Category: alumni

“Dauphin Island” to be done at Detroit Rep in 2018!

July 15, 2017
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News · Productions

Jeffry Chastang’s play Dauphin Island is on fire! It was recently at AlabamaShakes and now will be apart of Detroit Repertory Theater’s 2017/18 season.

The play will run at Detroit Rep, Jan 11th to March 18th, 2018 and will be its Midwest Premiere! For more details click here. Congrats Jeff!! Very exciting to see this beautiful, haunting play get so much recognition!

More about the play:

Suspicion and fascination dovetail when (en route from Detroit to a new job on Alabama’s Dauphin Island) Selwyn Tate interrupts the self-imposed isolation of Kendra in the piney woods–dramatizing the risks involved when two displaced souls intertwine.

Go see it at Detroit Rep!!

More about Jeff

Jeffry Chastang Michigan-born Jeffry Chastang received his MFA in Playwriting from Ohio University. His thesis play Dauphin Island reached semifinalist status with the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference selection committee. Jeffry 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 Jeffry’s professional credits include Fences, The Old Settler and A Soldier’s Play.

Tyler Whidden’s book of short plays is available to buy!

July 6, 2017
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News · Publications · Tyler Whidden

Tyler Whidden has a new book of short plays, many of which were written at OU through madness! You can purchase the book through Amazon by clicking here. The collection is entitled “F*** it!” cause Tyler is edgy.

More about the collection: F*CK IT is a collection of mundane situations made exceptional. This collection of stories will introduce you to characters who jump into the water no matter how cold. They’re daring, mouthy, and they really don’t give a f*ck. Inspired by politics, history, social awkwardness, injustice, or just good ol’ sexy sex times. This is not theater for your grandmother. Unless Nana likes dick jokes. Multiple Characters. Various ages & genders. Any race. Whatever.

Congrats Tyler!! This is a great edgy gift for your more mysterious, brooding friends who your not sure what they actually like! Get it today!

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. As a comedian, Tyler was labeled by critics and fans alike as, “hilarious,” “tragic,” and “probably stoned.”

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 Theatre of Cleveland.

His play Dancing With N.E.D. has seen productions in New Jersey, Ohio, and Washington. 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 and his one-act play, Detour, was part of the “Truck Stop Plays” production in Chicago.

He is the 2015 – 2016 recipient of the prestigious Anthony Trisolini Named Fellowship and 2016 graduate of the MFA Playwriting program at Ohio University under Charles Smith and Erik Ramsey. 2016 also saw the premier of his play, Occupation: Dad, as part of the 21st Annual Seabury Quinn, Jr. Playwrights Festival.

Aaron James Johnson has short play going up in Michigan July 14th!

July 5, 2017
by catherineforever666
· 10-minute plays · alumni · Events · News · Productions · Reading

Recent alum and overall friendly dude Aaron James Johnson is part of the Inaugural Detroit Playwrights Lab and they have a showing of short plays Friday, July 14th! The facebook event says: Seven 10-minute plays and excerpts from plays written by some of Metro Detroit’s finest up-and-coming playwrights. Join us for an unforgettable evening of original theater. Doors open at 6:30 pm. Free admission! And free, enclosed parking is adjacent to the theater.

I facebook messaged him and he gave me more dets!! Aaron said-“My play Step-nasty is being directed by Harold Hogan and I’m directing An Old Neighbor by Sean Paraventi.”

Now if I were you, I would get your butt down to the theater cause who can resist a play called Step Nasty written by an OU alum?? I think no one!

Details

Facebook event

Friday, July 14th, 7pm

Location: Detroit Repertory Theatre

13103 Woodrow Wilson St, Detroit, Michigan 48238

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.

Qui’s play “Vietgone” written up about on NBC News.com

February 13, 2017
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News

Qui Nguyen’s play “Vietgone” is on fire!! It is especially timely because its a refugees story.

