Category: Awards

VIETGONE Among Finalists for 2017 Edward M. Kennedy Prize

January 14, 2017
by catherineforever666
· Awards · News

Qui Nguyen’s hit play Vietgone is among one of 5 finalists for the prestigious Edward Kennedy prize. It is one of the most financially generous awards given to new plays and previous winners include Hamilton and Detroit 67.’

Broadway world writes,”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!! We hope you win it!

Click here to watch a little video about Vietgone

More about Qui

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.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Jeff Chastang’s play in the Alabama Shakespeare Fest!

July 25, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · Awards · News · Productions

Recent alumni Jeff Chastang has been racking up some exciting accomplishments with his play Dauphin Island, which had a production at OU. At OU people were super impressed by the plays fascinating and troubled characters and the smooth storytelling. The play was previously developed through the Southern Writers’ Project and will be presented at Alabama Shakespeare Festival this April ! Look at those OU plays out in the world!

The play has also won the prestigious Edgerton Foundation New Play award for 2016-17. Broadway World writes about this award,” the Edgerton Foundation has distributed New Play Awards every year since 2006, inviting hand-picked theaters “with a strong and consistent track record of producing new work” to apply. Awards provide new plays by American playwrights with an extended rehearsal period, allowing for a more thorough development process than many new plays are afforded.”

Congrats Jeff!

Go see the play!

March 23rd, 2017-April 9th, 2017

A world-premiere production by Jeffry Chastang, developed by the Southern Writers’ Project in which suspicion and fascination dovetail when (en route from Detroit to a new job on Dauphin Island) Selwyn Tate interrupts the self-imposed isolation of Kendra in the Alabama woods — dramatizing the risks involved when two displaced souls intertwine.

Location: 1 Festival Drive
Montgomery, AL 36117

Buy tickets here

More about Jeff

Michigan-born Jeffry Chastang was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Roger L. Stevens Award for his first play FULL CIRCLE, which was produced by Detroit’s Plowshares Theater Company. Plowshares also produced his second play …CONTINUED WARM, which was named Best New Play by the Oakland Press. He was commissioned by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival (ASF) to write BLOOD DIVIDED, a play marking the sesquicentennial of the Civil War in Montgomery, Alabama. BLOOD DIVIDED also received an Edgerton Foundation New Plays Award. Jeffry’s play PREPARATIONS was developed in ASF’s Southern Writers Project. As an actor his professional credits include FENCES, THE OLD SETTLER and A SOLDIER’S PLAY.

Like this:

Like Loading...

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.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Ryan Patrick Dolan’16 gets NAPAT nomination for his short play “DADDY’s LITTLE GIRLS”

March 18, 2015
by catherineforever666
· Awards · Current Students · News

Ryan Patrick Dolan’16’s play, “Daddy’s Little Girls,” garnered him one of the eight, nationwide nominations for the National Partners of American Theatre Playwriting Award which recognizes “best-written, best-crafted script with the strongest writer’s “voice.””

The play was also named a National Semifinalist for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival’s 10-minute play competition, THE GARY GARRISON AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING TEN-MINUTE PLAY. In conjunction with KCACTF, “Daddy’s Little Girls.”

Ryan excels at writing plays with strong and intricate character relationships with lots of heart and a bit of edge, which “DADDY’s LITTLE GIRLS” has to the tee. We are very proud of him and his NAPAT nomination!

More about Ryan

Ryan Patrick Dolan is a second year MFA Candidate in the Ohio University Playwriting Program under Charles Smith and Erik Ramsey. He has a B.A. in playwriting from Columbia College Chicago where he studied under playwright, Lisa Schlesinger. He writes dark, comedic plays that explore love and loss, passion and destruction. Stylistically influenced by his years of improvisation, acting, and the Chicago Storefront aesthetic, he challenges the American stereotypes of gender, race, and sexuality.

His full-length play,“Moraine,” had a reading at the 2014 Seabury Quinn Jr. Playwrights Festival at Ohio University, and at the Trellis Reading Series at the Greenhouse Theater Center. Moraine is being produced at CIC Theater this March and April in Chicago, and is being directed by Mary Rose O’Connor.

http://ryanpatrickdolan.com/

Like this:

Like Loading...

