Tag: news

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.

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?

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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

Post Article features the Playwrights Fest!

April 12, 2016
by catherineforever666
· Festival · News

The Post just wrote an article about Seabury Quinn and specifically Tyler Whidden’s play “Occupation:Dad.”

The Post writes, ”

“Seabury does two things,” Dolan said. “It allows professionals to give you feedback, but then you also have an audience in the room that is just as important.”

The way the audience reacts to the play will give Dolan an idea of its ability to engage an audience, he said.

The festival is not just an opportunity for those in the program, Whidden said.

“It is a great opportunity for students on campus to come and see some new work, which is a big deal,” Whidden said. “A lot of these plays go on and have lives after this. A lot of the writers go on and have lives after this.”

Read the full article here and check out Seabury Quinn starting this week!!

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.

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.

Aaron James Johnson interviewed by us about Seabury Quinn!

April 11, 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! Aaron James Johnson is a 3rd year MFA playwright and is the Seabury Quinn producer and the writer of the excellent play, “The Birthday Kiss”. He is known for his rebellious work, his love of family dramas and his Midwest sensibility! 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!

If your play beat me up, how would he do it?

Well, first of all, it wouldn’t be a “he”, it would be a “she”. In my play, The Birthday Kiss, Brook holds a lot of the power. An early draft of my play even had Brook threatening the other characters with a gun. That’s since been cut but the way she still looms over the situation is present. So, I’d say, if my play is gonna beat you up, it would be with verbal abuse, manipulation, and light blackmail. And not all at once, just a little bit at a time. Wearing you down until all you can do is eat chocolate ice cream on the couch and binge watch Netflix.

2.What artists do you look up to?

Oh, lots of artists. As far as theater goes, I’m pretty boring. The biggies like Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams were hugely influential on me as I went through middle and high school. Their ability to create these complex worlds full of detail on a single stage was amazing to me. I could vividly paint the world of the play in my mind. Sam Shepard, and his ability to create these weird, complex relationship between family, is something I’ve also admired and want to emulate. Also Charles Schulz. Without Peanuts I wouldn’t be the artist I am today.

3.Where do you get the inspiration for your full length plays?

My inspiration for my full lengths usually come from specific stage images I have in mind and can’t get out of my head. In my first year play, it was a man carrying a sawed off deer’s head and in my second year play it was a woman pouring gasoline all over herself. Morbid I know, but these situations get me thinking, “How did this come to happen? What does it mean?” Those questions keep spinning around in my head and I need to write about them and figure it out.

4. What’s a fun fact about you!

I think last year I said I could clap with one hand and I told people to ask me about it so I could show them. And no one did. So this year, same answer. I can clap with one hand. Come ask me about it. I’ll show you.

Now that you are obsessed with Aaron, come see his staged reading in the Seabury Quinn Fest!

Details:

Thursday April, 21st

The Birthday Kiss
by Aaron Johnson (thesis presentation)
8:00 pm (Free admission), Baker Theater, Kantner Hall

BLURB:Brook just wants to celebrate her son Billy’s birthday. There’s a problem though. Billy’s dead. But that’s not gonna stop her. She “enlists” the help of Finn, her young lover, and Billy’s long-time friend and neighbor Lucy, who is actually dating Finn and is going to have his baby. As Brook forces the two to participate in the birthday activities, it becomes clearer and clearer that Brook isn’t only trying to recreate Billy’s birthday, she’s trying to recreate Billy himself.

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. Aaron feels immensely privileged and grateful to be working towards his MFA in Playwriting at OU with such great and inspiring mentors, colleagues, and friends.

Qui Nguyen wins Steinberg Critics Prize!

April 11, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News · Qui Nguyen

OU Alum Qui Nguyen just won the Steinberg Critics prize at the Humana Festival for his play “Vietgone”, which premiered at the Humana and then went to South Coast Rep!

Dc Theatre Scene writes, “Out of six finalists, Nguyen received the award for his play Vietgone, a comedy rooted in his family’s flight from Vietnam that slowly explores the dark corners of its characters. The judging panel, made up of members of the American Theatre Critics Association from across the United States, gave the award to Vietgone for its “vivid, specific voice” along with its “wonderful sense of humor and compelling stakes.”

