NOTE: As the school year progresses, check back here regularly for updates. The quick links above jump to OU MFA Playwriting news of the previous three school years, including a recent alum winning the Wasserstein Prize (2008) and information on the over $82,000 in commissions, fellowships and grant money current graduate playwriting program students have earned for writing and developing their new plays since 2005.

Visit the NEW 2010 news blog page! All Ohio U MFA Playwriting News all the time is now found at: ohioplaywriting.blogspot.com

6/3/09:
3rd Year at Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis:
Reginald Edmund, a 3rd year MFA playwright graduating next week, has been named a Playwrights’ Center Many Voices Fellow. This fellowship is designed to increase cultural diversity in the contemporary theater, both locally and nationally, through cash grants, education, and opportunities to develop new work with theater professionals. http://www.pwcenter.org/

5/27/09:
Alum at Mile Square and More:
Joseph Gallo's play MY ITALY STORY, will open on June 17 at Mile Square Theatre, starring Emmy-award winner Tom Pelphrey. Recently, two of Gallo's other plays were also presented in New York, both of which were developed, in part, during his time at OU (Gallo is a 2008 alum). NEW YORK CITY 523 was given a reading at the Lark Play Development Center, and THE GOON SQUAD was presented in workshop by TDG Productions at the Bridge Theatre, featuring 2007 OU alum Andy Lutz, who recently appeared on Broadway in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS.

5/26/09
The 2009 Seabury Quinn, Jr Playwrights Festival Info:
The 2009 festival was a great success: http://www.ohio.edu/outlook/08-09/May/620.cfm.

5/3/09:
Short Plays by 2007 Alum at Source, Sam French & Public Theater:
Laura Jacqmin's (MFA '07) ten-minute play AIRBORNE will be featured in D.C.'s 2009 Source Festival in Washington, D.C. this June. The play has also been accepted into the 34th Annual Sam French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, and will compete with 39 others (for publication and licensing by Samuel French) at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater in NYC this July: http://samuelfrenchoobfest.blogspot.com. In addition, her short play PUSSY was just produced at the US/UK Cabaret: Mis/conceptions at The Public Theater (presented by The Old Vic and The Public Theater) in New York City, directed by Colette Robert.

5/2/09:
1st Year MFA's Play a Finalist for Seven Devils:
Cecilia Copeland's play Raising the Stakes was recently named a finalist for the Seven Devils Playwriting Conference. For more on Seven Devils: http://www.idtheater.org/7devils/.

4/30/09:
Formby's Play to be at Source Festival:
Dana Lynn Formby's play Armed with Peanut Butter, the 2009 National 10-minute Play Award-winner, will be produced at the Source Festival in Washington DC this summer. The Source is one of top new play festivals in the country. http://www.sourcedc.org/

4/21/09:
Formby Named Finalist for Kendeda:
Third year MFA Dana Lynn Formby has been named a finalist for the 2009 Alliance Theatre Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition. From the Alliance web site: "The Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition (GPC) is a one-of-a-kind national competition that transitions student playwrights to the world of professional theatre... Each year, approximately 30 graduate playwriting programs across the country are invited to have their final-year students submit a play to the competition. An in-house panel of readers at the Alliance Theatre reads and evaluates the scripts, and selects a slate of finalists to be advanced in the competition. Those scripts are sent to a national panel of three theatre artists for judging." The other four finalists this year include MFA writers from NYU, Cal Arts, Julliard and the New School. As a finalist for her play The Small of Her Back, Formby will receive a reading at the Alliance Theater as well as readings in New York City as part of the Alliance's annual fall reading series to introduce the playwrights to the New York theater industry. This marks the second time in three years an OU playwright has been a Kendeda Finalist; 2007 alum Merri Biechler was a finalist in 2007. http://www.alliancetheatre.org/newplay.aspx?id=34

4/18/09:
Formby Named National 10-Minute Play Winner:
Third year MFA Dana Lynn Formby has been named the 2009 National 10-minute Play Award-winner for her play Armed with Peanut Butter by the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. The play received a staged reading at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC during the national festival on April 18th. Formby's accomplishment marks the third time in five years that an OU playwright has been selected as a national finalist.

4/10/09:
Formby Invited to 2009 WordBRIDGE Playwrights Lab:
Third year MFA Dana Lynn Formby has been invited to workshop her play "Corazon de Manzana" at the WordBRIDGE Playwright's Lab this coming June. During the lab she will have two weeks of rehearsals with professional actors, director and dramaturg. Three OU MFA playwrights were selected as semi-finalists this year -- Formby, David Robinson and 2007 alum Merri Biechler. For more on WordBRIDGE: http://wordbridge.org/.

