Tag: news

Bianca Sams has reading in Chicago this month!

March 2, 2017
by catherineforever666
· Chicago · News

Bianca Sams has a reading of her play “Battle Cry” in Chicago with 20% theater. It will be at the Berry United Methodist Church at 8pm from March 8th-11th, Wednesday-Saturday. 20% theater has also done works by alums Sarah Bowden and current playwright Rachel Bykowski.

Here is what the play’s about: “In March of 1955, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin dreams of going to college to become a lawyer to fight for Civil Rights. One day, while taking the bus to school, the driver tells Claudette to give up her seat. When Claudette refuses, she is harassed by the police officers, and put on trial for violating the segregation laws. Her refusal to give up her seat sparked a protest against the bus company and sets in motion one of the greatest moments in the Civil Rights movement.”

Go see it if you’re in Chicago! Congrats Bianca!! Keep on rockin’ it!

Details

March 8th – 11th, 2017

Berry United Methodist Church (4754 N Leavitt St)

Wednesday – Saturday at 8:00.

Click here to RSVP on the Facebook event

click here to buy tickets and learn more about the show!

More about Bianca

Bianca Sams is an Actor/Writer hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area. Her plays are lyrical investigations of found stories out of today’s headlines or the pages of history, that ask audiences to face their own complex love affair with misery. She recently finished her MFA in Playwriting at Ohio University. She received her BFA from New York University’s Tisch School, where she earned the distinction of being Tisch’s first ever Triple Major (Acting, Dramatic Writing, Africana Studies). 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 (2ndPlace), Scott McPherson 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 Play Lab Playwright- In-Residence, and T. S. Eliot Acting Fellowship. She is represented by Echo Lake Management.

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Read about Anthony’s Exciting Projects in Texas!

February 28, 2017
by catherineforever666
· News

Alumni Anthony Ellison won his second “Best of” Frontera Fest Award for his play God’s Rabbit Hole. Here is the blurb for it, “Jean is married and in the middle of a sexual crisis; she is completely unfulfilled, so she turns to God for guidance to ultimate ecstasy.” Frontera Fest is a is “five weeks of alternative, offbeat, new, and just plain off-the-wall fringe theatre. Too bad there’s no actual way to expect the unexpected, because that is your only hope.” The fest is based in Austin, Texas.

Anthony also wrote the script for the 48 hour film festival winner in San Antonio!

Congrats Anthony!!

More about Anthony

Anthony Ellison is a playwright originally from Muncie, IN, graduating from Ball State University with a B.S. in Creative writing, though his work was mostly comedy driven. He spent 10 years in Chicago, writing, acting, directing and improvising at Second City, Annoyance Productions and Chemically Imbalanced Theater. He received an MFA in playwriting from Ohio University, where he won the Scot McPherson award for his physique. The North Star which was produced at Chemically Imbalanced Theater in Chicago (2012) and The Drilling Company space in New York City, by Standing Panda (2013). Other full-length productions include Texas Sheen and Guillotine, at Chemically Imbalanced Theater. His one act play, The New Sue was produced in Liverpool, England at Grin Theatre. Shitbrick Merlot and We Killed The Care Bears were produced at Annoyance Theater. His ten minute play Tomorrow, was produced at American Theater Company’s Big Shoulders Festival, as well as a staged reading of his play Put the Action in Reaction, at Chicago Dramatists.

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“Party Game” Madness coming this Friday!

February 20, 2017
by catherineforever666
· Madness

The next madness of the school year will be produced by second year playwright, Cristina Luzarraga! Her prompt is “Party Game” Madness! For her madness, she has asked the playwrights to explore characters who are strangers onstage.

Here is an excerpt from the prompt:

For this Madness I want you to explore the intersection of party games and personal confrontation and/or revelation. You will each be assigned a specific party game, and you are tasked with using that game as a means to express your characters’ truths and desires. I am interested in how games figure into everyday life and how we use them for more than just having fun. What are your characters’ ulterior motives? Why are they playing this game in particular? Are they playing a game or are they for real, and is there a difference?

The show is Friday, February 24th, 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 the fall semester, check out our Madness page.

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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Qui’s play “Vietgone” written up about on NBC News.com

February 13, 2017
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News

Qui Nguyen’s play “Vietgone” is on fire!! It is especially timely because its a refugees story.

