John Hendel

MFA Alumni Update: Qui Nguyen

Qui Nguyen (’02) is a screenwriter of Disney’s 2021 animated feature, Raya and the Last Dragon!

From Walt Disney Animation Studios:
Long ago, in the fantasy world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. But when sinister monsters known as the Druun threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, those same monsters have returned and it’s up to a lone warrior, Raya, to track down the last dragon in order to finally stop the Druun for good. However, along her journey, she’ll learn that it’ll take more than dragon magic to save the world—it’s going to take trust as well. From directors Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada, co-directors Paul Briggs and John Ripa, producers Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho, and featuring the voices of Kelly Marie Tran as Raya and Awkwafina as Sisu.

See Raya and the Last Dragon in theatres or on Disney+ Premier Access now!

Qui Nguyen is a playwright, TV/Film writer, and Co-Founder of the OBIE Award-winning Vampire Cowboys of NYC. His work, known for its innovative use of pop-culture, stage violence, puppetry, and multimedia, has been lauded as “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 (2016 Steinberg Award, 2016 LADCC Ted Schmidt New Play Award, 2016 Kennedy Prize Finalist); She Kills Monsters (2013 AATE Distinguished Play Award, 2012 GLAAD Media Award nom); War is F**king Awesome (Frederick Loewe Award); Soul Samurai (2009 GLAAD Media Award nom); Begets: Fall of a High School Ronin; Krunk Fu Battle Battle; Bike Wreck; Aliens vs Cheerleaders; and the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys productions of The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G, Six Rounds of Vengeance, Alice in Slasherland, Fight Girl Battle World, Men of Steel, and Living Dead in Denmark.

More at quinguyen.com.

MFA Alumni Update: Joseph Gallo

Mile Square Theatre presents Joseph Gallo’s (’08) podcast play, Playbill Gallery (a love story) starting Friday, March 5th.

From Mile Square Theatre:

In February of 2020, Gallo’s compilation of more than 250 Playbills, made-up entirely of shows he had seen on Broadway and Off-Broadway, opened as part of an art exhibit held at the Benjamin J. Dineen, II and Dennis C. Hull Gallery in Jersey City.

An accompanying solo play used the Playbills to collectively tell the story of a life in the theatre, and to highlight the unique journey that each live theatre experience brings.

The Playbills, and additional performances by Gallo, were slated to be on display at MST in 2021. But because of these trying times, The Playbill Gallery (a love story) has been re-worked as a Podcast, featuring a sound score by our resident designer Michael Blaskewicz, with the help of 16 additional voices.

With our theatrical spaces shuttered, this bittersweet homage to a lifetime of theatre-going taps into the current longing that every theatre-goer and every theatre-maker is experiencing.

The Playbill Gallery (a love story) could not arrive at a more critical time!

For more information, please check out: https://www.milesquaretheatre.org/shows-events/the-playbill-gallery/

MFA Alumni Update: Jordan Ramirez Puckett

Tantrum East Theatre presents Jordan Ramirez Puckett’s (’20) play En Los Sombras in a live reading tomorrow, Friday, February 26th at 7:00 p.m. eastern! If you can’t make the live reading, it will be recorded and streamed through Tuesday, March 2nd.

For more information, please check out: https://www.classy.org/event/en-las-sombras/e324814

En Los Sombras: Listen closely because I am going to tell you an ancient tale. At a time when people were nothing more than pawns for gods and shadows, the Sun God disappeared leaving the world in darkness and in danger. When their own mother’s life is threatened, young Xenia and Luz must take the trial of the gods, risking their lives for the chance to become deities themselves. And why do you need to hear this story? Because time is cyclical, and what happened in the past did happen again and is happening now.

With this play, Jordan was the recipient of the 2019 Trisolini Fellowship.

MFA Alumni Update: Laura Jacqmin

Laura Jacqmin (’07) spent 2019 and 2020 writing for the forthcoming Netflix series, ONE PIECE (based on the longrunning manga series by Eiichiro Oda) and the forthcoming NBCU/Peacock/USA series, JOE EXOTIC (based on the Wondery podcast, starring Kate McKinnon). Her first feature, WE BROKE UP (co-written and directed by Jeff Rosenberg, also an OU alum), starring William Jackson Harper and Aya Cash, will be released in 2021. Also, all three seasons of GET SHORTY are now available free with Amazon Prime.

1st-Year MFA Eryn McVay at KCACTF

First-year MFA Playwright Eryn Elyse McVay’s new short play The Weight of It All will be performed TONIGHT as a “splash” piece at the 2021 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region 7. A “splash” piece has the actors rehearse the play separately from each other and then not meet each other until the performance! The event begins at 11pm EST, click here to watch: https://youtu.be/xjAtElTfOG0

MFA Alumni Update: Catherine Weingarten

Catherine Weingarten (’17) recently wrote for the Bennington College 24-Hour Play Festival 2021. In the past several months, Catherine co-taught a workshop on play development etiquette for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival and had a virtual residency with Bethany Arts.

You can follow all of Catherine’s updates on her playwriting and humor writing at her website: https://catherine-weingarten.squarespace.com/

The Laughing Madness

This week’s Madness asks why we laugh. Friday, February 12, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. EST. Produced by 2nd-year playwright Ivan Mosley.

How to attend Madness this spring (2021):

Virtual seating for the Zoom-show will be limited; as always, admittance is first come, first served.
The show starts at 6:00 pm, and the Madness Zoom-link will be posted on relevant Fridays between 5:50 and 6:00 pm via the OHIO School of Theater Facebook page and Twitter.
To make sure you get admitted, watch for the Zoom-link to appear on Facebook or Twitter and click through to enter the lobby immediately. Your Zoom-link is specific to you — sharing with others means you won’t be able to see the show.
Shows are planned for the following Fridays: 1/29, 2/12, 2/26, 3/12, 3/26, 4/9. Typically, Madness runs around 50 minutes in length.
More about Madness at https://ohioplaywriting.org/madness/.

Mid-Year Update: Skye Robinson Hillis

MID-YEAR UPDATE
In July, 2020, Third-Year MFA Playwright Skye Robinson Hillis‘ play Bury the Rest was performed on the podcast Unstaged, hosted by Jenna VanWeelden. The episodes are linked below, or you can listen to Unstaged on most major podcast platforms.

Act I: https://anchor.fm/unstagedpod/episodes/Bury-The-Rest-by-Skye-Robinson-Hillis–Act-1-eg15pm
Act II: https://anchor.fm/unstagedpod/episodes/Bury-The-Rest-by-Skye-Robinson-Hillis–Act-2-ege78v

Mid-Year Update: Steven Strafford

MID-YEAR UPDATE
First-Year MFA Playwright Steven Strafford’s play Safe was workshopped at the 16th Street Theater (August, 2020) and is currently a semifinalist of both the 2021 National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and the 2021 New American Voices Playwriting Festival. Safe was also selected by Tantrum East for an October, 2021 workshop.

In addition, Steven’s short play Use Your Noodles was produced at Middlesex College.

Mid-Year Update: Eryn Elyse McVay

MID-YEAR UPDATE
First-year MFA Playwright Eryn Elyse McVay’s new short play The Weight of It All will be performed as a “splash” piece at the 2021 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region 7. A “splash” piece has the actors rehearse the play separately from each other and then not meet each other until the performance! The Region 7 festival runs February 17-20, 2021.