Tag: alumni

Alumni Chanel Glover thesis play featured in Terranova Collective Reading Series in NYC!

April 13, 2015
by catherineforever666
· alumni · New York · News

Chanel Glover’s play How to Eat to an Oreo is having a reading April 23rd as part of the final presentations from the “Groundworks” Playwrights group through Terranova Collective in NYC. This play was Chanel’s thesis play at OU and we are excited she is developing the script further with such an awesome and cutting edge theater group. Go Chanel!!

If you are in New York, make sure to check it out! The reading is free!

Blurb from website:

Every year, terraNOVA Collective presents the Groundworks New Play Series, staged readings of work developed through our Groundbreakers Playwrights Group.

The purpose of the New Play Series is to give playwrights an opportunity to have their work seen and heard by a larger audience. Each playwright works with a director and actors over a short rehearsal period to give further life to their work.

Bianca Sams play reading at Nashville Rep this May!

April 8, 2015
by catherineforever666
· alumni · Festival · News

Recent graduate, Bianca Sams, has a new play Simply Bess having a reading at Nashville Repertory Theater this May!

Nashville Rep describes the play:

Simply Bess follows a young African American actress trying to make a name for herself. We see her backstage trials and tribulations on the 1950s European tour of Porgy and Bess, sponsored by the States Department as a way to combat communist propaganda about American racial problems.

Read a fun promo interview with her taken by Nashville Rep

Excerpt from website:

As we gear up for our annual Ingram New Works Festival (happening May 6-16, don’t miss it!), we want to introduce you to our three 2014-15 Lab Playwrights: Bianca Sams, Gabrielle Sinclair and Tori Keenan-Zelt. Since October, our lab playwrights have gathered here in Nashville each month with our Resident Playwright Nate Eppler to create, critique, read and write… and rewrite. Mainly to rewrite.

And now the final product is almost here! Their months of hard work will be realized with our fabulous Nashville actors giving staged readings of their new plays for you, our wonderful audience. So before you come to the Festival, we want you to get to know our 2014-15 Lab Playwrights.

Two MFA Playwriting Alums Write for Netflix’s “Grace and Frankie”

April 1, 2015
by Erik Ramsey
· alumni · News

OHIO MFA Playwriting alums Jackie Reingold and Laura Jacqmin served on the writing staff for the premiere season of “Grace and Frankie”, a new Netflix series starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston. The series debuts on May 8th, streaming on your nearest interweb device. Read a preview here: http://www.people.com/article/grace-and-frankie-netflix-jane-fonda-lily-tomlin

OU Playwriting Alum, Qui Nguyen, has a play in Oregon Shakespeare Festival next March!

March 25, 2015
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News · Productions · Qui Nguyen

OU MFA Playwriting Alum, Qui Nguyen has a new play in Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s upcoming season! Qui has made a name for himself with his adventurous, fun “geek” theater and we are very excited about his newest production opportunity!

From the Oregon Shakes Website: Opening in March is Vietgone by Qui Nguyen (March 30–Oct. 29, 2016). The play is based on the real-life story of Nguyen’s parent’s exodus from Vietnam in 1975 and their subsequent meeting and romance in a refugee camp in Arkansas. Vietgone will be directed by May Adrales, who will also direct the world premiere production of Vietgone at South Coast Repertory this fall.

Check here for the Season Announcement and here for Oregon Shakes Website

More about Qui

Qui Nguyen is a playwright, screenwriter, 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, “Infectious Fun” by Variety, and “Tour De Force Theatre” by Time Out New York. This past season, The Chicago Tribune praised him as a “refreshing, break-the-rules writer” as Time Out Chicago named his play She Kills Monsters one of the 10 Best Plays of 2013.

Scripts include War is F**king Awesome (currently being developed by Sundance); She Kills Monsters (The Flea); Krunk Fu Battle Battle (East West Players); Bike Wreck (Ensemble Studio Theatre); Trial By Water (Ma-Yi Theater); Aliens Versus Cheerleaders (Keen Teens); Soul Samurai; The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G (Ma-Yi Theater & Vampire Cowboys); Lush Valley (HERE); and the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys productions of Alice in Slasherland; Fight Girl Battle World; Men of Steel; and Living Dead in Denmark.

