Center’s David Mark Cohen Playwriting Award, two MacDowell Fellowships, and an Illinois Arts Council Individual Artist Grant. Television: Grace and Frankie (Netflix); Lucky 7 (ABC). Video games: Minecraft: Story Mode (Telltale Games). Jacqmin is a founding member of The Kilroys and holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.F.A. from Ohio University. Residence was developed by the Cape Cod Theatre Project.

2016 Playwrights Festival

March 7, 2016
by catherineforever666
· News

2016 OHIO UNIVERSITY SEABURY QUINN, JR. PLAYWRIGHTS’ FESTIVAL

More info coming soon including our lineup of exciting mentors including titles! Get excitedddd!

FEATURED PRODUCTIONS*

Presented in the Forum Theater, RTV Building

Bait Shop
by Ryan Patrick Dolan
Directed by Rani Crewe
April 13th, 16th, 21st
& 22nd at 8:00pm
April 16th at 2:00pm

Occupation Dad
by Tyler Whidden
Directed by Brian Evans
April 14th, 15th, 20th & 23rd
at 8:00pm
April 23rd at 2:00pm

*Tickets for the Featured Productions are $5 general admission or FREE for OU Students (with valid student ID) through Arts for Ohio; available at the Templeton–Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium box office.

STAGED READINGS

Presented in the Elizabeth Baker Theater, Kantner Hall

Thursday, April 21st

Cristina Luzarraga
1:00 pm (Free admission)
Catherine Weingarten
4:00 pm (Free admission)
Aaron Johnson (thesis production)
8:00 pm (Free admission)

Friday, April 22^nd
Natasha Smith
2:00 pm (Free admission)

Saturday, April 25^th
Philana Omorotionmwan
1:00pm (Free admission)
Rachel Bykowski
4:00pm (Free admission)

Bait Shop

by Ryan Patrick Dolan
Directed by Rani Crewe

8:00 pm – April 13th, 16th, 21st & 22nd;
2:00 pm – April 16th, Elizabeth Evans Baker Theater, Kantner Hall

Tickets for the Featured Productions are $5 general admission or FREE for OU Students (with valid student ID) through Arts for Ohio; available at the Templeton–Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium box office.

Occupation Dad

by Tyler Whidden
Directed by Brian Evans

8:00 pm – April 14th, 15th 20th & 23rd;
2:00 pm – April 23rd, Elizabeth Evans Baker Theater, Kantner Hall

More Info to Follow

“Taboo” Madness coming this Friday!

March 7, 2016
by catherineforever666
· News

First year MFA playwright, Cristina Luzarraga, shall be producing “Taboo” Madness this week!!!!

The Madness show is March 11th, 11pm, in the Hahne Black Box theater. Admission is free. We recommend you get there 45 to 60 minutes ahead of time to assure yourself a seat.

For more information about Madness this spring semester, check out our Madness page.

More about Cristina

Cristina Luzarraga was born and raised in Short Hills, New Jersey, save for a few teenage years spent in London, England. She graduated in 2011 from Princeton University with B.A. in Comparative Literature. Subsequently, she moved to Chicago where she studied sketch writing and improvisation at iO Theatre and The Second City Conservatory and performed stand-up comedy at Zanies and elsewhere. Her full-length play Due Unto Others was produced by Princeton’s Lewis Center for the Arts. Her short plays Hippo Woman and Baker’s Three were produced at Greenhouse Theater in Chicago.

“Farce:an evening of improbable situations” Madness coming this Friday!

February 8, 2016
by catherineforever666
· Madness · News

First year MFA playwright, Natasha Smith, shall be producing “Farce: an evening of improbable situations” Madness this week!!!! She has assigned each playwright to write a short farce.

The Madness show is February 12th, 11pm, in the Hahne Black Box theater. Admission is free. We recommend you get there 45 to 60 minutes ahead of time to assure yourself a seat.

