Tag: alumni

MFA Alumni Update: Qui Nguyen

March 16, 2021
by John Hendel
· alumni · News

Qui Nguyen (’02) is a screenwriter of Disney’s 2021 animated feature, Raya and the Last Dragon!

From Walt Disney Animation Studios:
Long ago, in the fantasy world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. But when sinister monsters known as the Druun threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, those same monsters have returned and it’s up to a lone warrior, Raya, to track down the last dragon in order to finally stop the Druun for good. However, along her journey, she’ll learn that it’ll take more than dragon magic to save the world—it’s going to take trust as well. From directors Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada, co-directors Paul Briggs and John Ripa, producers Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho, and featuring the voices of Kelly Marie Tran as Raya and Awkwafina as Sisu.

See Raya and the Last Dragon in theatres or on Disney+ Premier Access now!

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 lauded as “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 (2016 Steinberg Award, 2016 LADCC Ted Schmidt New Play Award, 2016 Kennedy Prize Finalist); She Kills Monsters (2013 AATE Distinguished Play Award, 2012 GLAAD Media Award nom); War is F**king Awesome (Frederick Loewe Award); Soul Samurai (2009 GLAAD Media Award nom); Begets: Fall of a High School Ronin; Krunk Fu Battle Battle; Bike Wreck; Aliens vs Cheerleaders; and the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys productions of The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G, Six Rounds of Vengeance, Alice in Slasherland, Fight Girl Battle World, Men of Steel, and Living Dead in Denmark.

More at quinguyen.com.

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MFA Alumni Update: Joseph Gallo

March 3, 2021
by John Hendel
· News

Mile Square Theatre presents Joseph Gallo’s (’08) podcast play, Playbill Gallery (a love story) starting Friday, March 5th.

From Mile Square Theatre:

In February of 2020, Gallo’s compilation of more than 250 Playbills, made-up entirely of shows he had seen on Broadway and Off-Broadway, opened as part of an art exhibit held at the Benjamin J. Dineen, II and Dennis C. Hull Gallery in Jersey City.

An accompanying solo play used the Playbills to collectively tell the story of a life in the theatre, and to highlight the unique journey that each live theatre experience brings.

The Playbills, and additional performances by Gallo, were slated to be on display at MST in 2021. But because of these trying times, The Playbill Gallery (a love story) has been re-worked as a Podcast, featuring a sound score by our resident designer Michael Blaskewicz, with the help of 16 additional voices.

With our theatrical spaces shuttered, this bittersweet homage to a lifetime of theatre-going taps into the current longing that every theatre-goer and every theatre-maker is experiencing.

The Playbill Gallery (a love story) could not arrive at a more critical time!

For more information, please check out: https://www.milesquaretheatre.org/shows-events/the-playbill-gallery/

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MFA Alumni Update: Jordan Ramirez Puckett

February 25, 2021
by John Hendel
· alumni · News

Tantrum East Theatre presents Jordan Ramirez Puckett’s (’20) play En Los Sombras in a live reading tomorrow, Friday, February 26th at 7:00 p.m. eastern! If you can’t make the live reading, it will be recorded and streamed through Tuesday, March 2nd.

For more information, please check out: https://www.classy.org/event/en-las-sombras/e324814

En Los Sombras: Listen closely because I am going to tell you an ancient tale. At a time when people were nothing more than pawns for gods and shadows, the Sun God disappeared leaving the world in darkness and in danger. When their own mother’s life is threatened, young Xenia and Luz must take the trial of the gods, risking their lives for the chance to become deities themselves. And why do you need to hear this story? Because time is cyclical, and what happened in the past did happen again and is happening now.

With this play, Jordan was the recipient of the 2019 Trisolini Fellowship.

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MFA Alumni Update: Laura Jacqmin

February 19, 2021
by John Hendel
· alumni · News

Laura Jacqmin (’07) spent 2019 and 2020 writing for the forthcoming Netflix series, ONE PIECE (based on the longrunning manga series by Eiichiro Oda) and the forthcoming NBCU/Peacock/USA series, JOE EXOTIC (based on the Wondery podcast, starring Kate McKinnon). Her first feature, WE BROKE UP (co-written and directed by Jeff Rosenberg, also an OU alum), starring William Jackson Harper and Aya Cash, will be released in 2021. Also, all three seasons of GET SHORTY are now available free with Amazon Prime.