4/3/09
Jacqmin to be Produced at Steppenwolf:
2007 MFA Alum Laura Jacqmin's new play SKI DUBAI will be produced in Steppenwolf Theatre Company's 5th Annual First Look Repertory of New Work this summer, directed by Lisa Portes. The play will receive four and a half weeks of rehearsal followed by 9 public performances. (http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2009/03/26/announcing-the-5th-annual-first-look-rep-2/) Additionally, her short play SPACE appears in 24 x 24: The 24 Hour Plays Anthology, now available through Playscripts, Inc. Her short play MENUS was just produced by Painted Filly Theatre Company in Dublin, Ireland.

4/3/09
Update: First Year MFA at Capital Stage and Babes With Blades:
Current 1st Year MFA Playwriting student Reina Hardy's full-length play, "Erratica," will have its professional premiere at Capital Stage Theatre in Sacramento on July 11th, 2009. Capital Stage, which has been called the city's "Best Professional Theatre," selected "Erratica" for a full production when it appeared as part of the inaugural Playwrights Revolution Festival in June 2008. For more info: http://www.capstage.org/thePlaysSeason0809.htm and http://www.capstage.org/specialProgramsPlaywrightsRevolution.htm. Additionally, Reina's play "Susan Swayne and the Bewildered Bride" will be workshopped at "Babes with Blades" in Chicago this summer: http://www.babeswithblades.org/plays.htm. ("Susan Swayne and the Bewildered Bride" received honorable mention at the KC/ACTF Region 3 festival this past January.)

4/2/09
2003 MFA Alum Jacquelyn Reingold's Episodes of HBO Show:
The first IN TREATMENT of Season 2 will air on HBO, this Sunday, April 5th, 9:00 pm, written by MFA alumnus Jackie Reingold. The show stars Gabriel Byrne and Hope Davis, directed by Paris Barclay. Reingold wrote the "Mia" episodes, which will air on Sundays at 9:00 for the next seven weeks. If you're curious about the show, check out the website: http://www.hbo.com/intreatment/. The other writers include: Keith Bunin, Warren Leight, Marsha Norman, and Sarah Treem.

4/1/09:
Three OU Playwrights Are Semi-Finalists for WordBRDIGE Playwrights Lab:
Third year MFA Dana Formby, 2nd year MFA David Robinson, and alumnus Merri Biechler have all been named as semi-finalists for the renowned WordBRIDGE Playwright's Lab held each year in June. (Biechler is a former lab participant in 2007 and a semi-finalist this year in the alumni slot.) For more on WordBRIDGE: http://wordbridge.org/.

3/20/09:
3rd Year MFAs Invited to Prague Writing Program:
Kara Dunn recently received the John Woods Scholarship to attend the 2009 Prague Summer Program held at Charles University and hosted by Western Michigan University. The program offers artists professional mentors in their field, the culture and history of the Czech Republic, and the ambience of Prague. This years theme is "The Nature of Mother Nature: Women, Power, and the Environment" http://www.praguesummer.com/. 3rd year MFA Reginal Edmund will also be attending the summer program in Prague.

3/18/09:
3rd Year Is a Finalist for KC/ACTF National 10-Minute Play Award:
Third year MFA playwright Dana Formby has been selected as a finalist for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival's National 10-Minute Playwriting Competition. Formby's play, "Armed With Peanut Butter" will receive a staged reading at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. during the national festival in mid-April. Only four plays are selected as finalists from the hundreds submitted from graduate and undergraduate playwrights nationwide. Formby's accomplishment marks the third time in five years that an OU playwright has been selected as a national finalist. (Ryan Dowler, currently a 2nd year MFA, won the award shortly before joing the program; including Dowler, OU playwrights have been at the top of this list four out of the last five years running.)

3/16/09:
3rd Year MFA Writing Wins at National Tournament:
Third Year MFA G. William Zorn's reader's theatre scripts THE GREAT AMERICAN FREAK SHOW and MAKE VOYEURS OF US ALL took first and second place, respectively, for the Ohio University Forensics Team at the 2009 Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament. Fifty colleges and universities from around the U.S. contributed entries to the tournament, hosted by Louisiana State University. The works were commissioned by OU's Director of Forensics, Dan West. In addition to writing the works, Zorn also directed.