His scripts are published by Samuel French, Playscripts, and Broadway Play Publishing.

Recent honors include being a 2014 Sundance Institute/Time Warner Fellow; a 2014 McCarter/Sallie B. Goodman Fellow; a 2013 Sundance Theatre Lab Fellow; a recipient of a 2013 AATE Distinguished Play Award (She Kills Monsters); a 2012 TCG Young Leader of Color; and receiving 2012 & 2009 GLAAD Media Award nominations for his plays She Kills Monsters and Soul Samurai.

He is a proud resident artist at New Dramatists, a core member of The Playwrights’ Center, an alumnus of Youngblood, and a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Ma-Yi Writers Lab, and the Keen Company New Play Lab.

Currently, Qui’s at work on new plays at South Coast Rep (Vietgone), Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis (Samantha Rai & The Shogun of Fear), HERE (Trade Practices), NYU (Five Days Till Saturday), The Playwrights Center (Dust), The Professional Performing Arts School (Begets); and Vampire Cowboys (Six Rounds of Vengeance). For television, he’s writes for the children’s cartoon, Peg+Cat, currently airing on PBS KIDS.

His company, Vampire Cowboys, often credited for being the pioneers of “geek theatre”, holds the unique distinction of being the first and currently only professional theatre organization to be officially sponsored by NY Comic Con. They’ve been praised by the Village Voice as “New York’s Best Army of Geeks” and currently in-residence at The New Ohio Theater and IRT.

OU playwriting alum Jacob Juntunen and Catherine Weingarten’ 17 selected for Last Frontier Theater Conference!

March 3, 2015
by catherineforever666
· alumni · Current Students · News · Reading

The Last Frontier Theater Conference in Valdez, Alaska just announced the 64 plays selected for inclusion in the 2015 PlayLab and among them are two playwrights with connections to the Professional Playwriting program at OU, Jacob Juntuen and current MFA Candidate, Catherine Weingarten ’17. Jacob got selected for his full-length play, Hath Taken Away and Catherine for her full-length play Are you Ready to get PAMPERED!? A graduate of the MFA in acting program, Eric Coble, will be a featured artist at the conference.

We are excited that there will be some OU reps at this prestigious conference!

There has been a history of OU playwriting alums at the conference including Ira Gammerman, Greg Aldrich and Jeremy Sony.

Here’s an excerpt from the website: The week-long Last Frontier Theatre Conference is held every Summer in Valdez, Alaska. It draws a majority of its participants from Alaska, but each year there are also attendees from the rest of the country and beyond. The 23^rd Annual Conference is scheduled for June 14-20, 2015.

The Play Lab, started in 1995, features developmental readings of scripts from 20 minutes to 2 hours in length. Actors are sent scripts a month prior to the Conference. The readings receive one rehearsal the day before their performance, with the playwright acting as the director. The readings are then responded to by a three-person panel, and the audience gives their feedback as well. Additionally, authors have a private meeting with one of their panelists to further discuss the script.

Currently the Lab presents readings of 50-60 plays per year. Panelists include nationally acknowledged playwrights, director, designers, and dramaturgs, as well as some of the leading figures in Alaska’s theatre.

To read full press release Click Here

More about Jacob:

Jacob Juntunen is a playwright and theatre scholar whose work focuses on people who struggle against society’s boundaries.

