Category: Productions

“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.

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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.

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Check out a reading of Catherine Weingarten’s play “Are you Ready to Get PAMPERED!?” in NYC July 15th!

July 3, 2017
by catherineforever666
· Events · New York · News · Reading

Recent alum Catherine Weingarten has a reading of her trashy summer camp play “Are You Ready to Get PAMPERED!?” Saturday, July 15th at 6pm in Brooklyn. The reading is produced by Off With Her Head Productions and it’s apart of their Uncorseted Reading Series which promotes new plays about women and female empowerment. The reading also features OU BFA acting alum Leah Kistler!

Check it out if your in NYC!

More about the play:

For a long time Hester has lain awake at night, excited about the summer she can follow her mother’s footsteps and become a Pampered Camp counselor! The only problem is that Lake Pampered is a popular-fun-sexy exclusive all girl’s summer camp and Hester is a loser! The play was inspired by Catherine Weingarten’s experience as a summer camp counselor. The play asks messy questions about girl culture and expectations we put on young women to get hotter as Hester struggles to find her own in a pampered, prideful, popular and sexy world.

Details:

SAT JULY 15TH AT 6PM. CAFE FORTE. CROWN HEIGHTS.

Facebook event

More about Catherine

Catherine Weingarten is 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. Catherine’s summer camp play “Are You Ready to Get PAMPERED!?” had a reading at 59E59 with Less than Rent and also was part of Dixon Place’s Bingo Lounge. Some of her other plays include: Pineapple Upside Down Cake (KCACTF:national semi-finalist), Janis and the Big BAD World (Semi-finalist at Wide Eyed Productions), A Roller Rink Temptation (NOLA Fringe), This Car Trip Suckss ( Piper Theater Productions Emerging Artist Reading Series), Karate Hottie (OU Seabury Quinn Play Fest) Love Potion Number Slut (Tiny Rhino) and You Looked Hot When You Stole that Dress from Walmart (Fresh Fruit Festival.) She has been involved with Abingdon Playwrights Group as well as New Perspective’s Women’s Work Short Play Lab. She is the recipient of the Scott McPherson award given to a graduate playwright at Ohio University that is a kind and supportive collaborator in the program. catherine-weingarten.squarespace.com

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Charles Smith’s Play Discussed on NPR’s Weekend Edition

June 3, 2017
by Erik Ramsey
· Chicago · News · world premiere

objects_01_wide-af9f795118f04eaf31f2c07a9b3a66bce388f8e4-s800-c85 — Daniel Kyri plays Shedrick Yarkpai in the Goodman Theatre production of Objects in the Mirror.
Liz Lauren/Goodman Theatre

Charles Smith’s Objects in the Mirror is featured in today’s Weekend Edition by NPR (June 3rd, 2017). Listen at the link below:

http://www.npr.org/2017/06/03/531207534/this-play-was-inspired-by-a-real-refugee-s-shakespearean-dilemma

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Jeff Chastang’s new play written about in “American Theater” Magazine!

March 31, 2017
by catherineforever666
· News · Press · Productions · world premiere

Recent alum Jeff Chastang’s thesis play Dauphin Island was written about in “American Theater Magazine”! The article talks about the development process of the play and is a fun read!

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Rominger, the actors, and the dramaturg all stayed on board for the play’s next iteration. The development process from SWP to the main stage season was supported by a TCG Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, a grant which allowed Chastang and the creative team to dive back into the play before mounting the world premiere at Alabama Shakes.

“We did a discontinuous week in the fall, and that gave him more time to work on the piece in a stress-free situation,” says Rominger of the grant. “What an honor to actually work with the playwright and find and craft their story.”

Chastang says the process of picking up the play with the same actors and team has given him the ability to shape the play in new ways and tweak the dialogue.

“There is something really beautiful about Jeff’s writing—he writes these marvelously complicated, messy, and beautifully flawed characters,” adds Rominger. “His dialogue is just so lovely and rich.”

In addition to another ASF production in the books, the world premiere production will mark another achievement for Chastang: After the play opens, he will finally get to visit Dauphin Island.

Read full article here Congrats Jeff!

See the play at Alabma Shakes!!

Dauphin Island

A world-premiere production by Jeffry Chastang.

March 23, 2017 – April 9, 2017

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

Dauphin Island is a recipient of the 2016-2017 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.

Buy tickets here

Alabama Shakes Festival- 1 Festival Drive, Montgomery, AL 36117

More about Jeff

Michigan-born Jeffry Chastang 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 his professional credits include FENCES, THE OLD SETTLER and A SOLDIER’S PLAY.

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Great press for Jeff Chastang’s new play at Alabama Shakes!

March 23, 2017
by catherineforever666
· News · Productions

Recent alum Jeffry Chastang’s play Dauphin Island opens tonight at Alabama Shakespeare Festival! It has been getting some great press including this article in the “Montgomery Inquirer,” read it here. Here’s an except from the article:

“Written by Jeffry Chastang through the Southern Writers’ Project, this one-act play with no intermission has a script that will leave the audience “thirsty,” said Pritchett. “The first time we read it, that’s what it did for me,” he said.

