News | OHIO | Page 27

F That Noise

January 19, 2015
by rpdolan
· News · Uncategorized

Hey, I know what you’re doing. Coming home from that 9-6 job with the 45 minute commute either way. Eleven total hours dedicated to that job you don’t care about. You’re tired, but F that noise. You’re not gonna get stuck in that hell hole. You’re gonna write tonight, right? I mean work out, and then write. Or maybe you’ll write tonight, and get up early tomorrow and work out. Yeah, that’s what you’re gonna do. You’re gonna get home, and cook that chicken that’s been sitting in your fridge. It’s not spoiled yet. You’re take that cucumber out of the crisper tray, and open up that bag of lettuce and make a nice salad. Fill up a mason jar with some refreshing, clean tap water. You’re gonna sit down at your laptop. And you’re gonna bang out five pages. Hell, no. You’re gonna bang out ten pages. Ok, at least five pages. Five pages is doable. Heck, if you did five pages a day, for four weeks, you’d have that play done. In a month. You can sit down and do anything for four weeks. You’re not gonna check Facebook. You’re not gonna check the score. You’re not gonna check Etsy. You’re gonna go home and cook your chicken and make your salad and drink your water and write your five pages. You’re gonna go to bed by 10:30pm and wake up at 5:30am and workout. This is it. This is simple. You’re a Writer, capital W, and this is how it’s gonna be from now on.

You know you’ll save yourself some writing time if you just popped in and got a slice of pizza instead of cooking. You’re gonna work out tomorrow so it’s okay. The chicken will still be good. Maybe you’ll get your pages done and cook it tonight so you can have it for lunch and dinner tomorrow. Save some money. Yeah. So get a slice. Oh, man you ate that quick. Still hungry, right? Go ahead and get another. Just three bucks. Still saving money. And a coke. Dinner under ten bucks. Good stuff. Head up to your apartment. You’re just a little tired. Just rest your head and watch some Cheers on Netflix for a bit. Just rest the brain cells. Dang this show is so good. This is great writing. This is helping your writing. This is writing homework. Good on you.

Text message. David. You haven’t seen that guy in weeks. Beer? Sure. It’s only 7:30pm. One beer won’t kill you. It’s important to keep up with friends. How the heck can you be a writer if you don’t socialize? If you don’t hang out and see how other people live their life?

Four beers and a shot later. Dang $30 with tip…

You’ll get up early and write tomorrow before work….

Deadline for Ohio’s MFA Playwriting program is February 15th.

Email ohioplaywriting@gmail.com for more information.

“Creatures of the Night” Madness coming this Friday!

January 19, 2015
by catherineforever666
· Current Students · Madness · News

The second madness of the semester will be produced by second year playwright, Ryan Patrick Dolan! His prompt is “Creatures of the Night” Madness. The prompt is asking the playwrights to explore what It means to be up late and not thinking rationally, but instead like a crazy creature of the night.

Show is January 23rd , 11pm, in Kanter 308(third floor). 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 Ryan

More about Ryan Patrick Dolan

Ryan Patrick Dolan is a second year MFA Candidate in 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 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.

Dolan produced four one-act plays written by three other Ohio University playwrights and himself called “10-4: The Truck Stop Plays.” Dolan’s one-act “Burger King,” was directed by Ashley Neal. 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. Ryan’s play “The Peace of Westphalia” was awarded the first-ever workshop production in the playwriting program at Columbia College. His ten-minute plays have been produced by American Theater Company, and Brown Couch Theater. 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 12-year veteran of the Chicago improv scene. He has primarily improvised 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. He also teaches workshops to Ohio University’s improv group, “Black Sheep.” His acting credits include productions at Steppenwolf Theater’s “Next Up” series, TimeLine Theater, Collaboraction, Strawdog, and Wildclaw Theater. http://ryanpatrickdolan.com/

“Four Minutes in Heaven” Madness coming this Friday!

