2nd-year MFA Joseph Gallo has been awarded $1300 by the GSS to travel and research his second-year full length play.
2nd-year MFA Pulls Grant Money:
MFA Program in Chicago:
The OU MFA Playwriting Program traveled as a group to Chicago for the weekend to see Program Head Charles Smith’s play Denmark at the Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Theatre and also 2005 MFA Alum Aaron Carter’s play produced by MPAACT at Victory Gardens Greenhouse. The students also met with VG Artistic Director Dennis Zacek and Sandy Shinner, Associate Artistic Director, for a seminar on the Chicago theatre scene, and what VG is looking for from OU MFAs when they submit scripts.
2005 MFA Alum at "Around the Coyote" In Chicago:
Alum Aaron Carter’s play First Words will be read at Around The Coyote on November 18th. First Words explores the power that hope exerts on our perception of reality. The influence of hope can allow us to persevere against all odds. It can also blind us to important truths. In First Words, the power of hope can either save or destroy a family raising an autistic child… Around the Coyote is committed to fostering new art in all its forms. This reading series is a platform for playwrights to reach new audiences while workshopping new scripts. The reading series offers playwrights and directors a forum in which to table their script in the hopes of creating a stronger play. Directed by Zach Zulauf. Nov. 18th, 2006 at 7pm at the Around the Coyote Gallery. $5 suggested donation.
More Reviews of MFA Alum’s Chicago Premiere:
2005 Alum Aaron Carter’s play Panther Burn opened recently in Chicago. The Chicago Tribune review can be found here: Click Here. (Note: to log into the Chicago Tribune you’ll have to create a free account with them.) A “Time Out: Chicago” review of the play can be found by Clicking Here. For the Windy City Times review, Click Here. (See his first review by scrolling down to the date: 11/4/06).
3rd-Year MFA Earns More Grant Money:
3rd-year MFA Laura Jacqmin has earned a Fall Quarter Graduate Student Senate Original Work Grant in the amount of $750 to continue research on her thesis play. To date, Jacqmin has pulled in $6,750 in grant money for assistance in writing her play 10 Virgins. (The two 3rd-year MFA students, Jacqmin and Merri Biechler, have together pulled in almost $27,000 in the last year alone to support the research and writing of their thesis plays; and, in the last two years OU playwrights have earned about $45,000 in new play development funding.)
MFA Alum at Drilling Co. & Winning Trustus Theatre Fest Production:
Justin Boyd’s (MFA 2003) short play Crusade will open Nov. 9 in New York City as part of Security 2, a production by the Drilling Co., where OU Acting professor Shelley Delaney is an artistic associate. Also, his play Copy Man recently won the 2007 Trustus Theatre Playwrights’ Festival (Columbia, S.C.), and will be produced there in August 2007. The play was also selected as a semifinalist for the 2006 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, and as a finalist for the Lark Play Development Center’s 2006 Playwrights’ Week.
Review of 3rd-Year MFA’s Production at Perishable:
The following link is to a review of 3rd-year MFA Laura Jacqmin’s Gotham is Safe Again at Perishable Theatre. Written by Channing Gray (Spalding Gray’s brother) in the Providence Journal: click here
Review of MFA Alum’s Chicago Premiere:
2005 Alum Aaron Carter’s play Panther Burn opened recently in Chicago. A short review can be found at the following link in the Chicago Reader:http://www.chicagoreader.com/listings/static/listings.html#91
MFA Alum Directs New Play at Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia
The Preyer, written by Kareem Rogers and directed by Dwight Wilkins (OU MFA Alum), also features original music by Tim Johnson. The play explores the male psyche and the complexity of male-female relationships. It features actors Jerald Bennett, Andre Jones, Jack Drummond, Kevin Moore, Terrell Nelson, and actresses Nichelle Nichols, Dionne Stone, Donnie Hammond, Tiffany Barrett, Anjoli Santiago, and Joella Norris. Performance Location: Freedom Theater, 1346 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19121. http://www.FreedomTheatre.org. Nov. 3rd-5th.
MFA Playwriting Alum Nominated for Hugo Award:
Playwriting alum Anne Cofell Saunders’ television script for an episode of Battlestar Galactica has been nominated for a 2006 Hugo Award. The episode is “Pegasus”, first broadcast last season. (Anne is a staff writer and story editor for the series.) The Hugo Award for “Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form” is one of the annual Hugo Award categories presented by members of the World Science Fiction Convention. It is for a dramatic production in any medium of running time 90 minutes or less. To see Anne’s television writing bio go to the “alumni” link on the left border of this page.
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