Here’s an excerpt from the article on NBC news about this play and the momentum its gathering:

“For Nguyen, writing a story about Vietnamese refugees was his way of humanizing Asian Americans and refugees of all races. He notes that, unintentionally, the play reflects today’s Syrian refugee crisis, the stigma that comes with immigration, and experience of starting over in a new country.

“That’s what’s so great about art: it allows us to humanize people and create bridges between people,” Nguyen said. “Lots of different people are part of the American fabric. That’s what our country was founded on.”

So far, the show has run in California, Oregon, Washington, and New York, playing its last show at the Manhattan Theatre Club this past December. Its success there opened doors for a regional production in Minnesota at Mixed Blood Theatre from April 10 to 30 this year — timed to coincide with the Fall of Saigon’s 42nd anniversary.

Orange County’s South Coast Repertory and the Manhattan Theatre Club have also commissioned sequels: two new plays covering Nguyen’s family history and the Vietnamese refugee experience. These shows are scheduled to go on stage every two years: play two in 2018 and play three in 2020. They will first play in California, Nguyen said.”

Read the article here

Congrats Qui!!

Bianca featured in “We for She” list!

February 7, 2017
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News

Alum Bianca Sams is being recognized for her TV writing work! Her TV pilot “BLACKTHORN” is one of the featured pilots on WeforShe, Here’s a little bit about her show:

BLACKTHORN

By Bianca Sams

BLACKTHORN follows Davion Littlefield, an investigative journalist and tv host, after the suspicious death of someone she loves. Hell bent on finding the truth at any cost, Davion thrusts herself into a dangerous rabbit hole of military secrets and conspiracies.

Here is a little bit about this list:

“Despite awareness of gender disparity being at an all time high, the stats for women remain stagnant. The 2015-2016 Boxed In Report revealed, “women comprise 26% of creators, directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and directors of photography working on broadcast network, cable, and streaming programs – no change from 2012-2013.”

WeForShe’s goal is to improve the numbers of female storytellers employed in the industry. By sourcing industry executives for their favorite scripts, we provide the town with a curated list of the best available female-driven scripts. In just a couple years, the WriteHer List has become a go-to resource for industry-vetted, quality female-driven scripts available for television. We’ve seen writers showcased on our list get staffed, have pilots optioned, find new representation and set up deals at networks. “

Congrats Bianca!

Ryan Patrick Dolan has new podcast!

January 18, 2017
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News

Recent alum Ryan Patrick Dolan has a new podcast called the GOATCAST where he interviews artists and other random intriguing people! Some of his recent guests have included TV writer Kate Powers and Annie J. Howell and Lisa Robinson who worked on the local film “Claire in Motion.” Here’s a little bit about it in his words:

“I’ve always been drawn to interviews and longform bios of artists and their process. My guests include writers, actors, artists, musicians, sportswriters, and people I meet or know that I find interesting and are passionate about their work.

The GOATcast with Ryan Patrick Dolan is inspired by interview shows/podcasts like Fresh Air, WTF, and Nerdist’s TV Writer’s Panel, with a little Colbert Report and The-Idiot-Orange-Dumbsh*t who shall remain nameless. Also, a special shout-out to Sammy Tamimi’s unheralded Popfury Podcast.”

Congrats Ryan!! Check out episodes here and follow it on Facebook and Twitter

More about Ryan

Ryan Patrick Dolan just completed his MFA in Playwriting at 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 are stylistically influenced by his years of improvisation, acting, and the Chicago Storefront aesthetic.

Dolan’s play, “Daddy’s Little Girls,” was named a National Semifinalist for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival’s 10-minute play competition, the THE GARY GARRISON AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING TEN-MINUTE PLAY. In conjunction with KCACTF, “Daddy’s Little Girls” also 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.”” 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 was self-produced at CIC Theater in Chicago in the spring of 2015, and was directed by Mary Rose O’Connor.

Go see Tyler Whidden in Cleveland Comedy Festival next month!

October 20, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · Events · Madness · News

Who said madness can’t help ya after graduation!? Next month recent alum Tyler Whidden will be featured at the Cleveland comedy festival with his Madnesses from the MFA playwriting program. He will be performing November 19th in Cleveland at the Kennedy’s Theatre.