January 12, 2015
by catherineforever666
· Current Students · Madness · News

The first madness of the spring semester will be produced by second year playwright, Tyler Whidden! His prompt is “Four Minutes in Heaven” Madness. Every playwright must write a play no longer than 4 minutes, and the playing space is 4 feet x 6. In his prompt he said he is interested in what happens when you put people in tight quarters as well as forced interaction.

Show is January 16th, 11pm, in Kanter 308. 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 info on 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.

Kara Lee Corthron Interviews Catherine Weingarten ’17 “About Things Other Than Writing”

January 11, 2015
by rpdolan
· Current Students · New York · News

Playwright, Kara Lee Corthron, former visiting faculty member at Ohio University, interviewed Catherine Weingarten ’17 for her blog. Based out of NYC, Corthron has a series of interviews called “Q & A’s with Writers about things OTHER than Writing.” You can read the interview here.

Corthron’s full-length plays include JULIUS BY DESIGN (Fulcrum Theater), ETCHED IN SKIN ON A SUNLIT NIGHT (InterAct Theatre in Philadelphia), ALICEGRACEANON (New Georges), HOLLY DOWN IN HEAVEN (Forum Theatre in DC area), SPOOKWATER, LISTEN FOR THE LIGHT, and WELCOME TO FEAR CITY. Kara is the 2014-2015 Naked Angels/New School Issues Project Resident Playwright.

Here’s a taste of the interview:

Corthron: If you had the opportunity to patent a brand new product, what might that be?
CW: I’m super into body positivity and self empowerment for young women, so if I could make a new product I would love to target pre-teen girls and have some sort of girly jewelry box that you can smack and it’ll say something inspirational like “Yo mom be wrong, GURL, you looking fine!” or “No one should ever dump you because you have the biggest heart a chick could want!”.

Catherine Weingarten is a rad, awkward jew-friendly chick from an obscure area of Pennsylvania! She is a 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.

Ms. Weingarten’s works have been produced at such venues as UglyRhino Productions, Last Frontier Theater Conference, Abingdon Theater, Less Than Rent, Poetic Theater Productions, New Orleans Fringe Festival, Nylon Fusion Collective and Fresh Ground Pepper. She was most recently a member of Abingdon Playwright’s Group as well as New Perspective Theater’s “This Women’s Work” 2014 short play lab. She is also a member of the inaugural “365 Women a Year” Playwriting Project.”

When not writing plays, Ms.Weingarten likes writing perky body positive blogs, heating up soup(which she is getting pretty good at!) and reading Bret Easton Ellis novels.

Ryan Patrick Dolan’s 10-minute play “DADDY’S LITTLE GIRLS” is a National Semi-Finalist at KCACTF!

January 7, 2015
by catherineforever666
· 10-minute plays · Awards · Current Students · Festival · News

Ryan Patrick Dolan’s 10-minute play DADDY’S LITTLE GIRLS was one of six ten-minutes plays selected for Region 2 of the prestigious Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Cleveland Jan 2-6. Two of those six went on to be named a National Semifinalist; including Dolan’s (MFA 2016).

Each of the plays was given a reading after being assigned and a director and cast their plays from the acting students from the region participating in the festival. His director was David A. Miller from Bloomsburg University. Two of the six plays got picked as National Semi-Finalists for the KCACTF 10-minute play festival. DADDY’S LITTLE GIRLS was one of two selected as a National Semi-Finalist. There will be 16 semi-finalists from 8 regions. Four of those will be chosen to go to Washington, DC in April.

DADDY’S LITTLE GIRLS originally appeared in a Madness produced by Tyler Whidden (’16) earlier in the year as part of “Coffin Block” Madness; where each playwright had to use a coffin block in an unexpected way. In his second year in the program, Ryan has experimented widely with his madnesses including movement pieces inspired by large scale paintings to raunchy-real comedies about men looking for connection. “Daddy’s Little Girls” is a hilarious, sexy, painful dark comedy about young girls coping and we are excited to see it be recognized! Congrats Ryan!

