Category: Productions

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.

Read the full article here

More about Qui

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Qui Nguyen has some exciting news!

September 7, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News · Productions · Qui Nguyen

OU Alum Qui’s career has been blowing up like a rocketship! First of all his hit play “Vietgone” will be coming to Manhattan Theater Club in NYC for its NYC world premiere. Read an article about his new play here

He also now Just finished writing/shooting upcoming Syfy TV show “Incorporated“(which goes on air November 30th) and also just got a job as a writer for Marvel Studios!

Congrats Qui!

Go see Vietgone!

NY premiere play by Qui Nguyen
Directed by May Adrales
With: Jon Hoche, Jennifer Ikeda, Raymond Lee, Samantha Quan, Paco Tolson

Previews Begin: Oct 4, 2016

A modern twist on the all-American love story, Vietgone by Qui Nguyen (She Kills Monsters) is the classic story of boy meets girl—except this boy and girl are refugees from the Vietnam War, newly settled in a relocation camp inside Middle America. Borrowing elements from the world of up-to-the-minute popular culture to recreate the playwright’s own parents’ meeting, Vietgone skips through time and around the globe to present a fresh theatrical take on a moving account of one real family’s history.

Vietgone is produced in association with South Coast Repertory.

Location: MTC Stage I at City Center
Oct 4 – Dec 4, 2016
Buy tickets here

More about Qui

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Jeff Chastang’s play in the Alabama Shakespeare Fest!

July 25, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · Awards · News · Productions

Recent alumni Jeff Chastang has been racking up some exciting accomplishments with his play Dauphin Island, which had a production at OU. At OU people were super impressed by the plays fascinating and troubled characters and the smooth storytelling. The play was previously developed through the Southern Writers’ Project and will be presented at Alabama Shakespeare Festival this April ! Look at those OU plays out in the world!

The play has also won the prestigious Edgerton Foundation New Play award for 2016-17. Broadway World writes about this award,” the Edgerton Foundation has distributed New Play Awards every year since 2006, inviting hand-picked theaters “with a strong and consistent track record of producing new work” to apply. Awards provide new plays by American playwrights with an extended rehearsal period, allowing for a more thorough development process than many new plays are afforded.”

Congrats Jeff!

Go see the play!

March 23rd, 2017-April 9th, 2017

A world-premiere production by Jeffry Chastang, developed by the Southern Writers’ Project in which 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.

Location: 1 Festival Drive
Montgomery, AL 36117

Buy tickets here

More about Jeff

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Joseph Gallo has new play in New Jersey this month!

July 7, 2016
by catherineforever666
· Books · Events · News · world premiere

OU Playwriting alum Joseph Gallo has a new one man play “Long Gone Daddy” at Mile Square Theater that will be running July 21st through August 7th in Hoboken, New Jersey!

He also has a recently published play collection Two Plays: My Italy Story and Long Gone Daddy out! The book signing will be at Little City Books in Hoboken (100 Bloomfield Street) on Thursday, July 7 at 7:30 pm. There will be a Q & A afterwards conducted by Chris O’Connor, Artistic Director of Mile Square Theatre.

Congrats Joseph! Go see the play if you’re in the area!

Details on play

JULY 21 – AUGUST 7
Thurs-Sat @ 8pm • Sun @ 3pm
Tickets: $20 • $12 students/seniors

JULY 20 Preview
Wednesday, July 20 @ 8pm
Tickets: $18

Purchase tickets here

Long Gone Daddy chronicles the comic misadventures of becoming a stay-at-home father. From Bruce Springsteen concerts to OBGYN appointments to the Hoboken playgrounds and back again, Gallo’s semi-autobiographical play also wrestles with the memory of his own Dad, a former fireman, and the existential question, “When does a father earn the right to be called Dad?”

Recommended for audiences 16 and up.