His playwriting stems from a mix of scholarship and social responsibility. Therefore, his playwriting and academic writing are a constant symbiosis. Both focus on understanding the political function of theatre, and this focus is demonstrated in his plays, which, overall, are meant for those “who want to leave the theatre changed and moved,” as one Chicago critic described. He recently wrote See Him? to participate in the Belarusian Dream Theater, a consortium of 18 theaters in 13 countries simultaneously producing plays to raise awareness about human rights violations in Belarus. His latest play, In the Shadow of his Language lays bare the hidden dowry of academic success and was a semi-finalist for the O’Neill Center National Playwrights’ Conference; a semi-finalist for the Princess Grace Playwriting Fellowship; and a finalist for the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Award. It was also awarded an “In the Works” residency by the city of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. In the Shadow of his Language has enjoyed two staged readings in Chicago, another at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, and a workshop off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons. His play Saddam’s Lions—published in Plays for Two (Vintage)—examines the disquieting memories of an African-American female Iraq War veteran and her struggles to come to terms with war-time trauma. Jacob based this play on interviews with a veteran. This process combined his desire for politically relevant work, his dedication to diverse casting opportunities, and his scholarship about the politics of performance. He hopes to inspire in students a similar yearning for intellectual curiosity, social activism, collaboration, and playwriting.

More about Catherine:

Catherine Weingarten hails from Ardmore, PA also known as the area that inspired the preppy sexy TV show “Pretty Little Liars.” Catherine’s comedic plays delve into the societal pressure placed on young women to be both impossibly good looking as well as ridiculously intellectual, humble, kind as can be but sexy. Her plays usually include some hot fantasy sequences which helps attract the common man into the theater! She recently graduated from Bennington College in Vermont where she studied playwriting(with Sherry Kramer) as well as gender, mediation and environmental studies. Her short plays have been done at such theaters as Ugly Rhino Productions, Fresh Ground Pepper, Wishbone Theater Collective and Nylon Fusion Collective. She is currently the playwright in residence for “Realize Your Beauty Inc” which promotes positive body image for kids by way of theater arts. Catherine is thrilled to pursue her MFA at OU and thankful for the awesome opportunity for baller mentorship. catherine-weingarten.squarespace.com

David Mitchell Robinson gets into Playwrights Arena at Arena Stage!

March 3, 2015
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News

OU MFA Playwriting Alum David Mitchell Robinson has just received a spot in the Playwrights Arena at Arena Stage in D.C! We are very excited about David’s awesome opportunity!

Here’s a quote from the website about the group,” Playwrights’ Arena is the newest new play initiative developed by the American Voices New Play Institute. Centering on a small collaborative group of local playwrights dedicated to the support and development of each other’s work, Playwrights’ Arena, facilitated by Director of Artistic Programming Robert Barry Fleming, meets throughout the year to investigate each other’s work and develop their dramaturgical practice as playwrights while creating new work. Playwrights’ Arena launched at Arena Stage in January 2013 and began a second round in February 2015″

Here is the press release

More about David Mitchell Robinson

DAVID MITCHELL ROBINSON’s goal to write a play about every place he’s ever lived has resulted in Carapace (Minneapolis), The Imaginary Music Critic Who Doesn’t Exist (Chicago), Animals Nobody Loves (Southeast Ohio), Olympic Village (Atlanta) and Terminals (airplanes). These and other plays have been produced, developed or commissioned by the Alliance Theatre, Center Theatre Group, the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Primary Stages, the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Actor’s Express, Theater J, B Street Theatre, the Inkwell, Rep Stage, Field Trip Theatre, the Source Festival and Ohio University, where he received his MFA. David is a past winner of the Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition and the Scott McPherson Playwriting Award. He has also been a nominee for the PoNY Fellowship, the Lanford Wilson Award, the Terrence McNally Award and a Suzi Bass Award.

http://www.davidmitchellrobinson.com/

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.

Cecilia Copeland’s play “R Culture” currently in NYC!

November 9, 2014
by catherineforever666
· Events · New York · News · Productions

OU Playwriting Alum Cecilia Copelands play about rape culture is currently in NYC! The play runs November 4th-24th at IRT. R Culture is a world premiere of a new edgy dark comedy by Cecilia Copeland and was commissioned by Producing Director Emily Lerer(also an OU alum) to raise awareness and open a platform for discussion of Rape Culture in Our Culture.

Click here for more info on the production; and read more about the play here.

Also check out Cecilia’s recent interview done by acclaimed playwright Adam Szymkowicz as part of his popular blog “I Interview Playwrights.”

