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Tag: festival

Catherine Weingarten interviewed about her Seabury Quinn Mainstage Play “This Is How You Got Me Naked”!

  • April 5, 2017
  • by catherineforever666
  • · Current Students · Festival · News

Hi everyone!

Welcome to our interview series with the current rockin MFA playwrights, leading up to Seabury Quinn! This year the interview series will be a little different since different pairs of writers interviewed eachother! These pairs of writers were chosen by the head of the program to be “writing partners” and give each other feedback on each others plays throughout the spring semester.

This interview is questions for Catherine by first year playwright Katherine Varga. Catherine Weingarten is a 3rd year MFA playwright and wrote one of the 2 mainstage plays, “This is How You Got Me Naked” Check out the interview below and then see her play!!  Also watch out for all of the other interviews with our other writers!

Katherine Varga: “This Is How You Got Me Naked” is inspired by your time at Bennington College. Can you tell me more about your experiences there, and how they inform the play? Did you ever go to a Dressed to Get Laid Party?

Catherine Weingarten :My high school was pretty preppy so when I got to Bennington for the first time it felt like a weird, artistic hipster commune of awesomeness. It was the first place I really felt like I could be myself: that I could like learning, that I could make plays about chicks eating cake. It really set me free in a way and I owe a lot of who I am as an artist to Bennington. At Bennington everyone is an artist in some way and is always talking about their work; which is kinda trashy/funny sometimes (when their work is insanely odd like studying hair??) but also super freeing.

Hahah ahh I went to the Dress to Get Laid party twice! The time it was the most intense was when I was a freshman cause I just got to Bennington and had no romantic experience at all and was a hyper-prude; so the party was completely overwhelming, similar to how Jackie feels, the protagonist in my play, when she first gets to the party. I remember I had a crush on this guy who wrote poetry and smoked at me and I really wanted to hookup with him, but it didn’t really happen because he was dressed ironically as a box so I couldn’t really dance with him or get too close.

Katherine: You are a third year playwright, and a co-producer, so I consider you an expert on the Seabury Quinn Festival! What’s your favorite part of the festival? Do you have any wise words for those of us new to the festival?

Catherine: My favorite part of the festival is how much of a binge fest it is! You get to see like 3 of your classmates readings in one day and also get to hear fun, insider critique from random famous-ish people.   Ohio’s MFA program is so incredibly rigorous, so by the end of the semester it’s fun to just kick back and celebrate eachother’s work and drink a bit too much after all the readings are done.

In terms of advice for newer mini Ohio playwrights like you Katherine, who is interviewing me, I would say really take advantage of your rehearsal period to learn a lot about your play. Be curious and ask questions and let your actors help you uncover who your characters are and what they need. It can be tempting to just shut down during rehearsals and start critiquing quality of the work, but I would just say try to be open and just realize how lucky you are to have high class, good looking actors working on your stuff and helping you figure it out!

Katherine: Tell me more about what it’s like writing for a full production! Has working with actors / designers changed your writing process?

Catherine: Writing for a full production is so different! First of all it’s like getting Jillian Michaels to give your play a fricking beat down! Your play will change because you will be tailoring it for a group of actors and also it needs to be workable with a small budget, which playfest has. Also sometimes when you do a reading, you don’t worry about how changing a line affects an actor but if it’s going into production that line could affect a costume decision or a piece of blocking. It’s all so interconnected in a great, hippy kinda way.

I don’t know really if it’s changed my writing process, but it definitely does it for me! I can get very in my head about whether something working and when you’re in rehearsals you get instant feedback. Its way less lonely! I also am happy that all my actors are supa supa smart and thoughtful and are not scared to ask me questions about their characters choices and their through lines.

Katherine: You write a lot about relationships with older men, especially men who are authority figures, and now your boyfriend is directing your play! Is having your boyfriend-as-director as hot as it would be in a Weingarten play, or does the work come first?

Catherine: Ooo saucy question! Hah yes, guilty as charged I do love writing about older men and my BF is 5 years older and also currently directing ma play.

It sometimes can be hot since we are doing something new together and are both terrified and excited. But also sometimes the work comes home and I almost throw 20 mirrors at him cause I didn’t like one of his blocking choices. So there’s some hotness and intimacy, and also some danger since it’s my thesis and I want it to not suck. I think it can be risky working with a love interest on a project, but I didn’t get into theater to be safe 😉

I feel lucky though that I get to work with Ben on this project, since we both have a similar aesthetic and love trashy, strange comedy. Also he just has a way of making actors feel comfortable and let their guards down.

