Category: Madness

“Farce:an evening of improbable situations” Madness coming this Friday!

February 8, 2016
by catherineforever666
· Madness · News

First year MFA playwright, Natasha Smith, shall be producing “Farce: an evening of improbable situations” Madness this week!!!! She has assigned each playwright to write a short farce.

The Madness show is February 12th, 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 this spring semester, check out our Madness page.

More about Natasha

Natasha Smith’s play Catapult was a semi-finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival and received a staged reading with Arizona Theatre Company in 2014, where she served as the Artistic Intern for two years. She has also worked with Horizon Theatre and the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. Natasha’s play In Her Place was produced at Amherst College, where she studied Theater/Dance and English, and won the Denis Johnston Playwriting Award from Smith College. She has taught creative writing in the US and in Kenya, and is a three-time recipient of the Roland Wood Fellowship from Amherst College. www.natashawrites.com

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“Superpowers” Madness coming this Friday!

February 1, 2016
by catherineforever666
· Madness · News

First year MFA playwright, Philana Omorotionmwan, shall be producing “Superpowers” Madness this week!!!! She has assigned each playwright a different super power to explore.

The Madness show is February 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 this spring semester, check out our Madness page.

More about Philana

Philana Omorotionmwan was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She uses writing to create images that explore the the intersections of race, gender, class, and sexuality. Her short plays have been produced at Ensemble Studio Theater, Manhattan Theatre Source, and Berkeley Rep. Her poems have been published in New Delta Review and African American Review. Philana earned her BA from Stanford University and is excited to be pursing an MFA here at OU. You can find out more about her work at philanaplays.weebly.com.

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“Death of America” Madness coming this Friday!

January 25, 2016
by catherineforever666
· Current Students · Madness · News

Third year MFA playwright, Ryan Patrick Dolan, shall be producing “The Death of America” Madness this week!!!!

The Madness show is January 29th, 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 this spring semester, check out our Madness page.

More about Ryan Patrick Dolan

Ryan Patrick Dolan 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. He has a B.A. in playwriting from Columbia College Chicago, and is a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf acting conservatory. Dolan produced 10-4: THE TRUCK STOP PLAYS at CIC Theater in Chicago, which consisted of his one-act play, BURGER KING, and three other one-acts written by his fellow Ohio playwrights. He assisted director Tina Landau for Steppenwolf Theater’s production of Tarrell Alvin McCraney’s “The Brother/Sister Plays.” 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 11-year veteran of the Chicago improv scene. He has primarily performed 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. Ryan also taught, and co-wrote and performed four Mainstage shows at Boston’s Improv Asylum. ryanpatrickdolan.com

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“Daddy Issues” Madness coming this Friday!

January 18, 2016
by catherineforever666
· Current Students · Madness · News

Second-year MFA playwright, Catherine Weingarten, shall be producing “Daddy Issues” Madness this week!!!! 😉 In her prompt she ask many questions like “why this term is so catchy” and “Can your parents really screw you up for life or just a little, like in a sexually appealing way?”

The Madness show is January 22nd, 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. She also says bring a date cause it’s probably gunna be a sexy night of theaterrr 🙂

For more information about Madness this spring 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.” Catherine’s comedic plays delve into the societal pressure placed on young women to be both impossibly good looking as well as ridiculously intellectual, humble, kind as can be but sexy. Her plays usually include some hot fantasy sequences which helps attract the common man into the theater! She recently graduated from Bennington College in Vermont where she studied playwriting(with 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. She is currently the playwright in residence for “Realize Your Beauty Inc” which promotes positive body image for kids by way of theater arts. Catherine is thrilled to pursue her MFA at OU and thankful for the awesome opportunity for baller mentorship.

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January 11, 2016
by rpdolan
· Madness · News

Second-year MFA playwright, Rachel Bykowski, starts off Madness in 2016 by producing “Resolution” Madness this week.

The Madness show is January 15th, 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 this spring semester, check out our Madness page.

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 andPay 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.

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“Climate Change” Madness coming this Friday!

November 29, 2015
by catherineforever666
· Madness · News

The final madness of the fall semester will be produced by third year playwright, Tyler Whidden! His prompt is Climate Change Madness and it is in collaboration with the Climate Change Theater Action! He has asked the playwrights to write plays in conversation with climate change . For this special madness it will be live streamed and there will also be four guest pieces by artists affiliated with this environmental activist theater project including: by OU alumni Chantal Bilodeau, Darrah Cloud, Debra Zoe Laufer, and Koffi Kwahule.