To learn more about madness click here.

*Note: The photo is Ryan Patrick Dolan (left) with his cast from the festival.

More about Ryan Patrick Dolan

Bianca Sams ’14 has a reading of “Rust On Bone” at Available Light Theater this January!

January 5, 2015
by catherineforever666
· alumni · Events · News

We are thrilled that Bianca Sams ’14 will be apart of Available Light’s cool new play development series called “The Next Stage Initiative.” Bianca’s thesis play “Rust on Bone” is one of the six pieces that will be read this January in Columbus, Ohio. The dates are January 8th through the 17th and you can buy tickets here

Since graduating from Ohio University, Bianca Sams has garnered many achievements such as being a member of Tennessee Rep’s prestigious writing group and Warner Brother’s TV Writing Workshop for Emerging writers.

More Info about the Reading:

The Studio 2 Theatre will become a hothouse for new works in January! Be part of the growth & nurturing of some soon-to-be great plays.

If you’ve been following AVLT for a while, you know that we’ve a vested interest in daring, new plays. We’ve presented dozens of free readings over the years, and the Next Stage Initiative is the logical step into the future.

The Next Stage Initiative returns in January 2015 with 6 hot playwrights and their works in progress. Included this year will be Jen Schlueter of the much-loved for/word company and her new adaptation (developed with the AVLT ensemble) of Cervantes’ Don Quixote, which will will be fully produced by AVLT later this season.

Recommended if You Like: Exploration, risk, and experimentation

January 8 — 17, 2015
Riffe Center Studio Two
77 South High St.

Columbus, Ohio.

Pay What You Want

There will be a casual, post-show conversation with the cast and crew after every performance. Playwrights will be included as indicated below. Read more about this event here

About Bianca

BIANCA SAMS, was born in Berkeley, California, into a close knit family. Growing up as the middle child in group of rambunctious and outspoken children was the best training ground for performing. Early on Bianca learned to fend for herself on the stage of life,

Bianca considers herself a “Renaissance Woman”. At every turn, she has been driven to be a well-rounded student, athlete, and artist. A graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, she has earned the distinction of being Tisch’s first ever Triple Major [Acting, Dramatic Writing (Play and Screenwriting), Africana Studies, and an undeclared minor in Journalism]. She also ran on the NYU Track Team and was named Female Athlete of the Year.

At NYU, she studied at the Strasberg Theater Institute, which included intensive dance, voice, singing, and movement training. She also spent 6 months in London studying Shakespearean verse at the prestigious Royal Academy for Dramatic Arts (RADA). She also began her journey as a Writer at NYU. Bianca’s writing professors included Richard Wesley, Charles Smith, Kara Lee Corthron, Erik Ramsey, Beth Turner, George Malko, John Guare, and Kenneth Lonergan.

She received her MFA in play writing at Ohio University with Charles Smith. Her written work “ is like a New York Times article written in modern beat poetry”. She describes her plays as “ lyrical in nature, dramatic by design, inspired by found stories out of today’s headlines or the pages of history”. When asked who her artistic role models were she says “ If Whoopi Goldberg, Tennessee Williams and Sam Shepard could artistically have a love child together…that would be me”. Awards and honors include KCACTF Lorraine Hansberry (2nd place), Rosa Parks Award (2nd place), Kennedy Center/Eugene O’Neill New Play Conference fellow, Jane Chambers Student Playwright Award/Athe (2nd Place), Scott McPherson Playwright Award, The Playwright Center Core Apprentice (2014), Playwright Foundation BAPF (finalist), Eugene O’Neill NPC (semi-finalist), TRI Research Fellowship at Ohio State University, Nashville Rep/Ingram New Works Lab Playwright-in-residence , Warner Brothers Writers Workshop, and T. S. Eliot Acting Fellowship.