Ryan Patrick Dolan’s 10-minute play “DADDY’S LITTLE GIRLS” is a National Semi-Finalist at KCACTF!

January 7, 2015
by catherineforever666
· 10-minute plays · Awards · Current Students · Festival · News

Ryan Patrick Dolan’s 10-minute play DADDY’S LITTLE GIRLS was one of six ten-minutes plays selected for Region 2 of the prestigious Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Cleveland Jan 2-6. Two of those six went on to be named a National Semifinalist; including Dolan’s (MFA 2016).

Each of the plays was given a reading after being assigned and a director and cast their plays from the acting students from the region participating in the festival. His director was David A. Miller from Bloomsburg University. Two of the six plays got picked as National Semi-Finalists for the KCACTF 10-minute play festival. DADDY’S LITTLE GIRLS was one of two selected as a National Semi-Finalist. There will be 16 semi-finalists from 8 regions. Four of those will be chosen to go to Washington, DC in April.

DADDY’S LITTLE GIRLS originally appeared in a Madness produced by Tyler Whidden (’16) earlier in the year as part of “Coffin Block” Madness; where each playwright had to use a coffin block in an unexpected way. In his second year in the program, Ryan has experimented widely with his madnesses including movement pieces inspired by large scale paintings to raunchy-real comedies about men looking for connection. “Daddy’s Little Girls” is a hilarious, sexy, painful dark comedy about young girls coping and we are excited to see it be recognized! Congrats Ryan!

To learn more about madness click here.

*Note: The photo is Ryan Patrick Dolan (left) with his cast from the festival.

More about Ryan Patrick Dolan

Dolan produced four one-act plays written by three other Ohio University playwrights and himself called “10-4: The Truck Stop Plays.” Dolan’s one-act “Burger King,” was directed by Ashley Neal. His full-length play,“Moraine,” had a reading at the 2014 Seabury Quinn Jr. Playwrights Festival at Ohio University, and at the Trellis Reading Series at the Greenhouse Theater Center. Ryan’s play “The Peace of Westphalia” was awarded the first-ever workshop production in the playwriting program at Columbia College. His ten-minute plays have been produced by American Theater Company, and Brown Couch Theater. Ryan was the dramaturg at RedTwist theater for Kimberly Senior’s production of “The Pillowman,” and Keira Fromm’s production of “The Lobby Hero.” Both were nominated for Jeff Awards for “Best Play” and “Best Director.” Ryan is also a 12-year veteran of the Chicago improv scene. He has primarily improvised at iO and Annoyance Theaters, but also has performed and taught workshops at numerous festivals and universities around the country with his groups Revolver and Pudding-Thank-You. He also teaches workshops to Ohio University’s improv group, “Black Sheep.” His acting credits include productions at Steppenwolf Theater’s “Next Up” series, TimeLine Theater, Collaboraction, Strawdog, and Wildclaw Theater. http://ryanpatrickdolan.com/

Like this:

Like Loading...

Morgan Patton’15 short play “Strangers in the Park” wins first prize from the Kentucky Theatre Association!

November 18, 2014
by catherineforever666
· Awards · Current Students · Events · News

Morgan Patton will be heading up to the Kentucky Theater Association’s Conference this week to see her short play!

Morgan’s talent for creating rich and honest dialogue and fascinating relationships is paying off with this awesome honor from her home state! In her artistic statement she describes her writing, “I come from a middle America culture that minimizes and sanitizes the uncomfortable because it feels safe. But with my plays, I attempt to take that world and ultimately turn it on its head. Characters concerned with first world problems can lull us into a false sense of security until the darker core of that world is found beneath its sanitized facade. When feelings like grief or isolation are buried deep beneath the surface, it can be much scarier than if they were confronted in the open. But when it finally bubbles over, we see that white bread America can be just as dark and disturbing as anywhere else. But like anyone else in this particular culture, I use levity and humor to diffuse the tension until the more serious truth is found.