Show is December 4th, 9pm and 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.

CCTA is a “series of worldwide readings and performances intended to foster discussion around climate change.” At last glance, there were over 100 varying events planned worldwide during the months of November and December leading to a finale on December 11 in support of COP21 (United Nations 2015 Paris Climate Conference).

Between 25-30 American universities are participating (we’re the only one in Ohio) along with individual artists, theaters, and cultural institutions from all over the globe.

Check out the press release here

For more information about Madness the fall semester, check out our Madness page.

More about 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. http://tylerjcwhidden.com/

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“Blitz” Madness coming this Friday!

November 16, 2015
by catherineforever666
· Madness · News

The next madness of the fall semester will be produced by third year playwright, Aaron James Johnson! His prompt is Blitz Madness! Here is how he describes it in his prompt:”This week we’ll be putting 24 plays in 48 minutes. Hopefully. We might not make it. But that’s part of the fun. That means each playwright must write, cast, and direct three 1-2 minute plays. “

Show is November 20th, 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 Aaron

Aaron Johnson hails from the land of cheese in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He received his Bachelor of the Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he majored in English with an Emphasis in Creative Writing and in Theatre and Drama. While not officially specializing in playwriting in his undergrad, Aaron took the only playwriting course offered twice and completed his creative writing thesis as a play instead of fiction or poetry writing which the school usually requires. During his time at UW-Madison, Aaron completed three full length plays, multiple One-Acts, and numerous short plays which were all workshopped and some eventually produced at the university in staged readings. In his Theatre and Drama major he specialized in props and was props master for a number of university shows including Ti-Jean and his Brothers and Eurydice. Working his summers during college as a technical writer, Aaron decided to take a year off from school and work full time but the call of academia was too much for him to resist though as he is currently pursuing his MFA in Playwriting from Ohio University. Aaron’s writing tends to take the complex and unnoticed topics of today’s culture and bring them to light by using them to create dramatic conflict and then ultimate understanding. Using these undiscovered topics and coupling them with a realistic style will grow people’s curiosity and actively induce them to gain knowledge about today’s world. Aaron feels immensely privileged and grateful to be working towards his MFA in Playwriting at OU with such great and inspiring mentors, colleagues, and friends.

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“History” Madness coming this Friday!!

November 2, 2015
by catherineforever666
· Madness · News

The next madness of the fall semester will be produced by first year playwright, Cristina Luzarraga! Her prompt is History Madness! She has asked the playwrights to write about specific events in history she has chosen based on each of their voices. The picture for the article is Herodotus, the first historian.

Show is November 6th, 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 Cristina

Cristina Luzarraga is a playwright, comedian and New Jersey native. After graduating from Princeton University, she moved to Chicago to pursue improv, stand-up and theater. She has studied at The Second City, iO and the Chicago Dramatists. Her play Due Unto Others was produced by Princeton’s Lewis Center for the Arts.

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“Colorblind” Madness This Friday at 11pm!

October 19, 2015
by rpdolan
· Current Students · Madness · News

First-year MFA playwright, Philana Omorotionmwan, is producing “Colorblind” Madness this week.

She uses a famous August Wilson quote about “colorblind” casting as a jumping off point:

Colorblind casting is an aberrant idea that has never had any validity other than as a tool of the Cultural Imperialist who views their American Culture, rooted in the icons of European Culture, as beyond reproach in its perfection. It is inconceivable to them that life could be lived and even enriched without knowing Shakespeare or Mozart. Their gods, their manners, their being is the only true and correct representation of humankind.

Philana argues that often “colorblind'” casting often ignores an actor’s color rather than bring additional meaning to the character and story. “(It) comes to mean that the actor, cast, and audience are essentially pretending the actor is white,” she says. Philana asks her fellow playwrights to expand and explore what “colorblind” means. “What happens when someone is denied part of his or her identity? What are the consequences? What are the benefits?” Playwrights are free to incorporate these questions, but not necessarily apply them to color/racial identity.

Show is October 23rd, 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 this fall semester, check out our Madness page.

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“Memory” Madness coming this Friday!

October 5, 2015
by catherineforever666
· Madness · News

The next madness of the fall semester will be produced by first year playwright, Natasha Smith! Her prompt is Memory Madness! She has asked the playwrights to write madnesses about how memories affect our perceptions of reality.

Show is October 9th, 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 Natasha

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