DETAILS

PERFORMANCES: November 7, 8, 9 , 14, 15, 16 17, 20, 21, 22, 23
TIMES: 8pm
LENGTH OF SHOW: 1 HR 15 min.
PRICE:$18
At IRT: 154 Christopher st. NYC #3B (third floor)

About Cecilia:

Cecilia Copeland: Playwright, Screenwriter, and Founding Artistic Director New York Madness. Named Indie Theater Now’s “Person of the Year”, her plays have been presented at the Culture Project, Cherry Lane Theatre, Ensemble Studios Theatre, HERE Arts Center, The Anarchist Theatre Festival of Montreal, Venus Theatre, The Chain Theatre, New Perspectives, and IATI Theatre among others. She has developed work with the Lark Play Development Center and terraNOVA. She was awarded a Special Effects Grant from Metro Screen Australia for her screenplay, Amusement Bomber. Copeland is the winner of a Fine Arts Grant at Ohio University and the Lennis J. Holm Playwriting Scholarship from University of Iowa Writers Workshop, a semifinalist for The O’Neill Playwrights Conference and the David Callichio Emerging Playwrights Prize. Copeland is a Kilroy’s List Nominee, finalist for Mabou Mines Residency, and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women

Jeremy Sony’s play “THE LEGEND OF ROBIN HOOD” is coming to Nashville this November!

October 28, 2014
by catherineforever666
· alumni · Events · News · Productions

OU Playwriting Alum, Jeremy Sony has two exciting upcoming projects!

Street Theatre Company’s ClassAct Dramatics will premiere his play, “THE LEGEND OF ROBIN HOOD:, November 14, 2014, in Nashville. This is his second time working with STC, who commissioned this new full-length following the success of last year’s ICHABOD: MISSING IN SLEEPY HOLLOW.Click here for more info.

The second project is that he will be writing for Available Light Theatre’s upcoming 24 HOUR THEATRE here in Columbus. 6 writers, 6 directors, and 22 actors are gathering for 24 hours to create a night of new plays to be staged November 8, 2014 at 8pm.24 Hour Theatre is the drag racing of the theatre world. It’s short, furiously intense, and something might explode.

Thirty artists, spanning the breadth of the Columbus theatre community, will create six brand-new short plays in just 24 hours. Starting at 8pm on Friday night, names are drawn, teams created, plays written over night, and rehearsals completed in 8 hours, all in time for opening night at 8pm on Saturday.

More about Jeremy Sony:

Jeremy Sony is a Midwest-based writer and co-founder of Theatre Daedalus. His plays include: ICHABOD: MISSING IN SLEEPY HOLLOW (World Premiere, Street Theatre Company ClassAct Dramatics), PARALLAXIS and CUCKOLD WALKS INTO A BAR (MadLab Theatre Roulette 2014), ADVICE TO THE HAPPY COUPLE (MadLab, Theatre Roulette 2013), THE COSMONAUT IN HUMAN RESOURCES (Luna Theatre), SPIN CYCLE (2010 Heideman Award Finalist, Actors Theatre of Louisville), AGAINST THE PANE (Penobscot Theater), MEETING GOD ON A TUESDAY MORNING and DO THEY EXPEDITE THERE (Curtain Players Theater). UPCOMING PLAYS: THE LEGEND OF ROBIN HOOD (World Premiere, Street Theatre Company ClassAct Dramatics, November 2014); THE GROVE CITY PLAY (Preview, September 2014 / World Premiere, Summer 2015, Commissioned by the Grove City Historic Commission). 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 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 Region 2 Festival 45. AWARDS & RESIDENCIES: Scott McPherson Playwriting Award (2012); 2012-2013 Anthony Trisolini Graduate Fellowship; 2013-2014 Ingram New Works Lab Residency (Nashville Repertory Theatre). FILM: SEPARATION ANXIETY (Best Drama, 2012 Riverbend Film Festival) was produced by Glass City Films, starring 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, and Kara Lee Corthron. Sony lives in central Ohio with his wife, where they are currently outnumbered 2-1 by their cats. Find him on Facebook, Twitter, and many social media sites under the handle @JeremyWrites.