The Steinberg/ATCA Award honors Nguyen and Vietgone by recognizing him as an outstanding playwright who premiered a play in regional theaters outside of New York City in 2015. But as significantly (and perhaps more so), the Steinberg/ATCA Award is a financial award, and the largest of its kind, granting its winner $25,000.”

Congrats Qui on this awesome honor! Read an article about his big win here

More about Qui

Qui Nguyen is a playwright, TV writer, and Co-Founder of the OBIE Award-winning Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company of NYC. He and his work, known for its innovative use of pop-culture, stage violence, puppetry, and multimedia, has been called “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 (South Coast Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Company, Manhattan Theatre Club), She Kills Monsters (The Flea, Buzz22 Chicago/Steppenwolf, Company One); War is F**king Awesome (developed in the Sundance Theatre Lab); 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); and the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys productions of Alice in Slasherland; Fight Girl Battle World; Men of Steel; and Living Dead in Denmark.

Tyler Whidden interviewed by us about Seabury Quinn

April 10, 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! Tyler Whidden is a 3rd year MFA playwright and his production “Occupation:Dad” is one of the two productions. He is known for his wisecracking sense of humor, his funny funny work and being friendly to all! Check out the interview below and then see his production this very month!! Also watch out for all 7 of the other interviews wirh our other writers!

1.So word on the street is this play is based on your own real life and experience being a father. What gave you the idea to write a play about this?

I’m always mining from my own life and being a father is definitely a major part of who I am, so I guess it comes from that. I’ve done a few Madness plays on the subject that seemed to work really well, so I just ran with it. And, it seems relevant when you consider the growing trend of stay-at-home fathers and the ever-present marketing to stay-at-home mothers – as if mothers don’t work or dads don’t know how to do the laundry.

2.What has it been like getting a production at OU? Have you enjoyed the rehearsal process?

The rehearsal process has been grand. The actors and Brian Evans (director) have been incredible and their voices really click with the play. From the very first reading we did in September to now, the talented actors in our Theater Division have been instrumental in helping me shape the play. And, Brian has been an incredible resource as well. His own experiences with being a stay-at-home father have really informed a lot of what is great in this production.

3.If your play and I got married and he took me on a honeymoon, what would the honeymoon be like? Would I like it?

What makes you think my play is a “he”?

So sexist.

4.what’s a fun fact about you?

The only fun thing about me is my wife.

More about Tyler’s play:

Occupation: Dad directed by Brian Evans

Blurb: Jason has a job, okay? He just works from home now. Things are tough nowadays what with the economy and all. So, stop looking at him like that. Lots of dads stay home with their babies. Right? It’s no big deal and it’s really not that tough. Except his kid won’t walk. And his mother won’t help. And his older brother’s a jerk-off. And his sister’s kids are already perfect and the playground moms are psychotic and everybody on Facebook hates him. But, other than all that, everything is just hunky-dory. Except his dad – you know what, forget his dad. It’s fine. Seriously. Everything is …

The play runs: 8:00 pm – April 14th, 15th 20th & 23rd; 2:00 pm – April 23rd, Forum Theater, RTV Building

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. 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 Theater of Cleveland. His play Dancing With N.E.D. was produced in 2012 in Cleveland and 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. He’s excited to be back where it all started and he lives with his beautiful wife, Angie — way out of his league — and their beautiful boy, Booker — his intellectual equal. http://tylerjcwhidden.com/

“The Room Where it Happens” Madness coming this Friday!

March 28, 2016
by catherineforever666
· Madness · News

Third year MFA playwright, Ryan Patrick Dolan, shall be producing “The Room Where it Happens” Madness this week! That line is a quote from the hit musical “Hamilton” and Ryan wants us to explore issues of power, ambition and/or negotiation that take place both in and or/outside “The room where it happens”!

The Madness show is April 1st, 11pm, in the Hahne Black Box theater. Admission is free. We recommend you get there 45 to 60 minutes ahead of time to assure yourself a seat.

For more information about Madness this spring semester, check out our Madness page.

More about Ryan Patrick Dolan