ohio university mfa playwriting

Second-year MFA playwright, Rachel Bykowski, starts off Madness in 2016 by producing “Resolution” Madness this week.

The Madness show is January 15th, 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.

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 andPay 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. For more information about Rachel, please visit her website at www.rachelbykowski.com.

F That Noise

Hey, I know what you’re doing. Coming home from that 9-6 job with the 45 minute commute either way. Eleven total hours dedicated to that job you don’t care about. You’re tired, but F that noise. You’re not gonna get stuck in that hell hole. You’re gonna write tonight, right? I mean work out, and then write. Or maybe you’ll write tonight, and get up early tomorrow and work out. Yeah, that’s what you’re gonna do. You’re gonna get home, and cook that chicken that’s been sitting in your fridge. It’s not spoiled yet. You’re take that cucumber out of the crisper tray, and open up that bag of lettuce and make a nice salad. Fill up a mason jar with some refreshing, clean tap water. You’re gonna sit down at your laptop. And you’re gonna bang out five pages. Hell, no. You’re gonna bang out ten pages. Ok, at least five pages. Five pages is doable. Heck, if you did five pages a day, for four weeks, you’d have that play done. In a month. You can sit down and do anything for four weeks. You’re not gonna check Facebook. You’re not gonna check the score. You’re not gonna check Etsy. You’re gonna go home and cook your chicken and make your salad and drink your water and write your five pages. You’re gonna go to bed by 10:30pm and wake up at 5:30am and workout. This is it. This is simple. You’re a Writer, capital W, and this is how it’s gonna be from now on.

You know you’ll save yourself some writing time if you just popped in and got a slice of pizza instead of cooking. You’re gonna work out tomorrow so it’s okay. The chicken will still be good. Maybe you’ll get your pages done and cook it tonight so you can have it for lunch and dinner tomorrow. Save some money. Yeah. So get a slice. Oh, man you ate that quick. Still hungry, right? Go ahead and get another. Just three bucks. Still saving money. And a coke. Dinner under ten bucks. Good stuff. Head up to your apartment. You’re just a little tired. Just rest your head and watch some Cheers on Netflix for a bit. Just rest the brain cells. Dang this show is so good. This is great writing. This is helping your writing. This is writing homework. Good on you.

Text message. David. You haven’t seen that guy in weeks. Beer? Sure. It’s only 7:30pm. One beer won’t kill you. It’s important to keep up with friends. How the heck can you be a writer if you don’t socialize? If you don’t hang out and see how other people live their life?

Four beers and a shot later. Dang $30 with tip…

You’ll get up early and write tomorrow before work….

Deadline for Ohio’s MFA Playwriting program is February 15th.

Email ohioplaywriting@gmail.com for more information.

Kara Lee Corthron Interviews Catherine Weingarten ’17 “About Things Other Than Writing”

Playwright, Kara Lee Corthron, former visiting faculty member at Ohio University, interviewed Catherine Weingarten ’17 for her blog. Based out of NYC, Corthron has a series of interviews called “Q & A’s with Writers about things OTHER than Writing.” You can read the interview here.

Corthron’s full-length plays include JULIUS BY DESIGN (Fulcrum Theater), ETCHED IN SKIN ON A SUNLIT NIGHT (InterAct Theatre in Philadelphia), ALICEGRACEANON (New Georges), HOLLY DOWN IN HEAVEN (Forum Theatre in DC area), SPOOKWATER, LISTEN FOR THE LIGHT, and WELCOME TO FEAR CITY. Kara is the 2014-2015 Naked Angels/New School Issues Project Resident Playwright.

Here’s a taste of the interview:

Corthron: If you had the opportunity to patent a brand new product, what might that be?
CW: I’m super into body positivity and self empowerment for young women, so if I could make a new product I would love to target pre-teen girls and have some sort of girly jewelry box that you can smack and it’ll say something inspirational like “Yo mom be wrong, GURL, you looking fine!” or “No one should ever dump you because you have the biggest heart a chick could want!”.

Catherine Weingarten is a rad, awkward jew-friendly chick from an obscure area of Pennsylvania! She is a currently pursuing her MFA in Playwriting at Ohio University, studying under Charles Smith and Erik Ramsey. She graduated from Bennington College in 2013 studying under Sherry Kramer. She has taken workshops in playwriting with Samuel D.Hunter, Kara Lee Corthon and Branden Jacob-Jenkins.

