New York | OHIO

Roundabout Theatre’s Underground Reading Series Features Ohio Graduate

MFA alumna Laura Jacqmin, will have a reading of her play “Two Lakes, Two Rivers” in Roundabout Underground’s spring reading series on February 7, 2012. The series is a five night event that will include a nightly reading of a new play written and directed by an emerging artist. Roundabout Underground is an initiative launched in 2007 to introduce and cultivate artists in Roundabout’s 62-seat Black Box Theatre, at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. Jacqmin is a 2008 Wasserstein Prize Winner. She was a member of the inaugural 2010-2011 Playwrights’ Unit at the Goodman Theatre, and is currently working on new play commissions for South Coast Rep, Goodman Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Science and Technology Project, Arden Theatre Company, Carthage College, Victory Gardens Theatre/NNPN, and InterAct Theatre. You can read more about Jacqmin at her website, and learn more about Roundabout Theatre and their Underground series by visiting roundabouttheatre.org.

Ryan Dowler talks about The Gratifications

Ryan Dowler, author of The Gratifications, talks about how the play came about and the intense rehearsal process leading up to its studio production in EST/Youngblood’s Unfiltered 2012 (contains adult language).

In conjunction with Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Youngblood’s 2012 Unfiltered festival presents four new plays in studio production, including The Gratifications by Ryan Dowler (MFA ’10). Dowler’s play, directed by Andrew Grosso, stars Michael Cullen* and Chet Siegel*. The Gratifications was developed in the OU MFA workshop during Dowler’s third year in the program. In the play, Lailia considers her sex life liberated, but her father Ken sees things differently. When he refuses to cosign on a loan she desperately needs, Lailia sets out to prove that she’s the one in control of her life, even if it costs her the relationship she values most. The festival runs January 5-February 4, with each of the four plays showing multiple weekends. Visit the EST website for tickets.

*Denotes Member Actors’ Equity

The Bats and Vampires Unite for "She Kills Monsters" at the Flea

She Kills Monsters From left, Megha Nabe, Satomi Blair, Margaret Odette, Allison Buck, Raúl Sigmund Julia and Jack Corcoran in Qui Nguyen’s play about role-playing games at the Flea Theater. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Qui Nguyen (MFA ’02) and a few of his Vampire Cowboys have brought their work to the Flea Theater in Manhattan. Working with the Flea’s resident actors, the Bats, Nguyen and director Robert Ross Parker (fellow OU alum, MFA Directing ’02) present Nguyen’s latest play “She Kills Monsters” a “deceptively breezy and rather ingenious comedy,” says Eric Grode of the New York Times. “It will slash and shapeshift its way into your heart.” Read the full review at NYTimes.com. She Kills Monsters continues through Dec. 23 at the Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa; (212) 352-3101; visit theflea .org for ticket and show information. Up next for Nguyen? He and Parker will return to Ohio University in the Spring of 2012 to develop an original work with the OU School of Theater.

Qui Nguyen (MFA ’02) Opens Latest in New York

THE INEXPLICABLE REDEMPTION OF AGENT G by Qui Nguyen, program alumnus, is currently playing to sold out houses at Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company. Helen Shaw of TimeOut New York calls the play, “schizophrenic, wonderful… [a] profound metatheatrical self-examination … funny … eye-opening.” Audience response has been equally strong. The Orange Hats, who cite themselves as a dynamic space for audiences’ voices, captured Agent G audience reaction after a recent performance. Current OU Playwriting students (MFA candidate Cecilia Copeland; BFA candidates Nick Philpott and Anthony Kochensparger) were in attendance and share their thoughts in the short video. AGENT G opened March 24 and runs through April 16 at Vampire Cowboys in New York.