Here’s an excerpt from the article on NBC news about this play and the momentum its gathering:

“For Nguyen, writing a story about Vietnamese refugees was his way of humanizing Asian Americans and refugees of all races. He notes that, unintentionally, the play reflects today’s Syrian refugee crisis, the stigma that comes with immigration, and experience of starting over in a new country.

“That’s what’s so great about art: it allows us to humanize people and create bridges between people,” Nguyen said. “Lots of different people are part of the American fabric. That’s what our country was founded on.”

So far, the show has run in California, Oregon, Washington, and New York, playing its last show at the Manhattan Theatre Club this past December. Its success there opened doors for a regional production in Minnesota at Mixed Blood Theatre from April 10 to 30 this year — timed to coincide with the Fall of Saigon’s 42nd anniversary.

Orange County’s South Coast Repertory and the Manhattan Theatre Club have also commissioned sequels: two new plays covering Nguyen’s family history and the Vietnamese refugee experience. These shows are scheduled to go on stage every two years: play two in 2018 and play three in 2020. They will first play in California, Nguyen said.”

Read the article here

Congrats Qui!!

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Philana has reading at La Mama this month!

February 13, 2017
by catherineforever666
· Current Students · Events · News · Reading

Philana Omortionmwan’s timely and moving play “Before Evening Comes” will be read at the prestigious La Mama Theater in NYC on Monday, February 27th at 7pm. It will be directed by Nephrii Amenii and will be part of La Mamas Experiment Reading Series.

Here is a little bit about the play:

“With his 13th birthday around the corner, Totome is excited to meet “the butcher” and finally become a man. His mother, however, hopes to keep him whole for just a little while longer. Before Evening Comes is a poetic exploration of what becomes of black boys and men in a dystopian future rooted in the belief that the black male body is a threat to public safety.”

Congrats Philana! Check it out if you’re in NYC!!

More Info On event

February 27th, at 7pm, La Mama Gallerua/ 47 Great Jones Street

Click here to get a reservation

More about Philana

Philana Omorotionmwan is originally from Baton Rouge, LA where she was born to a Louisiana Creole mother and a Nigerian father. Production of Philana’s short plays includes THE SETTLEMENT (Ensemble Studio Theatre) and BLACK BOYS DON’T DANCE (Manhattan Theatre Source). BEFORE EVENING COMES was recently developed as part of the 2016 Bay Area Playwrights Festival (Playwrights Foundation) and the Br!nk New Play Festival (Renaissance Theaterworks). Her ten-minute play DIS DA HOOD is currently a finalist for the 2016 Heideman Award. Philana earned her BA from Stanford University where she began writing plays under the mentorship of Cherríe Moraga. Philana is currently pursuing an MFA in Playwriting at Ohio University. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc.

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First year MFA Playwrights are finalists for Scripps contest!

February 1, 2017
by catherineforever666
· Current Students · News

Our current first year class: Trip Venturella, Katherine Varga and Inna Tyrlin are finalists for the Scripps Innovation Challenge. the OU website describes it as:

The 5th Annual Scripps Innovation Challenge is a university-wide student competition to create innovative solutions to real-world media and communication problems. It is open to all Ohio University students, regardless of major. The goal is to harness the creativity of Ohio University students to develop new and innovative products, tools, or strategies that could be the basis for a startup business or a new entrepreneurial venture by an established company.

The Post recently interviewed them about their project!!

Here is a little sample of that:

The second finalist team, The Players, includes Trip Venturella, Kathrine Varge and Inna Tsyrlin, three first-year graduate playwriting students. They chose to create a team to think outside the box and focus on how their skills as writers can also make a difference.

“We were like ‘wouldn’t it be cool not only to engage a different part of our brains than the artistic playwriting part, but also develop something that might someday be employed to having social good or social benefit,’ ” said Venturella.

Their challenge came from the National Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit organization that promotes wildlife protection. The challenge required looking at today’s media and coming up with an innovative way to educate people about the organization’s mission while also raising money.

“It was a matter of looking at the media itself, like the internet, and saying ‘OK, when people go to the internet, what are most people interested in? What will grab their attention?’ ” Varge said.

Read full article about them here Congrats Katherine, Inna and Trip!!! We hope you win!

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“Paper Moon” Madness coming this Friday!

January 30, 2017
by catherineforever666
· Madness · News

Second year MFA playwright, Natasha Smith, shall be producing “Paper Moon” Madness this week!!!! She has assigned each playwright to write a short farce.

Here’s an except from her prompt:

“Can love and belief transform a paper moon, or is it always a deception? Why do we believe in comforting things, and what do we find comforting in hard times?