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MFA Alumni Update: Catherine Weingarten

February 17, 2021
by John Hendel
· alumni · News

Catherine Weingarten (’17) recently wrote for the Bennington College 24-Hour Play Festival 2021. In the past several months, Catherine co-taught a workshop on play development etiquette for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival and had a virtual residency with Bethany Arts.

You can follow all of Catherine’s updates on her playwriting and humor writing at her website: https://catherine-weingarten.squarespace.com/

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Jane Chambers Student Playwriting Award Winners

January 27, 2021
by John Hendel
· alumni · News

As the call for the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award goes out for 2021, we’re reminded that the pandemic preempted a post about 2020 MFA alum Olivia Matthews, whose play Absentia was the 2020 student award winner. Furthermore, current third-year MFA Skye Robinson Hillis‘s play Bury the Rest was runner up in the 2020 competition. Congratulations to both!

STUDENT CONTEST WINNER 2020

ABSENTIA by Olivia Matthews: After living in the secluded Florida woods for eight years with only her overprotective father and pet rabbit Robyn, 20-year-old Esther Harris longs to be reunited with her long-lost mother. Meanwhile, only miles away, Diana Baines gathers with her community to mourn the loss of her young daughter, Neoma. When Esther’s father kills her beloved Robyn, she flees from their cabin and returns to her hometown, turning Diana’s grief on its head. Soon, their lives collide as Esther learns more and more of how everyone around her has moved on in her absence. And as she is haunted by a mysterious death from her path, Esther must fight to reclaim her space and identity in her old home.

STUDENT HONORABLE MENTION

BURY THE REST by Skye Robinson Hillis: Following the death of their 17-year-old daughter Lucy in a mass high school shooting, friendly exes Margot and Colin find themselves at a moral impasse. Colin’s position as a Republican U.S. Senator makes it difficult for Margot and the rest of the family to reconcile the root of their grief with his continued support of the NRA. As Margot and Colin intertwine themselves during the grieving process, their relationship takes a dark turn that leaves Colin’s new wife Laura on the outside and their remaining daughter Samantha to navigate this brave new world on her own. Each member of the family tumbles deeper into the cavernous rabbit hole of devastation, loneliness, and anger while Lucy, inexplicably caught between the living and the dead, must confront the truths of her short life while facing the terrifying looming reality that is her death. As they navigate the intimacies of their reforged relationship and rebuild themselves as a family, it may in fact be Lucy who decides their fate.

THE JANE CHAMBERS AWARD recognizes new feminist plays and performance texts created by women and genderqueer writers for the stage that present a feminist perspective and contain significant opportunities for female performers. We welcome plays that experiment with form and/or that feature non-binary characters. This annual award, established in 1984, is given in memory of lesbian playwright Jane Chambers who, through her plays A Late Snow, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, My Blue Heaven, Kudzu, & The Quintessential Image, became a major feminist voice in American theatre. Sponsored by the Women and Theatre Program (WTP) with the Association for Theater in Higher Education, the Jane Chambers winner receives $250 and a
reading at the WTP Conference.

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“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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Tyler Whidden’s book of short plays is available to buy!

July 6, 2017
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News · Publications · Tyler Whidden

Tyler Whidden has a new book of short plays, many of which were written at OU through madness! You can purchase the book through Amazon by clicking here. The collection is entitled “F*** it!” cause Tyler is edgy.

More about the collection: F*CK IT is a collection of mundane situations made exceptional. This collection of stories will introduce you to characters who jump into the water no matter how cold. They’re daring, mouthy, and they really don’t give a f*ck. Inspired by politics, history, social awkwardness, injustice, or just good ol’ sexy sex times. This is not theater for your grandmother. Unless Nana likes dick jokes. Multiple Characters. Various ages & genders. Any race. Whatever.

Congrats Tyler!! This is a great edgy gift for your more mysterious, brooding friends who your not sure what they actually like! Get it today!

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.

His play Dancing With N.E.D. has seen productions in New Jersey, Ohio, and Washington. 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 and his one-act play, Detour, was part of the “Truck Stop Plays” production in Chicago.

He is the 2015 – 2016 recipient of the prestigious Anthony Trisolini Named Fellowship and 2016 graduate of the MFA Playwriting program at Ohio University under Charles Smith and Erik Ramsey. 2016 also saw the premier of his play, Occupation: Dad, as part of the 21st Annual Seabury Quinn, Jr. Playwrights Festival.

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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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