In addition, she has done community service in Belfast, Northern Ireland, taught theater to children at the Historical Karamu House in Cleveland, and worked at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in NYC. She also received the prestigious T. S. Eliot Acting Fellowship, a one month exchange with American and British Artists. This led to Bianca becoming a member of Old Vic New Voice in New York City in partner with Old Vic London headed by Kevin Spacey.

Her Theater credits include Ruined (Sophie), In The Continuum (Abigail), Voiceover spots for Bank of America and Crescent Jewelers, on-camera commercials for Suzuki Motors, and print ads for Always, Microsoft, and Hewlitt Packard. She can currently be seen in the feature film RENT, which is available on DVD at video stores nationwide. CHECK OUT HER ONLINE COOKING SERIES: WWW.FINGERLICKINKITCHEN.COM

Play Reading by alum Jason Half in the Hahne this upcoming week!

November 28, 2014
by catherineforever666
· alumni · Events · News

EVENT: Public staged reading of SUNDIAL, a new play about coal mining and communities
Thursday, December 4 at 7:00 p.m. in Athens, Ohio

The Dramatists Guild’s First Thursdays Reading Series presents a public staged reading of Sundial, a play about West Virginia coal mining and the communities affected by it. The new work will be presented at the Hahne Theater in Kantner Hall (Ohio University Campus, Athens) at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, December 4. Admission is free.

In Sundial, a West Virginia elementary schoolteacher pushes to change the policies of the coal company that are affecting her town. But her position proves complicated, as her neighbors, friends, and family work for – and benefit from – the coal business.

Inspired by the events of Marsh Fork Elementary and the mountaintop removal process occurring beside it, the new play explores the relationship and responsibilities between corporation and community.

While a graduate student at Ohio University, writer Jason Half received a grant, the Anthony Trisolini Award, to begin research for a play that would explore the subject of coal mining and its effects on Appalachian communities. An earlier draft of the script had a public reading in June, presented at the Mid-Ohio Valley Players Theatre in Marietta.

“I don’t want this play to take sides,” said Half. “Instead, I hope Sundial makes the audience ask questions about the best way a town can work with a business that has both benefits and risks.”

Jason Half is an Ohio-based writer who has taught scriptwriting at Marietta College and through the Colony Theater and the Ohio Arts Council. Recently, his work has received public presentations in Chicago and Pittsburgh. He is the recipient of the 2010 Scott McPherson playwriting award. He currently teaches composition and literature courses at West Virginia University at Parkersburg.

This is Half’s first full-length script set in the Mid-Ohio Valley. The honesty and quiet passion of the West Virginia characters came alive for Half as they confronted challenges to family, work, and land in the play, he said.

The reading will be directed by Ohio University graduate student Ryan Holihan. Student and faculty actors will perform a variety of roles as parents, miners, teachers, officials, protestors, and supporters in the play.

“I’m excited to bring this story to an audience affected by these issues,” Half said. “It’s a story that will speak to everyone in this area who sees it.”

More about Jason Half

Jason Half has been telling stories for two decades. A graduate of Ohio University’s M.F.A. Playwriting program, Jason’s stage plays have had readings in Chicago and Pittsburgh and performances in Maine, Ohio, and Wisconsin. He is the recipient of the 2010 Scott McPherson Playwriting Award and, as writer and director, his film The Ballad of Faith Divine won the Best Feature award at 2009’s Colony Film Festival. In 2011, Jason’s sitcom pilot My Advice was a finalist in a national
script contest and was optioned by a New York City production company. Jason has taught film, theater, and composition courses at Marietta College, Washington State Community College, and West Virginia University – Parkersburg.

Chantal Bilodeau’s Essay “A Playwright’s Journey to the Canadian Arctic” on WorldPolicy.org

November 20, 2014
by rpdolan
· alumni · News

Chantal Bilodeau has a new essay on worldpolicy.org, “A Playwright’s Journey Into the Canadian Arctic,” about her research and writing in the Arctic, specifically her interactions with the Inuit people.