For more information about Madness this spring semester, check out our Madness page.

More about Natasha

Natasha Smith’s play Catapult was a semi-finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival and received a staged reading with Arizona Theatre Company in 2014, where she served as the Artistic Intern for two years. She has also worked with Horizon Theatre and the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. Natasha’s play In Her Place was produced at Amherst College, where she studied Theater/Dance and English, and won the Denis Johnston Playwriting Award from Smith College. She has taught creative writing in the US and in Kenya, and is a three-time recipient of the Roland Wood Fellowship from Amherst College. www.natashawrites.com

“Superpowers” Madness coming this Friday!

February 1, 2016
by catherineforever666
· Madness · News

First year MFA playwright, Philana Omorotionmwan, shall be producing “Superpowers” Madness this week!!!! She has assigned each playwright a different super power to explore.

The Madness show is February 5th, 11pm, in the Hahne Black Box theater. Admission is free. We recommend you get there 45 to 60 minutes ahead of time to assure yourself a seat.

For more information about Madness this spring semester, check out our Madness page.

More about Philana

Philana Omorotionmwan was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She uses writing to create images that explore the the intersections of race, gender, class, and sexuality. Her short plays have been produced at Ensemble Studio Theater, Manhattan Theatre Source, and Berkeley Rep. Her poems have been published in New Delta Review and African American Review. Philana earned her BA from Stanford University and is excited to be pursing an MFA here at OU. You can find out more about her work at philanaplays.weebly.com.

Qui Nguyen is finalist for Edward M. Kennedy Prize

January 28, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · Awards · News

OU Alumni Qui Nguyen is one of the finalists for the prestigious award given to plays in conversation with history. Qui’s play “Vietgone”which was produced by South Coast Repertory is the piece that was recognized. Here is a podcast about the piece from American theater

The Edward M. Kennedy Prize is given annually through Columbia University to a new play or musical that, in the words of the Prize’s mission statement, “…enlists theater’s power to explore the past of the United States, to participate meaningfully in the great issues of our day through the public conversation, grounded in historical understanding, that is essential to the functioning of a democracy.”

Congrats Qui!!

More about Qui

Qui Nguyen is a playwright, TV writer, and Co-Founder of the OBIE Award-winning Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company of NYC. He and his work, known for its innovative use of pop-culture, stage violence, puppetry, and multimedia, has been called “Culturally Savvy Comedy” by The New York Times, “Tour de Force Theatre” by Time Out New York, and “Infectious Fun” by Variety.

Scripts include Vietgone (South Coast Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Company, Manhattan Theatre Club), She Kills Monsters (The Flea, Buzz22 Chicago/Steppenwolf, Company One); War is F**king Awesome (developed in the Sundance Theatre Lab); Krunk Fu Battle Battle (East West Players); Bike Wreck (Ensemble Studio Theatre); Trial By Water (Ma-Yi Theater); Aliens Versus Cheerleaders (Keen Teens); Soul Samurai; The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G (Ma-Yi Theater & Vampire Cowboys); and the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys productions of Alice in Slasherland; Fight Girl Battle World; Men of Steel; and Living Dead in Denmark.

His scripts are published by Samuel French, Playscripts, and Broadway Play Publishing.

Recent honors include the 2015 NY Community Trust Helen Merrill Playwriting Award, 2015 Frederick Loewe Award (War is F**king Awesome), 2014 Sundance Institute/Time Warner Fellowship; a 2014 McCarter/Sallie B. Goodman Fellow; 2013 Sundance Theatre Lab Fellow; 2013 AATE Distinguished Play Award (She Kills Monsters); 2012 TCG Young Leader of Color; and 2012 & 2009 GLAAD Media Award nominations for his plays She Kills Monsters and Soul Samurai.

He is a proud resident artist at New Dramatists, a core member of The Playwrights’ Center, an alumnus of Youngblood, and a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre and The Ma-Yi Writers Lab.