Katherine: People are always talking about the need for writers to create “strong female characters.” Your protagonist Jackie is fun, artistic, and determined, but also unsure of herself and completely boy-crazy. Is she a strong female character? Can you tell me more about your philosophy concerning writing women? And maybe point me to a cool Howlround article on the topic? 😉

Catherine: Hah this is a good interview Katherine! I really can tell you actually write for a newspaper!

I don’t think Jackie is a strong female character because I don’t really write strong female characters. I want to write real, flawed, complex chicks! Jackie is actually based on me and I would consider myself passionate and determined etc but at the same time sometimes I make the drunkest choices and get completely lost, which can be funny in retrospect. I love writing about chicks who get into a lot of trouble and have to find a way out of it; who make crazy bad choices. I just think the idea of a “strong” character sounds kinda flat and insanely boring to me. Like I’m asleep just thinking about it.

One thing I try to do as a writer is to create more outsider chick roles for actresses who don’t fit the “hot blond ingénue type.” It’s really great to work with Kristin Yates on this part because she’s a little black firecracker who has the most insane comedic timing and also an innate innocence and nerdiness. I love finding actresses like her who are a little different and weirder than the typical random hot chick actress.

Haha here is the Howlround article I recently wrote about the case against strong female characters: http://howlround.com/creating-complex-female-characters

 

Now that Catherine is your new OBSESSION, go see her play!

This is How You Got Me Naked

by Catherine Weingarten
Directed by Ben Stockman

8:00 pm – April 13th, 14th, 19th & 22nd;
2:00 pm – April 22nd, Forum Theater, RTV Building

It’s the “Dress to Get Laid” Party: Jackie is dressed as a sexy trash bag, aka Looking Good, and ready to hit on her sexy male dancer friend who is a junior so he will LOVE her so hard he can’t even feel his own body!! Is Jackie destined to be another tragic tale about the perils of hookup culture? Or will she be the lucky GF of a dancer who is hot? 😉

-There will be a special talkback on Friday April 14th with Professor Thomas Vander Ven about hooking up and drinking culture in life and in the play.

Tickets for the Featured Productions are $5 general admission or FREE for OU Students (with valid student ID) through Arts for Ohio; available at the Templeton–Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium box office.

 

More about Catherine:

Catherine Weingarten hails from Ardmore, PA also known as the area that inspired the preppy sexy TV show “Pretty Little Liars” and is a NYC friendly playwright.  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  graduated from Bennington College in Vermont where she studied playwriting with Sherry Kramer. Her 10 minute sex fantasy play “Pineapple Upside Down Cake” was a National Semi-Finalist at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Her full length playwriting credits include: staged reading of Are You Ready to get Pampered!? produced at the Dixon Place, Less Than Rent and Last Frontier Theater Conference Playlab series; staged reading of This Car Trip Suckss produced by Piper Theater Productions; and Karate Hottie produced by West of 10th in NYC.   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-weingarten.squarespace.com

 

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Nambi Kelley is third mentor for Seabury Quinn Playwrights Festival!

  • March 29, 2017
  • by catherineforever666
  • · Festival · News

nambi Kelly

Nambi Kelley is the third mentor for this years Seabury Quinn Playwrights Festival! We are so excited to meet her and have her part of the festival!

 

More about Nambi

Nambi Kelley has performed on regional stages across the country, internationally, including many shows at the Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, and has been seen on several television shows, including Elementary, Person of Interest, Madam Secretary, Chicago PD, and will be guest starring on NBC’s Chicago Justice airing this spring. Also an accomplished playwright, Nambi has penned plays for Steppenwolf and Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Lincoln Center in New York, and internationally. Kelley is currently playwright in residence at the National Black Theatre in New York and is working on an adaptation of Toni Morrison’s Jazz to be produced at Baltimore’s Center Stage in May 2017. Her Native Son and short play Dead of Night: The Execution Of (commissioned by The New Black Fest) were both recently published by Sam French and are both slated for several productions across the country next season. www.nambikelley.com

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Celise Kalke will be a mentor at Seabury Quinn!