From their site: The World Policy Institute, cited by Foreign Policy magazine and the University of Pennsylvania as among the world’s leading think tanks, identifies critical emerging global issues in an interdependent world and gives voice to compelling new global perspectives and innovative policy solutions.

Bilodeau is an alumnus of Ohio University. She is in the middle of a very ambitious project, The Arctic Cycle, whose goal is to write eight plays set in eight different countries whose borders extend into the Arctic Circle.

Morgan Patton’15 short play “Strangers in the Park” wins first prize from the Kentucky Theatre Association!

November 18, 2014
by catherineforever666
· Awards · Current Students · Events · News

Morgan Patton will be heading up to the Kentucky Theater Association’s Conference this week to see her short play!

Morgan’s talent for creating rich and honest dialogue and fascinating relationships is paying off with this awesome honor from her home state! In her artistic statement she describes her writing, “I come from a middle America culture that minimizes and sanitizes the uncomfortable because it feels safe. But with my plays, I attempt to take that world and ultimately turn it on its head. Characters concerned with first world problems can lull us into a false sense of security until the darker core of that world is found beneath its sanitized facade. When feelings like grief or isolation are buried deep beneath the surface, it can be much scarier than if they were confronted in the open. But when it finally bubbles over, we see that white bread America can be just as dark and disturbing as anywhere else. But like anyone else in this particular culture, I use levity and humor to diffuse the tension until the more serious truth is found.

Patton’s play, along with cuttings from the winning full-length scripts, will be read at the KTA Conference on Friday at Eastern Kentucky University’s Pearl Theatre. KTA’s Roots of the Bluegrass New Play Contest is open to any past or present resident of Kentucky who writes plays. In previous years—the contest is in its fifth year—the contest gave awards only for full-length plays.

Patton’s Strangers in the Park is about a chance meeting between Nathan and Abigail. Even though they just met, they have undeniable chemistry, and more in common than they realize, but they’re hampered by their respective insecurities—and their inability to read each other’s minds.

For Full Article Click here

More about Morgan:

Morgan Patton was born and raised in Newport, Kentucky, just across the river from Cincinnati. In 2011, she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Northern Kentucky University as an Honors Scholar with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Playwriting and a Bachelor of Arts in English. Her plays work with themes of love, loss, and family in order to explore the elusive concept of identity and what it means to belong. Recently her ten-minute play YARD SALE, about a mug and a teapot, was a regional finalist for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre festival, and was one of six ten-minute plays staged and developed there. For more information, visit her website at www.playsbymorgan.com.

Desperation Madness coming this Friday!

November 17, 2014
by catherineforever666
· Current Students · Events · News

The next madness of the semester will be produced by third year playwright, Jeffry Chastang! His prompt is Desperation and hopes that the playwrights will create a dynamic night about human foibles!

Show is November 21st, 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 Jeff

Jeffry Chastang is a writer/actor who hails from Inkster, Michigan, 15 miles west of Detroit/Motown. He earned a BA in Journalism at Wayne State University. As an actor his professional credits include FENCES, JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE, THE OLD SETTLER, A SOLDIER’S PLAY, and JITNEY. Jeffry’s professional writing credits include FULL CIRCLE, …CONTINUED WARM, 1ST SATURDAY IN SEPTEMBER, and BLOOD DIVIDED. He was a recipient of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Roger L. Stevens Award for FULL CIRCLE which was produced by Detroit’s Plowshares Theater Company. Plowshares’ also produced Jeffry’s second play …CONTINUED WARM which was named Best New Play by the Oakland Press. Jeffry was commissioned by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival to write a play marking the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. The play, BLOOD DIVIDED was produced by ASF in 2011 and received a 2011 Edgerton Foundation New Plays Award.