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Chicago Reading Tuesday for Neal Adelman’s PONTIACS

November 10, 2014
by rpdolan
· Chicago · Current Students · News · Reading

Third year MFA playwright, Neal Adelman ’14, will have a reading of his play, PONTIACS, in Chicago, Tuesday, November 11th at the Greenhouse Theater. It is directed by Andrew Peters, and the cast includes: Mélisa Breiner-Sanders, Clinton Campbell, Elise Randall, Michael Stock, Greg Wenz.

Adelman is in his 3rd year in the MFA program, and PONTIACS last had a reading last April at the 2014 Seabury Quinn Jr. Playwrights Festival on campus. He had a one-act play, 1100 CHILI DOGS, OR 1985: THE YEAR BELINDA CARLISLE CAME TO OKLAHOMA, that was produced in Chicago last summer as part of the night of one-act plays, 10-4: The Truck Stop Plays.

The reading starts at 7pm, and is being read with another play ZERO TO CRAZY by Francesca Robyn Peppiatt. Trellis at the Greenhouse Theater Center is at 2257 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, Illinois 60614.

Tonight: Reading for Chantal Bilodeau’s FORWARD with Chicago’s Akavit Theatre at BOHO Theater

Chantal Bilodeau’s play, FORWARD, has a staged reading with Chicago’s Akavit Theater tonight at BOHO Theater.

The OU alum’s play, FORWARD, is a part of Bilodeau’s “Arctic Cycle.”

Synopsis of Forward from Bilodeau’s website:

Forward began in October 2011 with Chantal’s participation in the Arctic Circle (thearcticcircle.org) program, a two-week sailing expedition around the Svalbard Archipelago, located halfway between Norway and the North Pole.

Moving backwards from present-day Norway to 1895, when Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen established a record for sailing closest to the North Pole, Forwardpresents a poetic history of climate change and looks at how a spirit of innovation propelled Norwegians through three major events of the 20th century: the conquest of the North, the discovery of oil, and the onset of climate change. The play looks at a series of seemingly unrelated characters confronting small, day-to-day challenges, and making choices that seemed innocent at the time but turned out to be important markers in History.

Akavit Theater produces plays about the “five Nordic countries—harnessing the force of the glacier, in its powerful seeming stillness, the volcano, in its sudden white-hot eruption, and the arctic silence in between—we strive to find the universal through the voices of the Nordic world.”

The reading is at BOHO Theater at 7016 N. Glenwood Ave by the Heartland Cafe.

Rachel Bykowski ’17 featured on Theater Communication Group’s “Diversity and Inclusion” blog series

October 2, 2014
by catherineforever666
· Chicago · Current Students · Essays · News · Press

Rachel Bykowski,our Chicago based first year MFA playwright, gives a thoughtful interview for TCG about her experience being a female playwright and her hope for more opportunities in the future for female identified writers.

Here’s an awesome quote from the interview:

“Theatre is not exclusive; it is inclusive. It is important for men to hear these conversations in order for them to understand how important parity is and how it strengthens their theatre community. While working with an all women theatre company, I have had the opportunity to engage in conversations with men who share our ideas and dream of true gender parity in theatre. The theatre companies, ensembles, and productions that have been created based off of conversations like that, are truly some of the most dynamic pieces of art I have ever witnessed and only strengthen the community at large because everyone is working together toward the same goal.”

Read the full interview here

Other Ohio MFA playwrights who have participated in this TCG “Diversity and Inclusion Series” series include Catherine Weingarten’17 and Cecilia Copeland.

Rachel Bykowski has short play in Chicago!

September 17, 2014
by catherineforever666
· Chicago · Current Students · Events · News · Productions

First year playwright and Native Chicagoan, Rachel Bykowski, has an exciting new play The Invisible Ones which will be featured at Fury Theater’s “Short Attention Span Theater Fest.” With her talent for tackling provocative subject matter and creating rich and addictive poetic language; we know this play will be awesome! Congrats Rachel!

More info on EVENT:

Six Chicago playwrights were invited to write about their experience of being a local Chicagoan.

Dates: September 18,19,20, 25, 26, 26 at 7PM at Chase Park

Rachel is premiering her newest one act The Invisible Ones inspired by Amiri Baraka’s incredibly play Dutchman which dealt with racial tensions during the 1960’s. Bykowski’s play takes place on the Chicago Red Line and discusses the assumptions people make of others based solely on another person’s appearance and what part of the city they call home. In addition, it explores how Chicago does or does not deal with the now daily violence that plagues the city’s neighborhoods and the repercussions that violence has on its residents.

Click here for even more info on Fury Theater’s Short play Fest

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.

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.

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

Ryan Patrick Dolan (MFA ’16) Performing in UCB’s Del Close Marathon This Weekend

Ryan Patrick Dolan (MFA 2016) will be performing with his improv teams, Revolver and Pudding-Thank-You, this weekend in New York at UCB Theater‘s “Del Close Marathon.”

Dolan is a 12-year veteran of the Chicago improv scene and has been performing with both teams for about 7 years.

Revolver show info:
DCM UCB EAST Fri 7:00 pm – Fri 7:30 pm 153 E. 3rd St. at Avenue A

Pudding-Thank-You show info:
New York Theatre Workshop Sat 7:00 pm – Sat 7:15 pm 83 East 4th Street, New York, NY 10003

Alum Dana Lynn Formby Reading at Steppenwolf Theater’s “First Look”

Dana Lynn Formby‘s play, AMERICAN BEAUTY SHOP, will have a reading at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater’s 9th Annual First Look of New Work, Friday, August 8 at 2:30pm. It’s being directed by Marti Lyons.

Formby is a OU MFA Alumnus currently living in Chicago and a founding member of Mortar Theater.

The synopsis of AMERICAN BEAUTY SHOP from Steppenwolf’s site: It’s hard to pull yourself up by your bootstraps in this economy—Sue should know. It’s harder when you’ve got kids, even whip-smart, talented ones like Judy. Sue has big dreams for both her basement beauty shop and her daughter, who’s anxiously waiting for a letter from Berkeley that could change her life. Armed with tough love, combative humor and an uncompromising work ethic, Sue is struggling to balance her own livelihood and Judy’s future. A heartfelt play about the true cost of dreams.

Steppenwolf’s “mission of First Look Repertory of New Work is to develop plays for future production at Steppenwolf and other theaters across the country. First Look provides a home for three playwrights each season to develop new plays, and presents developmental productions in rotating repertory, accompanied by readings and special events.”

Opp-Log: Two New Additions from Chicago.

We added two new playwright ops (short for opportunities or extremely hot appetizers).

Check out our Opp-Log Calendar for submissions all over the country (& UK.)

ALTA Chicago’s Latino New Works Writers’ Circle

Wildclaw Theater’s: Deathscribe