Ohio University MFA Playwriting Program
Ohio University Alumnus Playwright Mark Witteveen’s play “Very Fine Use of a Grenade” opened this weekend at Road Less Traveled Theater in Buffalo, NY. It runs from January 24th to February 16th.
View the trailer:
You can also read about it in the “Buffalo News.”
Alum Laura Jacqmin’s new play “Do-Gooder” was “Jeff-Recommended” in its World Premiere at 16th Street Theater in Chicago.
The Jeff Awards are Chicago’s version of the Tony’s. “The designation of “Jeff Recommended” is given to a production when, after the opening night of its run, at least ONE ELEMENT of the show was deemed excellent by the opening night judges of the Joseph Jefferson Committee. The entire production is then eligible for nomination for awards at the end of the season.”
For more information about the play, check out Do-Gooders webpage and video.
You can learn more about Laura Jacqmin by visiting http://www.laurajacqmin.com/
OU MFA Alum, Mark Chrisler, had a play run at this year’s Rhinofest in Chicago. The Chicago Reader’s, Zac Thompson, highlighted Chrisler’s play “Phones, Frauds, and Fakes.”
In Chrisler’s Phonies, Frauds, and Fakes, the writer-performer reads from a script while seated at a table, Spaulding Gray style. What starts as a witty lecture on history’s biggest lies soon morphs into the fascinating story of Chrisler’s four-year involvement with a girlfriend who turned out to be a pathological liar. As he relates how he fell for one whopper after another, Chrisler is insightful on self-deception and the way great liars exploit our willingness to believe what we want to believe, even when the truth is staring us in the face.
Check out Mark Chrisler’s website for more information about his work.
OU alum, Jacob Juntunen‘s play “In the Shadow of His Language, was chosen as a a Finalist for the 2014 Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Award.
In 2005, the Tony Award-winning Alliance Theatre in Atlanta established the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, which is the only national competition that transitions graduate student playwrights to the world of professional theatre. Each year, the theatre solicits the work of third-year MFA playwriting students from 36 of what it considers to be “the country’s leading graduate playwriting programs.”
An in-house panel of readers evaluates approximately one hundred submitted scripts each year and selects a slate of semi-finalists. The semi-finalist scripts are then sent to a national panel of theatre professionals for judging, resulting in the selection of four finalists and one award-winning play. Since 2005, the playwriting program at Ohio University has had finalists in 2007, 2009, 2013, and in 2010, third-
year Ohio University MFA playwriting student, David Robinson’s play was named winner.
Of the 36 programs that the Tony Award-winning Alliance Theatre considers to be “the country’s leading graduate playwriting programs,” only 21 of these programs have had students who either won or placed as finalist since the inception of the program in 2005. Of these 21 programs, only UT-Austin and Julliard surpasses Ohio University’s record of achievement of four placements in nine years. Yale University, NYU-Tisch, and University of California at San Diego all have matched Ohio University’s record of achievement. The record of achievement of the playwriting
program at Ohio University has surpassed the playwriting programs at University of Iowa, Columbia University School of the Arts, Boston University, University of Southern California, Hunter College, California Institute of the Arts, Northwestern University, NYU Musical Theatre Writing Program, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, Hollins University, The New School for Drama, Catholic University of America, Florida State, and Carnegie Mellon, well as the other 15 playwritingprogram in the nation that have not placed in this one-of-a kind competition.
MFA Playwrights Neal Adelman, Bianca Sams, and Morgan Patton all had plays invited to the region 2 Kennedy Center American College Festival – Region 2, January 2014.
Neal was invited for his one-act play, and Morgan and Bianca were invited for 10-minute plays.
MFA Playwriting Alum Chantal Bilodeau is reading her play “Forward” in Norway. It’s directed by another OHIO alum, Jennifer Vellenga. Furthermore, there are some huge developments as Chantal moves forward with The Arctic Cycle (see more about the Arctic Cycle here)
Ira Gamerman, 2012 MFA Playwriting alumnus, makes some strong arguments in his piece at HowlRound, which is really the only journal dedicated to our field.
The essay is titled “Age-ism, Classism, and the Future of New Play Development or “Watch The Throne””
Theatre podcast “The Inexplicable Dumb Show” interviewed alum Jeremy Sony this week about his play “Ichabod: Missing in Sleepy Hollow” playing at Street Theatre Company. Sony talks about his take on the classic Sleepy Hollow legend and his work with Tennessee Repertory Theatre and their Ingram New Works Lab.
OU Alum, Laura Jacqmin, is having the World Premiere of her new play “Ghost Bike” produced in Chicago by Buzz22 Theater Company from February 27, 2014 – March 30th, 2014.
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