Press Blurb:”Cleveland-born playwright and comedian Tyler Whidden brings a collection of his short plays written during his three years as a writer and performer for MidnightMadness. With topics touching on religion, politics, family, and rock & roll, this show starring Cleveland actors promises to be a hilarious romp through the twisted mind of one of Cleveland’s own. (In association with Cleveland’s Ensemble Theatre.)”

Go see it!! Congrats tyler!

Get more info and your tickets here

More about Tyler

Tyler JC Whidden is the youngest, least-talented son of a hockey-first family. After earning his BFA in Playwriting from Ohio University, Tyler embarked on a 37-state, 10-year odyssey as a stand-up comedian where he was labeled by critics as, “brilliant,” “tragic,” and “probably stoned.” His recent plays include,Dancing With N.E.D, Run Kingsbury Run (about Cleveland’s Torso Killer), ChocolateSexPuppyTacos (A Non-Denominational Comedy) and the upcoming Occupation: Dad. You can learn more at TylerJCWhidden.com

Check out Reginald Edmund’s Event in Chicago!

October 13, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News · TV

OU Alum Reginald Edmund is managing director of Black Lives, Black Words and there will be an event at Chicago Dramatists for them this October 16th at 7pm. They also are publishing an anthology with artists involved in this group! GO attend it if you’re in Chicago!! Congrats Reginald!

Press Release Below:

The event at Chicago Dramatists’ Tutterow Theatre celebrates a new anthology of audition speeches for Black, South Asian and Middle Eastern actors.

The Chicago Dramatists Theatre, Black Lives, Black Words International Project and Artistic Directors of the Future (ADF) are uniting to present Beyond the Canon, a showcase of monologues on October 16th, 2016 at 7pm with speeches taken from Audition Speeches for Black, South Asian and Middle Eastern Actors.

Published by Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, this new anthology is edited by Simeilia Hodge-Dallaway, founder and managing director of ADF. The publication aims to provide inspiring contemporary audition and showcase material for actors of black, African American, South Asian and Middle Eastern heritage. The anthology is split into two books for men and women, and includes work from contemporary international writers such as Sudha Bhuchar, Dalia Taha, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Marcus Gardley, Mona Mansour, Naomi Wallace, Reginald Edmund, Kristoffer Diaz, Caridad Svich, and Philip Ridley.

The directors taking part are Lavina Jadhwani, Toma Langston, Ana Velasquez, Rinska Carrasco, and Ashley Honore Robinson.

The showcase will take place in Chicago Dramatists’s Tutterow Theatre and will feature local diverse talent in performances directed by all People of Color. Celebrating these authors through the work of young talent and emerging directors, Beyond the Canon seeks to demonstrate how the texts can be embedded into the fabric of the industry, providing a range of powerful and diverse roles for new generations of actors to draw upon throughout their career.

DETAILS ON EVENT

Sun, October 16, 2016

7:00 PM – 10:00 PM CDT

Location:

Chicago Dramatists

1105 West Chicago Avenue

Chicago, IL 60642

RSVP here

More about Reginald

Reginald Edmund, is a Chicago Dramatists Resident Playwright and an Artistic Associate at Pegasus Theatre-Chicago and Merrimack Repertory Theatre, he was a 2010-2011 Many Voice Fellow with the Playwrights’ Center. His play Southbridge was runner up for the Kennedy Center’s Lorraine Hansberry and Rosa Parks National Playwriting Awards, and most recently named winner of the 2010 Southern Playwrights’ Competition and the Black Theatre Alliance Award for Best New Play. His nine play series titled ‘The City of the Bayou Collection’, include The Ordained Smile of Sadie May Jenkins, The Last Cadillac, Daughters of the Moon, Southbridge, Juneteenth Street, The Redemption of Allah Black and others were developed at esteemed theaters including Ensemble Theatre of Houston, Playwright Center-Minneapolis, Pangea World Theatre, Bedlam Theatre, Wordsmyth Theatre, Yaddo, Actors Theatre of Charlotte, and the MacDowell Colony. Reginald Edmund received his BFA in Theatre-Performance from Texas Southern University and his MFA in Playwriting from Ohio University in ‘09. He is currently the Managing Curating Producer for Black Lives Black Words International Project.

