Second-year MFA Playwright Ira Gamerman was named a Kennedy Center scholarship recipient for The Presidency of John F. Kennedy: A 50th Anniversary Celebration. Along with the scholarship, Gamerman received a two-day residency at the Kennedy Center in preparation for a showcase of his short play I’ll Hear it When I See It, directed by Jack Wright of the University of Kansas and featuring actors from the Washington DC Community. The showcase and scholarship presentation was presented in the Terrace Theater, as a simulcast and archived Millennium Stage presentation, on Monday January 31, 2011. Watch the video of the evening here. Gamerman’s play is introduced at 30 minutes and 30 seconds into the evening, according to the video’s time code.
Kennedy 50th Anniversary Celebration Tap Ohio Playwright for Showcase
3rd Year at Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis
Reginald Edmund, a 3rd year MFA playwright graduating next week, has been named a Playwrights’ Center Many Voices Fellow. This fellowship is designed to increase cultural diversity in the contemporary theater, both locally and nationally, through cash grants, education, and opportunities to develop new work with theater professionals. http://www.pwcenter.org/
Alum at Mile Square and More
Joseph Gallo’s play MY ITALY STORY, will open on June 17 at Mile Square Theatre, starring Emmy-award winner Tom Pelphrey. Recently, two of Gallo’s other plays were also presented in New York, both of which were developed, in part, during his time at OU (Gallo is a 2008 alum). NEW YORK CITY 523 was given a reading at the Lark Play Development Center, and THE GOON SQUAD was presented in workshop by TDG Productions at the Bridge Theatre, featuring 2007 OU alum Andy Lutz, who recently appeared on Broadway in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS.
The 2009 Seabury Quinn, Jr Playwrights Festival Info
The 2009 festival was a great success: http://www.ohio.edu/outlook/08-09/May/620.cfm.
Short Plays by 2007 Alum at Source, Sam French & Public Theater:
Laura Jacqmin’s (MFA ’07) ten-minute play AIRBORNE will be featured in D.C.’s 2009 Source Festival in Washington, D.C. this June. The play has also been accepted into the 34th Annual Sam French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, and will compete with 39 others (for publication and licensing by Samuel French) at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater in NYC this July:http://samuelfrenchoobfest.blogspot.com. In addition, her short play PUSSY was just produced at the US/UK Cabaret: Mis/conceptions at The Public Theater (presented by The Old Vic and The Public Theater) in New York City, directed by Colette Robert.
1st Year MFA’s Play a Finalist for Seven Devils
Cecilia Copeland’s play Raising the Stakes was recently named a finalist for the Seven Devils Playwriting Conference. For more on Seven Devils: http://www.idtheater.org/7devils/.
Formby’s Play to be at Source Festival
Dana Lynn Formby’s play Armed with Peanut Butter, the 2009 National 10-minute Play Award-winner, will be produced at the Source Festival in Washington DC this summer. The Source is one of top new play festivals in the country. http://www.sourcedc.org/
Formby Named Finalist for Kendeda
Third year MFA Dana Lynn Formby has been named a finalist for the 2009 Alliance Theatre Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition. From the Alliance web site: “The Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition (GPC) is a one-of-a-kind national competition that transitions student playwrights to the world of professional theatre… Each year, approximately 30 graduate playwriting programs across the country are invited to have their final-year students submit a play to the competition. An in-house panel of readers at the Alliance Theatre reads and evaluates the scripts, and selects a slate of finalists to be advanced in the competition. Those scripts are sent to a national panel of three theatre artists for judging.” The other four finalists this year include MFA writers from NYU, Cal Arts, Julliard and the New School. As a finalist for her play The Small of Her Back, Formby will receive a reading at the Alliance Theater as well as readings in New York City as part of the Alliance’s annual fall reading series to introduce the playwrights to the New York theater industry. This marks the second time in three years an OU playwright has been a Kendeda Finalist; 2007 alum Merri Biechler was a finalist in 2007.http://www.alliancetheatre.org/newplay.aspx?id=34
Formby Named National 10-Minute Play Winner
Third year MFA Dana Lynn Formby has been named the 2009 National 10-minute Play Award-winner for her play Armed with Peanut Butter by the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. The play received a staged reading at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC during the national festival on April 18th. Formby’s accomplishment marks the third time in five years that an OU playwright has been selected as a national finalist.
Formby Invited to 2009 WordBRIDGE Playwrights Lab
Third year MFA Dana Lynn Formby has been invited to workshop her play “Corazon de Manzana” at the WordBRIDGE Playwright’s Lab this coming June. During the lab she will have two weeks of rehearsals with professional actors, director and dramaturg. Three OU MFA playwrights were selected as semi-finalists this year — Formby, David Robinson and 2007 alum Merri Biechler. For more on WordBRIDGE: http://wordbridge.org/.
OHIO 