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First-Year Jacob Juntunen preps for World Premiere

The side project in Chicago takes us back to the last hour in the life of Joan of Arc as seen through the lense of playwright Jacob Juntunen and director Cecilie Keenan. Joan’s Laughter, a world premiere, will run May 13-June 17. For tickets and information, visit www.sideproject.net or call 773-973-2150.

OU Playwrights Bound for Kennedy Center

Third-year MFA playwright Ira Gamerman and First-year Jacob Juntunen took top honors at the Region II KCACTF conference this past week. Both writers will see their 10-minute plays advance to the national competition at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival; additionally, Gamerman took home the prize for best one-act. Congratulations to both playwrights!

Started in 1969 by Roger L. Stevens, the Kennedy Center’s founding chairman, the Kennedy Center American College Theater (KCACTF) is a national theater program involving 18,000 students from colleges and universities nationwide which has served as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theater in the United States.

Ryan Dowler talks about The Gratifications

Ryan Dowler, author of The Gratifications, talks about how the play came about and the intense rehearsal process leading up to its studio production in EST/Youngblood’s Unfiltered 2012 (contains adult language).

In conjunction with Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Youngblood’s 2012 Unfiltered festival presents four new plays in studio production, including The Gratifications by Ryan Dowler (MFA ’10). Dowler’s play, directed by Andrew Grosso, stars Michael Cullen* and Chet Siegel*. The Gratifications was developed in the OU MFA workshop during Dowler’s third year in the program. In the play, Lailia considers her sex life liberated, but her father Ken sees things differently. When he refuses to cosign on a loan she desperately needs, Lailia sets out to prove that she’s the one in control of her life, even if it costs her the relationship she values most. The festival runs January 5-February 4, with each of the four plays showing multiple weekends. Visit the EST website for tickets.

*Denotes Member Actors’ Equity

The Bats and Vampires Unite for "She Kills Monsters" at the Flea

She Kills Monsters From left, Megha Nabe, Satomi Blair, Margaret Odette, Allison Buck, Raúl Sigmund Julia and Jack Corcoran in Qui Nguyen’s play about role-playing games at the Flea Theater. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Qui Nguyen (MFA ’02) and a few of his Vampire Cowboys have brought their work to the Flea Theater in Manhattan. Working with the Flea’s resident actors, the Bats, Nguyen and director Robert Ross Parker (fellow OU alum, MFA Directing ’02) present Nguyen’s latest play “She Kills Monsters” a “deceptively breezy and rather ingenious comedy,” says Eric Grode of the New York Times. “It will slash and shapeshift its way into your heart.” Read the full review at NYTimes.com. She Kills Monsters continues through Dec. 23 at the Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa; (212) 352-3101; visit theflea .org for ticket and show information. Up next for Nguyen? He and Parker will return to Ohio University in the Spring of 2012 to develop an original work with the OU School of Theater.

Award-winning Kennedy Play Heads Down Under

I’ll Hear It When I See It, the award-winning play by 3rd Year MFA Playwright Ira Gamerman has been selected for Short + Sweet Sydney’s 2012 10-minute play festival in Sydney, Australia. The play, seen at the Kennedy Center in January 2011, was shortlisted for several Short + Sweet festivals around Australia. From the Short + Sweet website: “Short+Sweet Sydney will produce 180 brand new 10 minute plays in Jan, Feb and Mar of 2012, never before seen in Sydney. With over 300 writers and directors and close to 500 actors involved, Short+Sweet Sydney truly is the biggest little play festival in the world!” For more information, visit www.shortandsweet.org.

East Coast Premiere of Student’s Feature Film

Separation Anxiety, a feature film written by 2nd year MFA playwright Jeremy Sony, is an Official Selection of the 5th Annual Alexandria Film Festival and will be screened on Saturday, November 5th at 5pm, at the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria. “More than 200 high quality, independent, short and feature length films, documentaries, animation and narrative entries from 25 countries were received,” said organizers of this year’s festival. Sony will be in attendance with the film’s director Cole Simon of Glass City Films. Separation Anxiety stars Tyler Seiple, Corbin Jones, Kiana Harris, with John Wesley Shipp (Dawson’s Creek) and Polly Adams (United 93). Visit alexandriafilm.org to learn about the festival.

Watch the trailer for Separation Anxiety and visit Glass City Films for more information.

Taking Madness Beyond the Hahne

First-year MFA Playwright Jacob Juntunen will be in Chicago this weekend for Caffeine Theatre’s Aphra Behn Coffeehouse at the Newberry Library where they will feature a revised and expanded version of his short play “Code Name: Astrea” in an afternoon of short plays and other artistic works. The play was developed as part of Ohio Playwriting’s weekly Production 650 class, also known as Madness.

Qui Nguyen (MFA ’02) Opens Latest in New York

THE INEXPLICABLE REDEMPTION OF AGENT G by Qui Nguyen, program alumnus, is currently playing to sold out houses at Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company. Helen Shaw of TimeOut New York calls the play, “schizophrenic, wonderful… [a] profound metatheatrical self-examination … funny … eye-opening.” Audience response has been equally strong. The Orange Hats, who cite themselves as a dynamic space for audiences’ voices, captured Agent G audience reaction after a recent performance. Current OU Playwriting students (MFA candidate Cecilia Copeland; BFA candidates Nick Philpott and Anthony Kochensparger) were in attendance and share their thoughts in the short video. AGENT G opened March 24 and runs through April 16 at Vampire Cowboys in New York.

OU Playwrights Invited to KCACTF 2011

Molly Hagan (BFA Playwriting ’10) and Ryan Dowler (MFA ’10) both had 10-minute plays invited to the Region 2 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival through the script submission process. Current MFA Playwright Ira Gamerman also had a one-act invited via script submission.

*UPDATE* – 3/2/11
Ira Gamerman (MFA ’12) has been names a National Finalist for the John Cauble Award for Outstanding Short Play from The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. His play SECRET SANTA will presented alongside the other finalists as concert readings during the National Festival.

Ohio University will also be represented by Molly Hagan’s play SPACESHIPS AND THINGS THAT LOOK LIKE THEM, which advances from the Region II conference to the National Festival this April.

Since 2005, OU playwrights have been recognized and selected for seventeen major regional and five national awards from KC/ACTF, including winning the National 10-minute Play Award in 2009.

Chicago Reader Praises Jacqmin’s DENTAL SOCIETY MIDWINTER MEETING

16th Street Theater presents DENTAL SOCIETY MIDWINTER MEETING by Laura Jacqmin, directed by Megan Shuchman. Featuring Julie Ganey, Todd Garcia, Michael Mercier, Fawzia Mirza, Rakisha Pollard, and Paige Smith. “Laura Jacqmin’s superbly written script about conventioneering dentists grappling with various crises—faltering marriages, insurance fraud, midlife anomie—is packed with believable dialogue, fascinatingly flawed characters, and short, punchy scenes. Directed by Megan Shuchman and acted by a tight six-member ensemble, the 85-minute show grabs on and doesn’t let go until Jacqmin has completed her moving meditation on hypocrisy and human frailty.”—Chicago Reader. February 24–March 26, 2011; Thursdays & Fridays at 7:30 PM, Saturdays at 5:00 & 8:00 PM. Visit 16th Street Theater online for tickets and more information.