  • March 21, 2017
  • by catherineforever666
  • · Festival · News

We have 3 very accomplished mentors coming to the Seabury Quinn Playwrights Fest to critique the playwrights work! We will be announcing the mentors one by one! The second mentor is Celise Kalke, Director of New Play Projects at Alliance Theater in Atlanta. We are very excited to have her!

celise-kalke

 

Read more about Celise

Bio: Actor’s Express: Introduction to Dramaturgy instructor for many years. Alliance Theatre: Director of New Projects, dramaturg on many world premiere production, manager of the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwright Competition. Public Theater (NYC), Court Theatre (Chicago), Juilliard School (NYC).

 

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Seabury Quinn Events Announced!

  • March 14, 2017
  • by catherineforever666
  • · Festival · News

 

The dates and times for the 2017 Annual Seabury Quinn Jr Playwrights Festival are now posted on the website!  Included in the lineup are full productions of “The Big Fuckin’ Giant” by Rachel Bykowski and “This is How You Got Me Naked” by Catherine Weingarten, as well as 6 readings.  The festival runs April 20th to the 22nd, 2015 in Kantner Hall on the campus of Ohio University.

Readings featured in the festival include “Tattoo On Your Arm” by Inna Tsyrlin, “Millennialville” by Cristina Luzarraga, “Vessels” by Natasha Smith, “Fireflies” by Philana Omorotionmwan, “Shahid” by Trip Venturella, and “I ❤ Girls” by Katherine Varga.

For a full lineup of events click here

Look out for the reveal of our three supa classy mentors and also EXCLUSIVE interviews with all 8 of the MFA playwrights!!

See ya at the festival!!

partying_seabury

 

 

 

 

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Catherine Weingarten interviewed by us about Seabury Quinn

  • April 18, 2016
  • by catherineforever666
  • · Current Students · Festival · News

Hi everyone! Welcome to our interview series with the current rockin MFA playwrights, leading up to Seabury Quinn!  Catherine Weingarten is a 2nd year MFA playwright and wrote the new play “Shut Up, I’m on a Diet!”  She is known in the playwriting program for her girly plays, her intense imagery and her fun personality !  Check out the interview below and then see her playthis Saturday the 21st at 4pm!!  Also watch out for all 7 of the other interviews with our other writers!

1.This year your play deals with issues of eating disorders. What made you pursue this subject?

I have been interested in how people develop eating disorders and dieting pressure ever since I was a helpline intern at the National Eating Disorder Association in NYC. I am interested in my writing in exploring society’s expectations for women to look a certain way and that effect on us. Body image is a subject that many people have tons of awkward, intense, torturous feelings about but are scared to articulate them. Before I got to Ohio University, I had written a few short plays about body image including a weird, girly one act called “Whipped Dream”, about three girls binging, making out with each other and dealing with their bodies. But “Shut Up, I’m on a Diet!” is my first full length play looking at the pressure young people are faced with to be beautiful and to have the ideal body.

 

2.Everyone in the program knows you have colorful and expressive language in your plays.  How did you implement it in this play and can you give us an example?

Well as I writer, I always have been obsessed with language and writing it how I really hear it. I like to twist words, makes them up and explode them until they feel real to me.  Each play is another chance to explore and experiment.  I think specifically in this play, the treatment center is wild, over the top but has creepy roots to reality and how we conduct therapy.  I love creating sexy feminine dream worlds that kinda make sense and are also kinda too girly for the average person to fully understand.

Here’s a little excerpt from  my play,where Tess has finally got at the treatment center, “Little Mermaids in Distress”:

DIGBY
But just so you guys know,
I’m not some fancy intern robot,
I’m a person also!
When I’m not an intern at “Little Mermaids in Distress”,
I am pursuing my PHD at Pennsylvania Dreams University,
It’s a school created from a large endowment by Burger King
Just 20 mins from here,
And I also have a passion for lady bugs
And have a big collection in my dorm
Room here!
You ladies care to share anything about yourselves??
Break da ice!!!

PIXIE
I’ll go!
So about mee…
I love friendship as a concept,
Taking notes,
And Watching as many Disney movies
In one day as I possibly can handleee
And pleasing everyone
And making every possible person
Happy at all times oh yaaa!

TESS
Taking notes????
That’s a hobby?

