rpdolan

right hand red

Behind the scenes Video & Article on OU’S Madness in the The Post

For the Ohio University Master of Fine Arts playwriting students, there is no “Syllabus Week.” They don’t get out of class early after only having read the professor’s classroom policies. They don’t take a month to groom their first play.

They only have four days.

That’s the lead paragraph from the feature article on our “Madness” show that was published this week in Ohio University’s Independent Student Newspaper,The Post.

Click here for a two-minute news clip with an interview with Charles Smith, the Head of the MFA Playwriting program, and clips for rehearsals and tech.

A link to the online article, with several pictures from rehearsals and tech, written by Meryl Gottlieb can be found here.

The next madness is Friday, September 19th, and is being produced by 2nd year MFA playwright, Aaron Johnson.

Photo credits: Lauren Bacho, The Post

First Madness of the Semester is Sept. 5th

The first Madness of semester is upon us. 3rd year playwright, Neal Adleman, is producing. His prompt is “Use Your Damn Hands” Madness.

Show is September 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 the fall semester, check out our Madness page.

Mark Chrisler’s THE ART OF PAINTING is “Recommended” by the Chicago Reader

Mark Chrisler, Ohio MFA Alum, opened his play, THE ART OF PAINTING, in Chicago this past weekend with his theater company, Found Objects Theatre. It’s running with another one-act, Chris Bower’s Notes to Molly, and the evening is billed as “Painting Molly.”

The Chicago Reader gave THE ART OF PAINTING it’s “Recommended” stamp of approval. “Playing the instructor, Chrisler builds a sense of unreliability and mystery, and the twists that follow are a refreshing reminder of the vivid worlds a one-man show can create onstage.”

The play runs through August 31st; Friday and Saturday at 8pm, and Sundays at 7pm.

Click here to purchase tickets.

Dana-Lynn Formby has a reading at Steppenwolf’s First Look on Friday

Ohio MFA Playwright alum, Dana-Lynn Formby, is having a reading of her play Friday as part of Steppenwolf’s First Look Series on Friday, August 8th.

The play, AMERICAN BEAUTY SHOP, is being directed Marti Lyons. The reading is at 2:30pm and takes place in the Downstairs Theater at Steppenwolf.

Ohio MFA Playwrights Open One-Act Plays in Chicago

August 7, 2014
by rpdolan
· alumni · Chicago · Current Students · News · Productions · world premiere

Three current MFA Playwrights and one recent alumnus are opening 10-4: THE TRUCK STOP PLAYS at CIC Theater in Chicago on Friday, August 8th. The plays run through August 30th.

Ryan Patrick Dolan ’16 enlisted three other playwrights Neal Adelman ’15, Tyler Whidden ’16, and recent grad, Anthony Ellison ’14, to write one-acts to take place at a truck stop. The result is four dark comedies with strong, funny female characters.

The directors are four women from the Chicago theater scene: Karisa Bruin, Jeri Frederickson, Ashley Neal, and Mary O’Connor. Each director cast the plays with Chicago actors.

Recent Ohio University student, Cat Abood (pictured above in red), appears in Anthony Ellison’s play. Ellison coached Abood in Ohio University’s improv group, Black Sheep.

More information appears on the play’s website: truckstopplays.wordpress.com or CIC’s website.

Great Advice On Writing from Ta-Nehisi Coates

OU Professor Erik Ramsey found this video interview by Atlantic Monthly author Ta-Nehisi Coates. He offers some great advice on writing, and dealing with stress when writing, and finding breakthroughs. (It’s six minutes and worth watching.)

http://www.theatlantic.com/video/iframe/280025/

Thanks to Professor Ramsey for finding it. We call him Professor E-Ram aka E-Ramsey aka The Pharaoh of Playwriting.

(Professor E-Ram *fistbump*.)

Incoming MFA Playwright, Catherine Weingarten, Interviewed on TCG’s Site

Catherine Weingarten, MFA ’17, was interviewed as part of TCG’s Diversity and Inclusion Blog curated by Jacqueline E. Lawton.

Catherine joins the MFA Playwriting program in Athens in a couple of weeks.

Bianca Sam’s “Rust On Bone” Wins 2nd for Athe’s Jane Chambers student award

OU Alumnus, Bianca Sams ’14, won 2nd place for Athe’s Jane Chambers student award.

“The Jane Chambers Student Playwriting Award recognizes plays and performance texts created by women that present a feminist perspective and contain significant opportunities for female performers. This competition is open to both graduate and undergraduate students. The Jane Chambers Award for emergent playwrights encourages diversity of style and content. All forms of drama are accepted, including solo performance work. Your play will be recognized at the Women and Theatre Program’s Pre-Conference in Scottsdale, AZ on July 24th and a synopsis and information about your work will be posted to the WTP website.”

Reading of Ryan Patrick Dolan’s MORAINE at Chicago’s Greenhouse Theater

Ryan Patrick Dolan ’16 is having a reading of MORAINE as part of the Trellis Reading Series at the Greenhouse Theater in Chicago on Tuesday, July 22nd at 7pm.

Dolan wrote “Moraine” during his first year in the Ohio MFA Playwriting program, and had a reading at the 2014 Seabury Festival at Ohio University in the spring.

MORAINE synopsis: Fighting time and the most brutal Chicago winter in recent memory, Mark attempts to keep his ad-hoc collection of friends from disintegrating in the face of illness, ambition, and betrayal. Moraine is a play about family, brand awareness, and ice cream that’s so goddamn good it’ll make you cry.

The reading features two recent Ohio BFA alumni, Becky Markert and Emily Page Auwaerter. Becky is reprising her role as “Mackenzie.” Emily played the “Nurse” in an earlier classroom reading, and is reading stage directions.

The play is being directed by Mary Rose O’Connor. The cast includes Rebecca Sohn, a longtime improv and acting veteran in Chicago, who taught Ryan improv at Annoyance Theater, and Natalie West, who recently performed to rave reviews in Marisa Wegryzn’s “Mud Blue Sky” at A Red Orchid Theater .

The cast is:
Jeff Duhigg
Delia Baseman
Josh Bywater
Terry Francois
Rebecca Sohn
Becky Markert
Emily Paige Auwaerter
Natalie West