Mark Snyder’s Plays published through Sam French!

October 12, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News

Alum Mark Snyder has two new plays Lila Cante and Wipe Away published through Sam French publications! Congrats! Buy the plays here

Wipe Away is a short play about: “As he plots his escape from the rural Midwest, Travis is discovered by the one person who might convince him to stay. Two lost souls must confront the brutal truth about themselves and each other in a coming-of-age drama where a pair of headlights along one highway road illuminates a path toward a dangerous future.”(Sam French blurb)

Wipe Away received its world premiere production in July 2010 by |the claque| at the 35th Annual Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival at the Lion Theatre in New York City under the direction of Nick Leavens.

Lila Cante was Mark’s thesis play at OU and a full length play about:” A reclusive singer-songwriter makes an album that rocks the world. Now, as the music industry implodes, two siblings must come together to battle over their legendary mother’s legacy and her twenty years of silence. A play about music and art, connection and isolation, power and commerce, and the ever-changing landscape of what it means to be a family today. “(Sam French blurb)

More about Mark

MARK SNYDER‘s plays include Wait for Me (2016), Trigger Guru (2014), As Wide As I Can See (2012), Corsets (2010), Wipe Away (2010), Lila Cante (2009) and The Beanbag Game (1999 – Edward Albee/Last Frontier Theatre Conference Play Lab). His plays have been produced and developed in New York and Chicago. A solo show Since You Asked Me To premiered in 2013 at Judson Memorial Church, where he is a resident artist of their Magic Time series. A core collaborator with The Claque, he co-wrote The IRRegulars stage serial. His reviews, essays, and interviews have appeared in Paste, The Rumpus, The Collagist, The Brooklyn Rail, The New Gay, Queerty, ThePeeq, and at Maud Newton.com, and he has performed at Pete’s Candy Store and throughout downtown NYC. BA, Otterbein College. MFA, Ohio University. Mark was born in Warren, Ohio and lives in Brooklyn.

Qui Nguyen featured in the NY Times!

October 10, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · New York · Press · Productions

Qui’s play “Vietgone” is currently playing in NYC at Manhattan Theater Club and he was just featured in the NY Times! Congrats Qui! Go see the play in NYC!

Here’s an excerpt:

“Vietgone” may seem to be a drastic departure. The playwright calls it a “romantic comedy” about how his parents met at a refugee camp in Arkansas in 1975, having immigrated right after the Vietnam War. It’s a story that Mr. Nguyen grew up hearing and knows well, but it has also been filtered through his pop-culture-filled and irreverent sensibility.

“When my parents told me stories about Vietnam, they told me the real stories, what actually happened,” he explained. “But what I imagined was kung fu movies. Because the only things I ever saw [growing up] that had a lot of Asian people in it, were kung fu movies.”

So there is kung fu in “Vietgone,” and ninjas. As in Mr. Nguyen’s other works, everyone speaks in a modern voice and raps — and no one speaks with “an Asian accent,” part of his fight against minority stereotypes.

Read the full article here

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 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, Seattle Rep), She Kills Monsters (The Flea, Buzz22 Chicago/Steppenwolf, Company One); Begets: Fall of a High School Ronin (Waterwell); War is F**king Awesome (Sundance); Krunk Fu Battle Battle (East West Players); Bike Wreck (EST); Trial By Water (Ma-Yi Theater); Aliens vs Cheerleaders (Keen Teens); Soul Samurai; The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G (Ma-Yi Theater & Vampire Cowboys); and the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys productions of Six Rounds of Vengeance, Alice in Slasherland; Fight Girl Battle World; Men of Steel; and Living Dead in Denmark.