DIGBY
We are not here to judge Tess,
But to transform our bodies
From ugly cocoons to
Sexy…, powerful, teen butterflies,
Start anew.

3.At the heart of your play lies a close father/daughter relationship.  Why did you want to explore this father/daughter dynamic and what’s important about it in your play?

I have a habit of writing about older man and younger women;but this relationship is super interesting and complicated within a family. How does a girl get influenced by her father? Does it affect the kind of people she wants to date? What kind of ideas of womanhood does a man pass on to his daughter? This relationship can be super fun, great, confusing or really depressing:or all those things at once. In “Shut Up, I’m on a Diet!” Tess is getting sent to an eating disorder treatment center by her father who recently got out of prison. When writing this relationship, I wanted to explore parents being too needy to exists and needing their kids more than their kids needed them. I wanted to explore the idea of blame, overdependence and hidden connection. I think at the heart of this play is this frayed connection between Tess and her dad. Can their relationship be smooth after so much turmoil has entered their life? See the play and find out!! Bam!!

 

  1. Since your play deals with eating disorders, obviously food is talked about a lot.  If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

What a great question!! Well I really have the most insane sweet tooth, so it would be twizzlers, candy is a food right??

 

Now that you love Catherine, come see her reading!

Details:

SHUT UP, I’M ON A DIET!
Written by Catherine Weingarten
4:00 pm, Saturday April 23rd, Elizabeth Baker Theater, Kantner Hall
When 16-year-old Tess gets sent to a sketchy mermaid-themed eating disorder treatment center, her whole life is turned around.  With intense pressure from her overbearingly needy father, Tess’s goal of actually take control of her life and being a real live adult seems like it’s  never gunna happen.  But when Tess meets Digby, a random kinda douchey guy who works at the center, it seems like things might finally get sexier!

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

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Rachel Bykowski interviewed by us about Seabury Quinn!

  • April 17, 2016
  • by catherineforever666
  • · Current Students · Festival · News

 

Hi everyone! Welcome to our interview series with the current rockin MFA playwrights, leading up to Seabury Quinn!  Rachel Bykowski is a 2nd year MFA playwright and wrote “Making Charlie”  She is known in the playwriting department for passionate activist spirit, her goodlooking shoes and her hard working attitude!  Check out the interview below and then see her play, Thursday April 19th!!  Also watch out for all 7 of the other interviews with our other writers!

1.Tell me about your process for creating “Making Charlie”?  Was it a fun and sexy process or a harder one?  

I was inspired by this non-fiction book I read that interviewed a village of people in rural Albania.  Within this culture, it is important to give birth to sons for various reasons: men are allowed to fight and protect the family from “blood feuds” and men make the business/economic/political decisions for their home and village.  Women in this culture are relegated to domestic work and cannot engage in social activities like drinking and eating with men.  If a family happens to have all daughters, that family can decide to raise one daughter as a son and she is called a “sworn virgin.”  She is then raised and treated as a man.  She even adopts the male gender clothing and hairstyles.  This daughter can now take charge of her family and engage in political and social discussions with men.  However, the sworn virgin does have to sacrifice intimacy/her sexuality.  She cannot marry or engage in sexual activities with men or women.

What intrigued me the most about this belief is when the interviewers asked the sworn virgins if they missed publicly being women and the intimacy/sexuality that comes with that, unanimously the sworn virgins replied they absolutely didn’t.  Being a man with those privileges is far better.

2.      In your play you do not shy away from big issues: why do you think sexual violence is an issue people need to understand better and how can making art about it help people to get a better understanding?

I want people to understand that sexual violence just doesn’t come from out of nowhere.  It is something that is developed and conditioned over time in a person’s life.  With this play, I am looking at how male privilege is a factor that creates sexual violence, especially when it goes unchecked.  But the power is intoxicating.

3.      If your play was a shoe, what kinda shoe would it be and why?

I guess for this one, a baseball cleat.

4.      what’s a fun fact about you?

Last summer and this summer I will be working at a feminist bookstore in Chicago called “Women and Children First.”….If you are a fan of of the series Portlandia, the answer is, yes, its kind of similar and all amazing!

Now that you love Rachel, come see Rachel’s reading!

