Category: Current Students

“Creatures of the Night” Madness coming this Friday!

January 19, 2015
by catherineforever666
· Current Students · Madness · News

The second madness of the semester will be produced by second year playwright, Ryan Patrick Dolan! His prompt is “Creatures of the Night” Madness. The prompt is asking the playwrights to explore what It means to be up late and not thinking rationally, but instead like a crazy creature of the night.

Show is January 23rd , 11pm, in Kanter 308(third floor). 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.

More about Ryan

More about Ryan Patrick Dolan

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.

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/

“Four Minutes in Heaven” Madness coming this Friday!

January 12, 2015
by catherineforever666
· Current Students · Madness · News

The first madness of the spring semester will be produced by second year playwright, Tyler Whidden! His prompt is “Four Minutes in Heaven” Madness. Every playwright must write a play no longer than 4 minutes, and the playing space is 4 feet x 6. In his prompt he said he is interested in what happens when you put people in tight quarters as well as forced interaction.

Show is January 16th, 11pm, in Kanter 308. 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.

More info on Tyler:

Tyler Whidden was born and raised in Cleveland, OH where he grew up the least-talented son of a hockey-first family. After earning his BFA in Playwriting at Ohio University, he began a tragic career as a stand-up comic based out of Seattle, WA. After years of toiling on the road, he moved to Chicago where he returned to theater, studying and working with Victory Gardens and the Neo-Futurists theaters among many others. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College and worked as Director of Education with the great Ensemble Theater of Cleveland. His play Dancing With N.E.D. was produced in 2012 in Cleveland and his family-friendly farce, The Unofficial Almost True Campfire Tales of Put-in-Bay was commissioned by the Put-in-Bay Arts Council as part of their Bicentennial Celebration of the Battle of Lake Erie in the Summer of 2013. He’s excited to be back where it all started and he lives with his beautiful wife, Angie — way out of his league — and their beautiful boy, Booker — his intellectual equal.

Kara Lee Corthron Interviews Catherine Weingarten ’17 “About Things Other Than Writing”

January 11, 2015
by rpdolan
· Current Students · New York · News

Playwright, Kara Lee Corthron, former visiting faculty member at Ohio University, interviewed Catherine Weingarten ’17 for her blog. Based out of NYC, Corthron has a series of interviews called “Q & A’s with Writers about things OTHER than Writing.” You can read the interview here.

Corthron’s full-length plays include JULIUS BY DESIGN (Fulcrum Theater), ETCHED IN SKIN ON A SUNLIT NIGHT (InterAct Theatre in Philadelphia), ALICEGRACEANON (New Georges), HOLLY DOWN IN HEAVEN (Forum Theatre in DC area), SPOOKWATER, LISTEN FOR THE LIGHT, and WELCOME TO FEAR CITY. Kara is the 2014-2015 Naked Angels/New School Issues Project Resident Playwright.

Here’s a taste of the interview:

Corthron: If you had the opportunity to patent a brand new product, what might that be?
CW: I’m super into body positivity and self empowerment for young women, so if I could make a new product I would love to target pre-teen girls and have some sort of girly jewelry box that you can smack and it’ll say something inspirational like “Yo mom be wrong, GURL, you looking fine!” or “No one should ever dump you because you have the biggest heart a chick could want!”.

Catherine Weingarten is a rad, awkward jew-friendly chick from an obscure area of Pennsylvania! She is a currently pursuing her MFA in Playwriting at Ohio University, studying under Charles Smith and Erik Ramsey. She graduated from Bennington College in 2013 studying under Sherry Kramer. She has taken workshops in playwriting with Samuel D.Hunter, Kara Lee Corthon and Branden Jacob-Jenkins.

Ms. Weingarten’s works have been produced at such venues as UglyRhino Productions, Last Frontier Theater Conference, Abingdon Theater, Less Than Rent, Poetic Theater Productions, New Orleans Fringe Festival, Nylon Fusion Collective and Fresh Ground Pepper. She was most recently a member of Abingdon Playwright’s Group as well as New Perspective Theater’s “This Women’s Work” 2014 short play lab. She is also a member of the inaugural “365 Women a Year” Playwriting Project.”

When not writing plays, Ms.Weingarten likes writing perky body positive blogs, heating up soup(which she is getting pretty good at!) and reading Bret Easton Ellis novels.

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

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.

Desperation Madness coming this Friday!

November 17, 2014
by catherineforever666
· Current Students · Events · News

The next madness of the semester will be produced by third year playwright, Jeffry Chastang! His prompt is Desperation and hopes that the playwrights will create a dynamic night about human foibles!