3/15/09:
3rd Year MFA Is Twice Named National Runner Up:
Third year MFA playwright Reginald Edmund has been named first runner up for both the 2009 Lorraine Hansberry Award and the 2009 Rosa Parks Playwriting Award for his play "Southbridge". Reggie will be honored at the National Kennedy Center ACTF Festival in April for his achievements.

3/10/09:
3rd Will Be Doctoral Candidate at WMU:
Third year MFA G. William Zorn was accepted as a doctoral candidate at Western Michigan University, beginning in the fall of 2009. He will be studying Creative Writing with an emphasis in Playwriting.

2/15/09:
MFA Plays to be Published in Lit Mag:
"Touch The Pillow" by Kara Dunn, 3rd year MFA, and "Mammals" by 2nd year MFA Ryan Dowler will be published in the Third Coast Magazine in the fall of 2009. "Third Coast is one of the nation’s premier literary magazines—and one of only a handful of nationally distributed literary magazines by graduate students. Third Coast consistently publishes excellent, and often award-winning, fiction, poetry, non-fiction and drama."http://www.thirdcoastmagazine.com/.

1/16/09:
First Year MFA in Residence:
First year MFA playwright Jason Hall was selected to be Playwright-in-Residence for the third annual 24 Hour Play Festival at Marietta College. Jason mentored six collegiate writers who crafted one-act plays inspired by articles found in the syndicated column "News of the Weird"; the plays were given workshop productions and performed the following evening.

1/12/09
OU MFAs Winners at KC/ACTF:
Third year MFA playwright Dana Formby has been selected as co-winner of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region 3 ten minute play festival. Her play Armed with Peanut Butter will now be one of sixteen considered for inclusion at the national festival in Washington DC, in contention for the national ten minute play award. Cecilia Copeland's and Reina Hardy's one act plays were selected as first runner up and honorable mention in the one act play competition.

1/10/09
MFA Alum Update: Jacqmin
2007 alum Laura Jacqmin's play AND WHEN WE AWOKE THERE WAS LIGHT AND LIGHT has been selected as a winner of Aurora Theatre Company's 2009 Global Age Project, along with plays by Joel Drake Johnson, Wendy MacLeod, and Dan Hoyle; a reading is scheduled for February 23. Additionally, her play SPACE wil be published in 24 by 24: The 24 Hour Plays Anthology (Playscripts, Inc.) along with plays by Adam Bock, John Clancy, Mike Doughty, Will Eno, David Ives, Warren Leight, David Lindsay-Abaire, Terrence McNally, Elizabeth Meriwether, Mac Rogers, Lucy Thurber, and Stephen Winter. Her play 10 VIRGINS will be published by Playscripts, Inc. later this year, and both MENUS and PARKERSBURG are slated to be published by Smith & Kraus in the coming year.

1/8/09
Three OU MFA Playwrights at KC/ACTF in Saginaw:
MFA playwrights Dana Formby, Cecilia Copeland, and Reina Hardy are each at the Region 3 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Saginaw, Michigan this week. Cecilia and Reina each had one act plays selected as two of the top six submitted in the region (comprised of Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin), and Dana's ten minute play "Armed With Peanut Butter" is one of the top six selected for the 10-minute festival there. In the last four years, Ohio Univsersity has had more new plays invited to the regional festival than any other, and more top finishes, including two OU scripts (by Jacqmin & Zorn) tied for first place in the 10-minute competition last year. Additionally, Nick Knittel, a student in Dana Formby's beginning playwriting class, was also invited to have the one act he wrote under her tutelage read at the festival, making it so that 50% of the one acts at the festival this year come from OU writers.

1/4/09
MFA Alum's Play at Actor's Theater of Louisville:
2B (Or Not 2B), by 2003 MFA playwriting alum Jacquelyn Reingold, will be featured as part of a bill of one acts at Actor's Theater of Louisville later this month. From the ATL web site: "[Matchgames is] an evening of short plays about one of the most enduring obsessions: affairs of the heart. Whether love is found, lost, botched or misunderstood, this seductive and funny collection of plays explores the tempestuous territory of attraction. The MATCH GAMES playlist is: Controlling Interest by Wayne S. Rawley, Sure Thing by David Ives, So Tell Me About This Guy by D.W. Gregory, Surprise by Mark Harvey Levine, The Processional by Robert D. Kemnitz and Jennifer McMaster, Mr. and Mrs. by Julie Marie Myatt, 2B (Or Not 2B) by Jacquelyn Reingold, The Blue Room by Courtney Baron, Eros Is Sore Spelled Backwards by Martin Russell, and Après Opéra by Michael Bigelow Dixon and Valerie Smith." Reingold is currently on the writing staff of HBO's In Treatment with Gabriel Byrne. For more information on the production, see the ATL web site at: http://www.actorstheatre.org/play_match.htm.