Details

MAKING CHARLIE or CUTTER

Directed by Allison Epperson
Written by Rachel Bykowski
4:00 pm, Thursday April 21st, Elizabeth Baker Theater, Kantner Hall
Charlie is finally the starting pitcher for the St. Joseph’s Wolves high school baseball team. Pitching is all Charlie wants to do.  Pitching a no-hitter means control and all Charlie wants is control of that mound.  But Charlie has a secret that makes him different from the rest of the boys on the field.  Charlie is actually a girl who has been pretending to be a boy since childhood. When St. Joe’s welcomes Amy, an ace softball pitcher with the fastest pitch in their division as the first and only girl on the team, Charlie must now defend her place on the mound.

 

More about Rachel

Rachel Bykowski was born and raised in Chicago.  She writes plays that examine the masks people wear to conceal their true identities to blend into society and explores the repercussions when the masks are ripped off.  Her work often includes proactive female characters that raise awareness to issues surrounding women. Rachel received her BFA in Playwriting from The Theatre School of DePaul University.  Her playwriting credits include her full length plays: Original Recipe produced by DePaul University; staged reading of Got to Kill Bitch presented by Cock and Bull Theatre in Chicago; and staged reading of Glory vs. The Wolves presented by 20% Theatre Company Chicago and hosted by Women and Children First Bookstore as part of an event to raise awareness about rape culture.  Her one act plays include: The Best Three Minutes of My Life produced by Bradley University; Break-Up Court and Pay Phone produced by 20% Theatre Company Chicago; The Invisible Onesproduced by Fury Theatre in Chicago; and She Sings For You produced and published by Commedia Beauregard in Chicago.  Rachel is also a proud company member of 20% Theatre Company Chicago.  She is very excited to continue her writing career and pursuing her MFA in Playwriting under the tutelage of Ohio University.

 

 

 

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Natasha Smith interviewed by us about Seabury Quinn

  • April 15, 2016
  • by catherineforever666
  • · Festival · News

Hi everyone! Welcome to our interview series with the current rockin MFA playwrights, leading up to Seabury Quinn!  Natasha Smith is a 1st year MFA playwright and wrote “Remind Me Why We’re Doing this Again.” She is known in the playwriting department for her friendly attitude, her high class vocab and her bold work.!  Check out the interview below and then see her play, Friday April 20th!!  Also watch out for all 7 of the other interviews with our other writers!

1.Your first year play delves into the provocative and fascinating subject of polyamory and marriage.  What made you interested in writing about this?

I’ve spent a lot of my twenties thinking about relationships and marriage. I grew up with the expectation that I would marry and be a stay-at-home mom, and as I’ve grown up my ideas about what my life could be have expanded exponentially. Marriage still appeals to me, though: it’s a secure commitment and people understand it implicitly, even as it’s constantly changing to more fully reflect a wider range of relationships. I’m interested in the ways that conforming to cultural expectations can erase parts of our identities–for instance, when a bisexual and polyamorous woman is read as heterosexual and monogamous because of the expression of her partnership. Erasure may be uncomfortable, but it’s also safer. So which is better?

  1. What has been your process like developing this play?  Was it similar to processes before grad school?

It’s been rough! I’ve never waded this deeply into the process of developing a play. It’s mucky, consuming, and very unsatisfying ninety percent of the time. I’ve stripped the play down to its bones and even further more than once, and it’s changed direction over and over. I think what I’ve gotten better at this year is asking the right questions. I hope I’ll be able to get the audience to do the same.

  1. What kinda plays piss you off not in a cute way?

Plays that let me be comfortable. I don’t love confrontation in real life, but in art I find it necessary. I get frustrated with plays that pat me on the back and make me feel superior, rather than reminding me that my human-ness is as complicated and uncomfortable as everyone else’s.

4.what’s a fun fact about you?

I took my first writing class when I was five, and wrote a story from the perspective of my grandma’s rug.

 

Now that you love Natasha, come see her reading!!

REMIND ME WHY WE’RE DOING THIS
Written by Natasha Smith
2:00 pm, Friday April 22nd, Elizabeth Baker Theater, Kantner Hall
Commitment means marriage…right? When Zahira and Asher decide to tie the knot, they aren’t sure how following such a traditional route will change their polyamorous relationship. Will marriage bring them closer together or force them to compromise their ideals? It doesn’t help that they’ve fallen for their wedding planner, Zahira’s sister is in town, and they don’t know what will happen if certain people find out they’re actually non-monogamous. Navigating the personal and the public, this play interrogates what it means to be a vulnerable individual in a society that demands strength and certainty.