“One of my favorite things about this script is that it is an adult love story,” said VandenHeuvel. “I think sometimes in our youth-focused culture, we forget that people over 40 have love lives and feelings and dreams. At 40-something, you can still dream. You can still have a dream for yourself that you would like to fulfill.”

“The great thing that Jeffry Chastang has done with this particular story, I think, is that It’s really just a slice of life story,” said Pritchett.”

Dauphin Island also was Jeff’s thesis play here and had a workshop production at Ohio University. Read an exclusive interview with him about the play by us!

Congrats Jeff on your play opening! Go see if it you’re in Alabama!

Details

Dauphin Island

A world-premiere production by Jeffry Chastang.

March 23, 2017 – April 9, 2017

Dauphin Island is a recipient of the 2016-2017 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.

Buy tickets here

Alabama Shakes Festival- 1 Festival Drive, Montgomery, AL 36117

More about Jeff

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See Tyler’s play in Ohio this month!

March 2, 2017
by catherineforever666
· News · Productions

Recent alum Tyler Whidden’s thesis play “Occupation: Dad” is at Ensemble Theater in Cleveland later this month! It is the 2017 selection for the Columbi New Play Fest.

Here is what Tyler wrote about the play on Facebook!

“You guys, this is my play. I hope you can see it.

This play is not about my life.
This play is not about my fears.
This play is not about my shortcomings.
This play is not about my relationship with my son.
This play is not about staying home with my son.
This play is not about that time my son fell off the bed when I was home
with my son.
This play is not about my relationship with my family.
This play is not about how my family thought I sucked at hockey.
This play is not about how I sucked at hockey.
This play is not about my wife.
This play is not about my wife who works hard.
This play is not about how my son loves my wife more than me.

You guys, this is my play. I hope you can see it.”

Congrats Tyler! Everyone should go check out this funny and moving new play! We love you Tyler!

More details on show

Click here to RSVP for FB event

click here to get tickets

OCCUPATION DAD by Tyler Whidden
Jason has a job, okay? He just works from home now. Things are tough nowadays what with the economy and all. So, stop looking at him like that. Lots of dads stay home with their babies. Right? It’s no big deal and it’s really not that tough. Except his kid won’t walk. And his mother won’t help. And his older brother’s a jerk-off. And his sister’s kids are already perfect and the playground moms are psychotic and everybody on Facebook hates him. But, other than all that, everything is just hunky-dory. Except his dad – you know what, forget his dad. It’s fine. Seriously. Everything is…
March 17th-April 2nd. (MS) Fridays & Saturdays @8pm. Sundays @2pm.

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.

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Philana has reading at La Mama this month!

February 13, 2017
by catherineforever666
· Current Students · Events · News · Reading

Philana Omortionmwan’s timely and moving play “Before Evening Comes” will be read at the prestigious La Mama Theater in NYC on Monday, February 27th at 7pm. It will be directed by Nephrii Amenii and will be part of La Mamas Experiment Reading Series.

Here is a little bit about the play:

“With his 13th birthday around the corner, Totome is excited to meet “the butcher” and finally become a man. His mother, however, hopes to keep him whole for just a little while longer. Before Evening Comes is a poetic exploration of what becomes of black boys and men in a dystopian future rooted in the belief that the black male body is a threat to public safety.”

Congrats Philana! Check it out if you’re in NYC!!

More Info On event

February 27th, at 7pm, La Mama Gallerua/ 47 Great Jones Street

Click here to get a reservation

More about Philana

Philana Omorotionmwan is originally from Baton Rouge, LA where she was born to a Louisiana Creole mother and a Nigerian father. Production of Philana’s short plays includes THE SETTLEMENT (Ensemble Studio Theatre) and BLACK BOYS DON’T DANCE (Manhattan Theatre Source). BEFORE EVENING COMES was recently developed as part of the 2016 Bay Area Playwrights Festival (Playwrights Foundation) and the Br!nk New Play Festival (Renaissance Theaterworks). Her ten-minute play DIS DA HOOD is currently a finalist for the 2016 Heideman Award. Philana earned her BA from Stanford University where she began writing plays under the mentorship of Cherríe Moraga. Philana is currently pursuing an MFA in Playwriting at Ohio University. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc.

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Qui Nguyen’s play at MTC gets great reviews!

October 26, 2016
by catherineforever666
· New York · News · Productions · Qui Nguyen

Alumni Qui Nguyen’s play “Vietgone” is getting awesome reviews! Read an excerpt from its review in the Hollywood Reporter:

“The playwright — whose aesthetic is evident from the titles of such previous works as She Kills Monsters, Alice in Slasherland and Living Dead in Denmark — and director May Adrales have collaborated to deliver a wildly fun, imaginative production. Not all of it works, and the play itself could benefit from some trimming. But individual elements are terrific, such as the Vietnamese characters speaking in flawless English while the Americans talk with an exaggerated, ungrammatical drawl. There’s also a wonderfully staged montage, accompanied by Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” that hilariously satirizes such ’80s-era romantic movies as Ghost, Say Anything and Dirty Dancing.”

Read full review here and go see the production at Manhattan Theater Club now!

Get tickets 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.

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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.