Listen to the song here

The Madness show is February 3rd, 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 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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Katherine Varga has 10 minute play in Denver!

January 30, 2017
by catherineforever666
· Current Students · News

Katherine Varga has a new short play “Post Truth” going up at Curious Theater in Denver on February 6th! She previously attended their summer program for young playwrights. Congrats Katherine!!

Here is more info on the program:

After our Summer Playwriting Intensive ends, we want to continue our relationships to these emerging playwrights and their work. Each year, we ask alums from the Summer Intensive as well as current playwrights from in-school residencies at Colorado Academy to write 10-minute companion plays inspired by a Curious Theatre Company mainstage production. The pieces are then performed on the set of the play that inspired their play during a staged festival.

This continuation of their journey in writing allows young playwrights the opportunity to hone their craft year-round and receive mentorship and support from Curious.

Info if you want to see it:

ACTS OF REVOLUTION
inspired by The Happiest Song Plays Last by Quiara Alegría Hudes

January 22 & 23 at 7 pm
February 6 at 7 pm
Each evening features different works by our fearless playwrights.

Theater Location: Curious Theater: 1080 Acoma St., Denver, CO 80204

Reservations not required. Donations accepted at the door.

More about Katherine

Katherine Varga is a freelance writer and playwright originally from New Britain, CT. She recently received her B.A. English from the University of Rochester, where she was awarded a Take Five scholarship to study urbanization and the arts. Her plays have been developed at Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, New York and Curious Theatre in Denver, Colorado, and read at the 2015 First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival.

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“Post Truth” Madness coming this Friday!

January 23, 2017
by catherineforever666
· News

“Post Truth” Madness will be coming this Friday to the Hahne! It will be produced by first year playwright, Katherine Varga!

Here is an excerpt from her prompt:

This week, I want you to explore these questions by translating out of the idea of “fake news.” Part of why 2016 was the “post-truth” year was due to its prevalence of false news articles and conspiracy theories that started online and had very real-world effects (ie Pizzagate). Using these current events as a starting off point, I’m encouraging you to think more broadly about what it means to live in a post-truth world. How does fake news (which can encompass news that is fake: gossip, lies) manifest itself in our communities, within our families, within ourselves?

The show is Friday, January 27th, 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 the fall semester, check out our Madness page.

M0re about Katherine

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Ryan Patrick Dolan has new podcast!

January 18, 2017
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News

Recent alum Ryan Patrick Dolan has a new podcast called the GOATCAST where he interviews artists and other random intriguing people! Some of his recent guests have included TV writer Kate Powers and Annie J. Howell and Lisa Robinson who worked on the local film “Claire in Motion.” Here’s a little bit about it in his words:

“I’ve always been drawn to interviews and longform bios of artists and their process. My guests include writers, actors, artists, musicians, sportswriters, and people I meet or know that I find interesting and are passionate about their work.

The GOATcast with Ryan Patrick Dolan is inspired by interview shows/podcasts like Fresh Air, WTF, and Nerdist’s TV Writer’s Panel, with a little Colbert Report and The-Idiot-Orange-Dumbsh*t who shall remain nameless. Also, a special shout-out to Sammy Tamimi’s unheralded Popfury Podcast.”

Congrats Ryan!! Check out episodes here and follow it on Facebook and Twitter

More about Ryan

Ryan Patrick Dolan just completed his MFA in Playwriting at the Ohio University Playwriting Program under Charles Smith and Erik Ramsey. He has a B.A. in playwriting from Columbia College Chicago where he studied under playwright, Lisa Schlesinger. He writes dark, comedic plays that are stylistically influenced by his years of improvisation, acting, and the Chicago Storefront aesthetic.

Dolan’s play, “Daddy’s Little Girls,” was named a National Semifinalist for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival’s 10-minute play competition, the THE GARY GARRISON AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING TEN-MINUTE PLAY. In conjunction with KCACTF, “Daddy’s Little Girls” also garnered him one of the eight, nationwide nominations for the National Partners of American Theatre Playwriting Award which recognizes “best-written, best-crafted script with the strongest writer’s “voice.”” His full-length play,“Moraine,” had a reading at the 2014 Seabury Quinn Jr. Playwrights Festival at Ohio University, and at the Trellis Reading Series at the Greenhouse Theater Center. Moraine was self-produced at CIC Theater in Chicago in the spring of 2015, and was directed by Mary Rose O’Connor.

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