 

More about Natasha

Natasha Smith’s play Catapult was a semi-finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival and received a staged reading with Arizona Theatre Company in 2014, where she served as the Artistic Intern for two years. She has also worked with Horizon Theatre and the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. Natasha’s play In Her Place was produced at Amherst College, where she studied Theater/Dance and English, and won the Denis Johnston Playwriting Award from Smith College. She has taught creative writing in the US and in Kenya, and is a three-time recipient of the Roland Wood Fellowship from Amherst College.  www.natashawrites.com

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Philana interviewed by us about Seabury Quinn!

  • April 14, 2016
  • by catherineforever666
  • · Current Students · Festival · News

Hi everyone! Welcome to our interview series with the current rockin MFA playwrights, leading up to Seabury Quinn! Philana Omorotionmwan is a 1st year MFA playwright and wrote a new, provocative play about race and casting called “Strong Face.” She is known in the playwriting world here for her love of language, her soulful style and her shy and edgy demeanor!  Check out the interview below and then see the reading very month,Saturday  April 23rd at 1pm!!  Also watch out for all 7 of the other interviews with our other writers!

1.       Your first year play delves into issues of actors of color and casting.  What made you interested in exploring this issue?

I was and remain more interested in portrayals and perceptions of black women in general than I am in actors and casting specifically. The idea that black women are stronger (both physically and emotionally) and less “feminine” than women of other races is deeply embedded in the foundation of this country; it had to be in order to justify sending women to work in the fields side by side with men. Because I think the media has a lot to do with continuing to perpetuate those representations, actors and casting became the vehicles I used to develop a story exploring my interests.  Of course, #OscarsSoWhite took off right around the time I completed a first draft of the play so that conversation has definitely influenced the play as I’ve developed it.
2.       You’re a playwright who seems to have a lot of interest in language and why we say things the was we say them.  What about exploring language does it for you?
There are a lot of reasons I think about language in the way that I do, probably including that English is neither my mother nor my father’s first. I suspect I became convinced that if they could have just picked the right word at the right moment when talking to each other, things might have gone differently. I also believe another reason is that deep down I really just want to be a musician. The first thing I remember answering when asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was a singer. But I couldn’t sing. I tried my hand at the piano and the clarinet but didn’t have the discipline needed to become good at either. However, there’s still this part of me that longs to make music. Arranging words on the page is the closest I’ll probably ever get to doing that.

 

3.       If your play wanted to propose to me, how would she do it and why?

 

My play probably wouldn’t propose to you because she doesn’t want to share her life with anybody. Because that would require being vulnerable. Which is not her thing. So she’d probably just tell you really bad jokes that you’d find offensive until you decide to leave her.
4. What’s a fun fact about you?
In the year following my college graduation, I had a total of six jobs: pizza buffet restaurant waitress, grocery store cashier, public school substitute teacher, dental and vision insurance claims data entry temp, ACT/SAT test prep tutor (which I continued to do for seven years), and youth mentor in an after-school abstinence-only program. And my parents said no one would hire me with an English degree.

 

Now that you love herrr, come see her play reading!

Details below

STRONG FACE
by Philana Omorotionmwan

Free admission
1:00 pm, Saturday April 23rd, Elizabeth Baker Theater, Kantner Hall

About: Maybe it’s her “energy.” Maybe it’s her hair. Or maybe it’s just her skin. Whatever it is, no one in Follywood seems to be able to see that actress Bentley Jones is a woman. But when she learns that major studio 19th Century Cocks has green lit a pick-a-flick guaranteed to earn its female star an impOSTOR nomination, Bentley has to decide if she’s ready for her real close up.

Also check out our page on Seabury QUinn

 

 

More about Philana

Philana Omorotionmwan was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She uses writing to create images that explore the intersections of race, gender, class, and sexuality. Her short plays have been produced at Ensemble Studio Theater, Manhattan Theatre Source, and Berkeley Rep. Her poems have been published in New Delta Review and African American Review. Philana earned her BA from Stanford University and is excited to be pursing an MFA here at OU. You can find out more about her work at philanaplays.weebly.com.