Patton’s play, along with cuttings from the winning full-length scripts, will be read at the KTA Conference on Friday at Eastern Kentucky University’s Pearl Theatre. KTA’s Roots of the Bluegrass New Play Contest is open to any past or present resident of Kentucky who writes plays. In previous years—the contest is in its fifth year—the contest gave awards only for full-length plays.

Patton’s Strangers in the Park is about a chance meeting between Nathan and Abigail. Even though they just met, they have undeniable chemistry, and more in common than they realize, but they’re hampered by their respective insecurities—and their inability to read each other’s minds.

For Full Article Click here

More about Morgan:

Morgan Patton was born and raised in Newport, Kentucky, just across the river from Cincinnati. In 2011, she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Northern Kentucky University as an Honors Scholar with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Playwriting and a Bachelor of Arts in English. Her plays work with themes of love, loss, and family in order to explore the elusive concept of identity and what it means to belong. Recently her ten-minute play YARD SALE, about a mug and a teapot, was a regional finalist for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre festival, and was one of six ten-minute plays staged and developed there. For more information, visit her website at www.playsbymorgan.com.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Ohio Playwriting Profiled in The Post

September 4, 2014
by Erik Ramsey
· alumni · Awards · Current Students · News · Productions

rustOnBone — Thomas Daniels and Shambrion Treadwell in Bianca Sams’s RUST ON BONE

Some nice local coverage of the MFA playwriting program: OU Playwrights’ Work Lives Outside the Classroom.

http://www.thepostathens.com/culture/article_20112344-3399-11e4-9170-0017a43b2370.html

Like this:

Like Loading...

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

August 1, 2014
by rpdolan
· alumni · Awards · News

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.”

Like this:

Like Loading...

Alum Bianca Sams Finalist for Playwright Foundation “Bay Area Playwrights Festival.”

July 7, 2014
by rpdolan
· alumni · Awards · Festival

Bianca Sams (MFA ’14) was named a finalist at the Playwright Foundation “Bay Area Playwrights Festival” for her play BATTLE CRY. There were 20 finalists out of 500 submissions.

From their site: “The Bay Area Playwrights Festival supports the development of six full-length plays annually: five selected from our annual open submission process to reflect the outstanding quality, diversity, and daring for which the Festival is known, and the sixth play a Producing Partnership that offers developmental resources to a play advancing toward production.”

SYNOPSIS: BATTLE CRY is inspired by the life and travails of an unsung hero in the Black Civil Rights Movement named Claudette Colvin. At 15, Claudette refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus 9 months prior to Rosa Parks’ arrest. BATTLE CRY tells the personal story of a naïve but passionate 15-year-old girl whose impact on the world has been left out of history books. The play looks at issues of class, ethnicity, and behind the scenes politics in the fight for Civil Rights in America while also highlighting Claudette’s personal courage in the face of injustice.

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY/AWARDS FOR BATTLE CRY:
Ohio University MFA Workshop (3x)
Seabury Quinn Festival of New Plays – Staged Reading
Tides Theater SF as part of DGA Footlights reading Series
Marrietta University Black History Month Event – Staged Reading

AWARD HISTORY
Kennedy Center ACTF – Lorraine Hansberry Award (2nd pl) and Rosa Parks Award (2nd pl)
ATHE – Jane Chambers Student Playwright Award (2nd pl)
The Playwright Foundation – Bay Area Playwright Festival (finalist)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Tyler Whidden (MFA ’16) Finalist in Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte Festival

July 1, 2014
by rpdolan
· Awards · Current Students · Festival · News

Tyler Whidden’s play, DANCING WITH NED, was named a finalist for the 3rd Annual nuVoices Festival at the Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte Festival. Tyler’s play was one of 13 chosen.

From ATCharlotte’s website: “Each play selected for the festival will get two script in hand staged readings, with assigned directors, dramaturgs, and actors. Each playwright selected will be brought to Charlotte and provided housing for the duration of the rehearsal process. They will be included in the entire week of rehearsals and will also receive $500 honorarium. The winning play will then be invited to have a full production mounted during Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte’s 2015-2016 season.”

Like this:

Like Loading...

Page 1 of 2