Ms. Weingarten’s works have been produced at such venues as UglyRhino Productions, Last Frontier Theater Conference, Abingdon Theater, Less Than Rent, Poetic Theater Productions, New Orleans Fringe Festival, Nylon Fusion Collective and Fresh Ground Pepper. She was most recently a member of Abingdon Playwright’s Group as well as New Perspective Theater’s “This Women’s Work” 2014 short play lab. She is also a member of the inaugural “365 Women a Year” Playwriting Project.”

When not writing plays, Ms.Weingarten likes writing perky body positive blogs, heating up soup(which she is getting pretty good at!) and reading Bret Easton Ellis novels.

Behind the scenes Video & Article on OU’S Madness in the The Post

For the Ohio University Master of Fine Arts playwriting students, there is no “Syllabus Week.” They don’t get out of class early after only having read the professor’s classroom policies. They don’t take a month to groom their first play.

They only have four days.

That’s the lead paragraph from the feature article on our “Madness” show that was published this week in Ohio University’s Independent Student Newspaper,The Post.

Click here for a two-minute news clip with an interview with Charles Smith, the Head of the MFA Playwriting program, and clips for rehearsals and tech.

A link to the online article, with several pictures from rehearsals and tech, written by Meryl Gottlieb can be found here.

The next madness is Friday, September 19th, and is being produced by 2nd year MFA playwright, Aaron Johnson.

Photo credits: Lauren Bacho, The Post

Updated the Opp-log!

The opp-log has just been updated! New opps include the O’Neil, Babes with Blades and City Theater’s awesome 10 minute play contest in Florida! Check em out!!

Bianca Sams receives the Tennesse Rep Ingram New Works Fellowship!

Recent MFA grad, Bianca Sams is apart of the 2014-15 New Works Fellowship at Tennessee Rep! This prestigious opportunity is given to 4 playwrights per year and includes development help on a new play, a public reading and workshops with professional theater artists.

Fun fact!(tell all your friendsss) Jeremy Sony(another OU alum) received this fellowship last year!

For more info on this Fellowship

Ohio MFA Playwrights Open One-Act Plays in Chicago

August 7, 2014
by rpdolan
· alumni · Chicago · Current Students · News · Productions · world premiere

Three current MFA Playwrights and one recent alumnus are opening 10-4: THE TRUCK STOP PLAYS at CIC Theater in Chicago on Friday, August 8th. The plays run through August 30th.

Ryan Patrick Dolan ’16 enlisted three other playwrights Neal Adelman ’15, Tyler Whidden ’16, and recent grad, Anthony Ellison ’14, to write one-acts to take place at a truck stop. The result is four dark comedies with strong, funny female characters.

The directors are four women from the Chicago theater scene: Karisa Bruin, Jeri Frederickson, Ashley Neal, and Mary O’Connor. Each director cast the plays with Chicago actors.

Recent Ohio University student, Cat Abood (pictured above in red), appears in Anthony Ellison’s play. Ellison coached Abood in Ohio University’s improv group, Black Sheep.

More information appears on the play’s website: truckstopplays.wordpress.com or CIC’s website.

Tyler Whidden (MFA ’16) Finalist in Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte Festival

July 1, 2014
by rpdolan
· Awards · Current Students · Festival · News

Tyler Whidden’s play, DANCING WITH NED, was named a finalist for the 3rd Annual nuVoices Festival at the Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte Festival. Tyler’s play was one of 13 chosen.

From ATCharlotte’s website: “Each play selected for the festival will get two script in hand staged readings, with assigned directors, dramaturgs, and actors. Each playwright selected will be brought to Charlotte and provided housing for the duration of the rehearsal process. They will be included in the entire week of rehearsals and will also receive $500 honorarium. The winning play will then be invited to have a full production mounted during Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte’s 2015-2016 season.”

Madness is back this week. “This Is Why We Rock.”

MADNESS is back for the second to last time this semester. Third-year MFA playwright, Bianca Sams, is producing. Her prompt is “This Is Why We Rock” Madness.

Hahne Black Box Theater.
Kanter Theater Building
Friday, April 4th.
11pm

The line to get the free tickets usually starts around 10pm in the lobby.

Until then, enjoy the song that inspired Bianca’s theme:
“This Is Why We Rock” by Mims Ft. Purple Popcorn.