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Ryan patrick Dolan interviewed by us about Seabury Quinn

  • April 13, 2016
  • by catherineforever666
  • · Festival · News

Hi everyone! Welcome to our interview series with the current rockin MFA playwrights, leading up to Seabury Quinn!  Ryan Patrick Dolan is a 3rd year MFA playwright and wrote of the mainstage plays, “Bait Shop.” He is known for his love of improv, his confessional work and being pretty pretty funny.!  Check out the interview below and then see his production this very month!!  Also watch out for all 7 of the other interviews with our other writers!

  1. If your play was an outfit, what would it be and why??

Ratty, dirty baseball uniform of your favorite team that you wore as a kid. It doesn’t quite fit, but there is no chance in hell you’ll ever throw it out.

  1. What kind of mood do you want your play to put me in?  Like when I leave the theater will I be crying on the floor, craving snacks, wanting to fall in love etc.

Well, I only hope they’re not bored. Otherwise, you can’t control people’s moods unless you’re just trying to piss them off. That’s easy to do and takes no skill. Worrying about what mood an audience member will have when they leave is one of the least constructive questions an artist can ask themself. When I write for the stage, I try to mix humor with a darker exploration of human motivations. If my audience is viscerally affected in someway, and the humor was able to bring the audience into a deeper connection to the story, then that is satisfying. Aristotle gives a good blue print for how to do this, but there are a variety of ways to tell a story and accomplish it. The Aristotlean structure still gets studied and executed, because it’s the best blueprint to deliver the desired outcome of what Aristotle called “catharsis. I prefer the term “visceral” (from the gut) than “catharsis,” because I think it’s more accurate description of the audiences’ experience in that the audience’s emotional reaction is directly connected to being the same room as the actors telling the story. That’s how any theatrical experience works best for me. Visceral can be laughter, anger, sadness, empathy. Those are all things that can “purge” your soul. A well-executed improv show by a longform improv troupe can be as cathartic as the best written and produced play. Considering Aristotle never saw a play (theater was outlawed by the Spartans when he was alive), and only read them, most theater artists, can speak to how theater actually works better than someone who never saw a play executed in person. Considering you can tell a tighter, better executed story via TV or Film and theoretically deliver “catharsis,” a theater artist has to ask themself why there is a desire to do something on stage rather than the camera. It’s those visceral moments that connect actor to audience, and audience member to audience member, that compel people to participate and see theater. This is easier when you follow the basic tenets of storytelling, keeping the audience engaged throughout, and moving the story along towards where you want it to end.

  1. You are a third year writer, what are some of your favorite lessons you learned at grad school?

At the end of the day, if you’re not writing for yourself, then you’re wasting your time. Never stop trying to make your play better up to opening night. Sometimes that means re-writing. Sometimes that means making sure other elements that are helping tell your story are the best they can be.

4. What’s a fun fact about you?

In relation to my play, I guess this: When I was 15-year-old and a pitcher, my right arm was falling off due to permanent damage to my shoulder and elbow from throwing too much as a kid, opposing batters started hitting home runs off of me for the first time. So, I retaliated by beaning batters cause that’s what the major league pitchers did after batters hit home runs off of them. I couldn’t throw that fast so it didn’t really hurt, but it was the only way for me to show myself, my teammates, and my opponents that I wasn’t just going to roll over and give up. Off the diamond, I would never throw a 55 mph (which is super slow) at someone. The dichotomy of how someone acts in competition, whether it be on a playing field or trying to vie for affection of someone you like, and how they act where there are no stakes or pressure, will always be fascinating to me. Our society accepts certain behavior on the playing field, and in business, that they might not accept in other facets of life. I was way more competitive and ruthless on a baseball field or basketball court, then I am vying for a girl’s affection when there’s another suitor. If anything, “competition” for a person’s heart turns me away. People don’t like to think they’d “lie” or “cheat” or “steal” or “bully,” and yet everyone does it when it serves them or think it’s justified. So, some people might think it’s horrific that a kid would bean another kid, but I was following the behavior of my idols and the “unwritten rules of baseball” (one of my coaches actually lauded it), and trying to work out a system of justice and way to level the playing field with my competitors who were more talented than I was. Was that what you meant by fun?

Here is a photo of young Ryan fishing in Michigan and the image at the top of the article is Ryan playing baseball!

MORE RAYN

Come see his show!!