More about Joe

Joseph Gallo’s play My Italy Story, which had its New York debut Off-Broadway at the 47th Street Theatre, and was nominated for the Gay Talese Literary Prize, was recently revived at Mile Square Theatre. His full-length plays include Warning: Adult Content (Theatre 54) and Staten Island (Circle Rep Lab), while his solo shows include Whizzy and The Jealousy Piece, both of which premiered in the American Living Room festival at HERE. He co-created, and wrote the text for two dance/theater pieces Tannhauser: A Dance Play and 80% of Love, both of which debuted in New York at the Obie award-winning Ice Factory Festival at the Ohio Theatre; the latter done in collaboration with company Rindfleisch, and subsequently transferred to the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. His work has additionally been seen on the stages of the Barrow Street Theatre, the Lark, Pearl Theater, Samuel Beckett Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Penguin Rep, TheaterWorks, 12 Miles West, 78th Street Theatre, Waterfront Ensemble, Atlantic Theatre Company, Cincinnati Playhouse, Delaware Stage Company, Seven Angels Theatre, Orlando Fringe Festival, Manhattan Class Company, the Kennedy Center, Bridge Theatre Company, and at both the Hudson Guild Theatre and Hayworth Theatre in Los Angeles. He holds an MFA in playwriting from Ohio University, and is a current member of the Actors Studio Playwrights and Directors Workshop. He has also worked extensively in the development of both film and television projects, including a film chronicling the life of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and on the screenplay adaptation of the memoir Woody, Cisco & Me. His original screenplays include My Italy Story, and the pilot episode for the television series Gotham House. He most recently wrote the story Robert Zarinsky for truTV, and the pilot episode for the television series How Did You Meet? Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love My Significant Other! He wrote and directed two short films, M*O*N*E*Y and No Parking, and also did the screenplay adaptation of the Raymond Carver short story Careful. He studied film at New York University, and currently teaches screenwriting at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.

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Jeremy Sony has new play at Curtain Players this June!

May 16, 2016
by catherineforever666
· News · Productions

OU Alumni Jeremy Sony’s new play Robin Hood and The Secret of Sherwood will be presented at Curtain Players in Ohio, outdoors Thursday-Saturdays June 16-18 and 23-25 in the Alum Creek Park Amphitheatre, West Main Street, Westerville. It is in conjunction with the City of Westerville’s Park and Recreation Department.

Here is a synopsis of the play: Sword fights, secret identities, love, betrayal, and redemption: History and legend collide in this new tale of Robin Hood. When the Brothers Huntingdon lost their parents to the treachery of King Henry of the Plantagenets, their lives took very different paths. One became an outlaw. One became the sheriff. When their paths cross again in Sherwood Forest, they find a Queen fighting for freedom, the King who destroyed their family, and the truth about their connection to the legendary Robin Hood. Their feud puts the very future of England at stake, as one brother puts himself before his kin, while the other discovers that being an outlaw might just be in his blood.

Congrats Jeremy! See it if you’re in the area!!

For more information on the show click here

To access the Facebook event click here

DETAILS/How to see it

Robin Hood & the Secret of Sherwood
Adapted from legend by Jeremy Sony
Directed by Keely Kurtas-Chapman

WHEN: June 16, 17, 18 & 23, 24, 25 @ 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Alum Creek Park Amphitheater, Westerville, OH

To buy tickets click here

More about Jeremy

Jeremy Sony is a Midwest-based writer and co-founder of Theatre Daedalus. His plays include: Out of the Darkness (Available Light 24 Hour Theatre 2016), The Last Queen of Wonderland (Street Theatre Co., ClassAct Dramatics), The Century Box (World Premiere, Little Theatre Off Broadway), Robin Hood and the Secret of Sherwood (Curtain Players, STC Class Act Dramatics); Sleepy Hollow: The Lost Chapter (STC., ClassAct Dramatics); The View at the End (Available Light 24 Hour Theatre 2014); Parallaxis and Cuckold Walks Into A Bar (MadLab Theatre Roulette 2014); Advice to the Happy Couple (MadLab, Theatre Roulette 2013); and The Cosmonaut in Human Resources (Luna Theatre). Other plays in active development include: Pathogenesis (Reading, Nashville Repertory Theatre) and Frackture (Workshop, TAGS New Play Project). Sony’s plays have also been seen and developed at Penobscot Theater, Curtain Players Theatre, Playhouse Nashville’s Ten Minute Playhouse, Western Michigan University, The Last Frontier Theatre Conference, Ohio University MFA Playwrights Workshop, and the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. AWARDS & RESIDENCIES: 2013-2014 Ingram New Works Lab Residency (Nashville Repertory Theatre); Scott McPherson Playwriting Award (2012); 2012-2013 Anthony Trisolini Graduate Fellowship; 2010 Heideman Award Finalist (Spin Cycle). FILM: The Last Con (Two Pop Productions); Separation Anxiety (Best Drama, 2012 Riverbend Film Festival; produced by Glass City Films, featuring Emmy-winner John Wesley Shipp and Drama Desk nominee Polly Adams). OTHER WRITING: “Hard Stop” (published by Outskirts Press under the pseudonym Jamie Rotham). Sony holds an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Ohio University and a B.A. in Film & Television from the University of Notre Dame. He has studied under playwrights Charles Smith, Erik Ramsey, Merri Biechler, Mark Pilkinton, Doug Wright, and Kara Lee Corthron. Sony lives in central Ohio with his wife and son, and several cats. When he’s not writing plays or films, Sony is a Web Content Manager. Find him on Facebook, Twitter, and many social media sites under the handle @JeremyWrites.

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