12/15/08
Formby Working with Local 75:
Local 75, a playwriting workshop based in Chicago, has selected 3rd year MFA Dana Lynn Formby to participate in a year-long project developing her new play "Inherit the Whole". From their web site: "Local 75 is about developing working class writers. It is about developing working class stories for the theater. It is about developing a working class audience. Inspired by union’s support of workers, LOCAL 75 is a playwriting workshop for artistic tradesmen and tradeswomen to develop their craft." See Dana's interview and more about Local 75: http://local75.wordpress.com/dana-lynn-formbys-deal/

12/9/08
Jacqmin Named P73 Finalist:
Recent alum Laura Jacqmin, winner of the 2008 Wasserstein Award, has been named a finalist for the P73 playwriting program in New York. (See post from 10/22 below for more info on P73.)

12/2/08
Schneider to Present at MATC:
2nd year MFA playwright Garret Scneider has been invited to present his paper exploring "Midnight Madness", the weekly OU MFA playwriting production, at the Mid American Theater Conference this coming March in Chicago.

12/1/08
Ramsey play at Stuart's Opera House:
Playwriting professor Erik Ramsey's play Smith Unearthed will be featured as a staged reading produced by Brick Monkey Theater Ensemble at Stuart's Opera House, 8 p.m. Friday, December 5th. Admission is free. For more information, visit: http://www.stuartsoperahouse.org/index.php?item=314 or http://www.athensohio.com/events/index.php?page=14&item=2916.

11/24/08:
3rd year MFA Play at Victory Gardens:
Dana Formby's play "Inherit the Whole" received a staged reading at the Tony Award-Winning Victory Gardens Theater today. The play was featured as a lab production last May as part of the Seabury Quinn MFA Playwright's Festival here at OU.

11/11/08
Seabury Quinn, Jr. Has Passed:
We sadly note the passing of Seabury Quinn, Jr., the original playwriting professor who taught in the OU MFA playwriting program for decades until his retirement in the early 1990's. Seabury died on Saturday. He will be fondly remembered for his acerbic wit in responding to new plays, especially in recent years -- no matter how ill he had become, he always found a way to visit the new play festival named in his honor and generously give his opinion on the work at hand. Many will fondly remember his laugh, which was often just a single, expolsive "Hah!"

11/10/08
Ramsey play at Frostic Reading Series:
Playwriting professor Erik Ramsey's play Smith Unearthed will be featured as part of the Frostic Reading Series at Western Michigan University, 8 p.m. Thursday, November 13th. For more information and a feature article on the play, visit: http://www.mlive.com/kalamazoo/stories/index.ssf?/base/features-4/12262080609711.xml&coll=7&thispage=1#continue.

11/8/08
MFA Alum's Play at Side Project:
2007 MFA graduate Laura Jacqmin's play "Space" will be featured as part of The Side Project's "Cut to the Quick -- A Festival of Short Works" in Chicago starting November 16. For more information, visit: http://www.theatreinchicago.com/news.php?articleID=429.

10/25/08
Current MFA's Play to Be Produced:
Current MFA Playwriting student Cecilia Copeland's full length play Courting has won a spot in the Stage Left Productions season. Courting will have its professional debut at the Cedar Rapids, Iowa theater where last summer's floods all but destroyed SLP's production space. The play was originally developed in the Writers Workshop at University of Iowa under the direction of guest artist Lisa D'Amour. Cecilia plans to be in Cedar Rapids in July for the opening of the show and possibly the early part of the summer to take part in the rehearsal process.