Bait Shop

by Ryan Patrick Dolan
Directed by Rani Crowe

8:00 pm – April 13th, 16th, 21st & 22nd;
2:00 pm – April 16th, Forum Theater, RTV Building

Glenn, 42, makes a connection with Sarah, a recent college grad with a similar passion for baseball, who’s spending the summer in Leeward, Michigan to wait tables. Glenn is desperate to leave the snowy climes of Northern Michigan and follow his dreams of scouting and coaching baseball but scared to act. Sarah is headed to L.A. in the fall for law school and, as things get serious between them, Glenn sees an opportunity to start a new life. Is his plan a foolish lark that’s bound to fail or a risk worth taking?

 

Tickets for the Featured Productions are $5 general admission or FREE for OU Students (with valid student ID) through Arts for Ohio; available at the Templeton–Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium box office.

 

More about Ryan

Ryan Patrick Dolan 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. He has a B.A. in playwriting from Columbia College Chicago, and is a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf acting conservatory. Dolan produced 10-4: THE TRUCK STOP PLAYS at CIC Theater in Chicago, which consisted of his one-act play, BURGER KING, and three other one-acts written by his fellow Ohio playwrights. He assisted director Tina Landau for Steppenwolf Theater’s production of Tarrell Alvin McCraney’s “The Brother/Sister Plays.” 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 11-year veteran of the Chicago improv scene. He has primarily performed 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. Ryan also taught, and co-wrote and performed four Mainstage shows at Boston’s Improv Asylum. ryanpatrickdolan.com

 

 

 

 

 

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Cristina Luzarraga interviewed by us about Seabury Quinn!

  • April 12, 2016
  • by catherineforever666
  • · Current Students · Festival · News

Hi everyone! Welcome to our interview series with the current rockin MFA playwrights, leading up to Seabury Quinn!  Cristina Luzarraga is a 1st year MFA playwright and the writer of “The Critical Distance of a Nose” which kicks off the reading series on the 21st.  She is known in the Playwriting program for her dark dark sense of humor, her insane intellect and her devilish vibe!  Check out the interview below and then see her reading this very  month!!  Also watch out for all 7 of the other interviews with our other writers

1.In your play “Critical Distance of the Nose” you explore ideas of outsider art and art criticism.  Have you always been a big art person?

I’ve always been a big wannabe art person–does that count? Those who can’t make art, write plays about art.

2.Some people have called your work pretty dark since in madness you’ve covered such topics as faking pregnancies, virgin sacrifice and Adam and Eve and a rando dude hooking up.  What draws you to darker material?  Why not just write plays about bunnies flying and sunshine?

See, I thought those Madness pieces were funny, particularly the Adam and Eve one. I think I’m drawn more towards humor than darkness. It just so happens that my sense of humor is pretty dark and twisted. I’d write about flying bunnies and sunshine if said bunnies were to fly too close to the sun à la Icarus and meet some horrible flying-bunny-demise.

3.If your play took me to an art museum as a date ;), what would the date be like and why? 

The date would entail a lot of standing around and trying to seem smart. And then finally, we’d be like: hey, let’s cut the crap and go to the museum café because I want an overpriced scone and Diet Coke.

  1. what’s a fun fact about you?

I’m a quadruplet. (Please don’t fact check that.)

 

Now that you are obsessed with Cristina, come see her reading in the Seabury Quinn Fest!

Details:

CRITICAL DISTANCE OF A NOSE
Written by Cristina Luzarraga
1:00 pm, Thursday April 21st, Elizabeth Baker Theater, Kantner Hall
Inez is an art history graduate student at Columbia attempting to navigate the highfalutin waters of academia and write her dissertation on outsider art. But her scholarship is turned on its head when she encounters Felicia, a security guard at the Guggenheim who calls it like she sees it.

 

More about Cristina

Cristina Luzarraga was born and raised in Short Hills, New Jersey, save for a few teenage years spent in London, England. She graduated in 2011 from Princeton University with B.A. in Comparative Literature. Subsequently, she moved to Chicago where she studied sketch writing and improvisation at iO Theatre and The Second City Conservatory and performed stand-up comedy at Zanies and elsewhere. Her full-length play Due Unto Others was produced by Princeton’s Lewis Center for the Arts. Her short plays Hippo Woman and Baker’s Three were produced at Greenhouse Theater in Chicago.

 

 

 

 

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