Show is November 21st, 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.

More about Jeff

Jeffry Chastang is a writer/actor who hails from Inkster, Michigan, 15 miles west of Detroit/Motown. He earned a BA in Journalism at Wayne State University. As an actor his professional credits include FENCES, JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE, THE OLD SETTLER, A SOLDIER’S PLAY, and JITNEY. Jeffry’s professional writing credits include FULL CIRCLE, …CONTINUED WARM, 1ST SATURDAY IN SEPTEMBER, and BLOOD DIVIDED. He was a recipient of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Roger L. Stevens Award for FULL CIRCLE which was produced by Detroit’s Plowshares Theater Company. Plowshares’ also produced Jeffry’s second play …CONTINUED WARM which was named Best New Play by the Oakland Press. Jeffry was commissioned by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival to write a play marking the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. The play, BLOOD DIVIDED was produced by ASF in 2011 and received a 2011 Edgerton Foundation New Plays Award.

“Prom Madness” coming this Friday! Woot!

November 11, 2014
by catherineforever666
· Current Students · Events · Madness · News

The next madness of the semester will be produced by first year playwright, Catherine Weingarten! Her prompt is “Prom” and she has asked the MFA playwrights this week to have fun and explore this seductive and very popular happening! Catherine personally did not have a good prom(she didn’t have a date) so she hopes producing “Prom Madness” will help erase her traumatic past!!!!!

Catherine also says that audience members should dress up if they want/bring a date 😉

Show is November 14th, 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.

More about Catherine:

Catherine Weingarten hails from Ardmore,PA also known as the area that inspired the preppy sexy TV show “Pretty Little Liars.” She recently graduated from Bennington College in Vermont where she studied playwriting(with the magical Sherry Kramer) as well as gender, mediation and environmental studies. Her short plays have been done at such theaters as Ugly Rhino Productions, Fresh Ground Pepper, Wishbone Theater Collective and Nylon Fusion Collective. Her short play, “You Looked Hot When You Stole that Dress From Walmart” was voted favorably in the NYC LGBTQ “Fresh Fruit Festival” 10 minute play contest and received a revival at The Wild Project this past July as part of the official festival. Catherine previously was a member of Abingdon Theater’s playwrights group as well as New Perspective Theater’s “Women’s Work” 2014 short play lab. She is currently the playwright in residence for “Realize Your Beauty Inc” which promotes positive body image for kids by way of theater arts. She wrote an educational play for them called “Bloom” about a chick getting kicked out of a yoga class for being not hot enough, which is geared for high school age kids. Catherine is thrilled to pursue her MFA at OU and thankful for the awesome opportunity for baller mentorship. catherine-weingarten.squarespace.com

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.

“Typecast” Madness coming this Friday! Let’s get radical!

November 4, 2014
by catherineforever666
· Current Students · Events · Madness · News

The seventh madness of the semester will be produced by first year playwright, Rachel Bykowski! Her prompt is “Typecast Madness”. Typecast is defined in wikipedia as the process by which an actor is strongly identified with a specific character,role or trait. Rachel has asked the playwrights to think critically about the actors they cast and how we can show the audience another side of them.

Show is November 7th, 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.

More about Rachel

Rachel Bykowski was born and raised in Chicago. She writes plays that examine the masks people wear to conceal their true identities to blend into society and explores the repercussions when the masks are ripped off. Her work often includes proactive female characters that raise awareness to issues surrounding women. Rachel received her BFA in Playwriting from The Theatre School of DePaul University. Her playwriting credits include her full length plays: Original Recipe produced by DePaul University; staged reading of Got to Kill Bitch presented by Cock and Bull Theatre in Chicago; and staged reading of Glory vs. The Wolves presented by 20% Theatre Company Chicago and hosted by Women and Children First Bookstore as part of an event to raise awareness about rape culture. Her one act plays include: The Best Three Minutes of My Life produced by Bradley University; Break-Up Court and Pay Phone produced by 20% Theatre Company Chicago; The Invisible Onesproduced by Fury Theatre in Chicago; and She Sings For You produced and published by Commedia Beauregard in Chicago. Rachel is also a proud company member of 20% Theatre Company Chicago. She is very excited to continue her writing career and pursuing her MFA in Playwriting under the tutelage of Ohio University. For more information about Rachel, please visit her website at www.rachelbykowski.com

Country Madness coming this Friday!

October 13, 2014
by catherineforever666
· Current Students · Events · News

The sixth madness of the semester will be produced by first year playwright, Matthew Weerts! His prompt is “Country Madness” and he has asked the playwrights to explore country music.

Show is October 17th, 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.