10/22/08
Two MFA Alums Semi-Finalists, Page 73:
2007 MFA alumni Merri Biechler and Laura Jacqmin have been named as two of eighteen semi-finalists for the Page 73 playwriting fellowships. They were selected out of more than 200 submissions. From the p73 web site: "Page 73 provides artistic and financial resources to one emerging playwright as he or she develops a new play that has not received substantial prior development support. For his/her fellowship year, the P73 Playwriting Fellow receives a cash stipend in the amount of $5,000 and development support in the amount of $10,000." http://www.p73.org/programs/p73-playwriting-fellowship/

10/2/08
1st year MFA Production:
Current MFA Playwriting student Reina Hardy's full-length play, "Erratica," will have its professional premiere at Capital Stage Theatre in Sacramento on July 17th, 2009. Capital Stage, which has been called the city's "Best Professional Theatre," selected "Erratica" for a full production when it appeared as part of the inaugural Playwrights Revolution Festival in June 2008. The production and the festival are sponsored by a grant from the James Irvine foundation. Hardy will spend the rehearsal period in Sacramento working on the play, which will run through August 16th, 2009. Capital stage website: http://capitalstagecompany.com.

9/28/08
MFA Alum News Digest: Biechler
Recently, 2007 MFA playwriting alum Merri Biechler taught at the New South Young Playwrights Festival in Atlanta. She participated in the 2008 WordBRIDGE Playwrights' Lab at Clemson University this past June. Her play for Young Audiences "Dolley Madison and the Secret History Club", which was commissioned by the White House Historical Association, received a workshop at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Her play "Occupation" was a finalist in Perishable Theatre's 14th Annual International Women's Playwriting Festival. Her play "Bombs, Babes and Bingo" is currently a semi-finalist in the 2009 P73 Playwriting Fellowship. Biechler's "Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver", which was originally written while she was an MFA student, continues to gain momentum: in addition to the more than $35,000 the play has received in grant funding over the past two years, it continues to be performed and developed as a teaching tool for medical students and professionals. On October 17 it will be performed for the American Cancer Society Board of Trustees and for the Consortium of Geriatric Academic Programs. In part due to her efforts with this play and additional professional consulting for playwrights on similar projects, Biechler has become a leading expert on theater as a pedagogical tool for medical and social welfare issues.

9/20/08
MFA Alum News Digest: Jacqmin
2007 MFA Alum Laura Jaqmin's AND WHEN WE AWOKE THERE WAS LIGHT AND LIGHT (a commission from Victory Gardens Theater and the script that earned her the 2008 Wasserstein Prize) will be the first play featured in Northlight Theatre’s 2008-2009 Interplay Reading Series. The play will also be read at Second Stage Theatre in New York this November. SKI DUBAI was produced at Center Stage NY this summer by her company, At Play Productions. With the other three writers in the company, Laura helped write WORK (four intercut monologues about bizarre jobs, including a lobster killer and a citrus dyer) that will be produced in Ars Nova’s A.N.T. Fest this November. ALBERTA/EINSTEIN was read in Steppenwolf’s First Look Repertory in August. PLUTO WAS A PLANET was produced this summer at Around the Coyote in Chicago. SPACE will be produced in the side project’s CUT TO THE QUICK festival of one-acts later this fall, and is set to be published by Playscripts, Inc., in 2009. 10 VIRGINS will be published by Playscripts, Inc. in 2009. Two other ten-minutes, PARKERSBURG (which was produced in Sketchbook 8 at the Steppenwolf Garage this summer, and which will be produced in Estrogenius at manhattan theatre source this fall) and MENUS (which was produced by At Play Productions at the Atlantic Theater this spring) will be published in a forthcoming volume by Smith & Kraus. Jacqmin is now an adjunct faculty member at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI, where she teaches playwriting.

9/1/08
MFA Alum News Digest: Reingold at EST & HBO
Jackie Reingold's one-act A VERY VERY SHORT PLAY was produced in the Ensemble Studio Theatre Marathon 2008, and will be published by Smith & Kraus. Another one-act, 2B (OR NOT 2B), will be in MATCH GAMES, short plays about romance, produced at Actors Theatre of Louisville in 2009. Jackie is now on the writing staff for HBO's IN TREATMENT, starring Gabriel Byrne.

8/20/08
Summer News & Notes:
Soon to be a 3rd year MFA playwright at Ohio University's MFA Playwriting Program, Reginald Edmund was invited to participate in the Kennedy Center's Summer Playwriting Intensive where he worked closely with nationally known playwrights such as Marsha Norman. Reggie was also selected for the inaugural Kennedy Center fellowship for the Soul Mountain Retreat for Writers of Color. Dana Formby was on a professional literary internship at the Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, and Bill Zorn was also on a professional literary internship in Chicago at Bailiwick Theater.

MFA Playwriting Program News and Notes (2007-08):

5/5/08
The 2008 MFA Festival Schedule:
The 2008 MFA Playwriting Festival Schedule has been announced: for full details click here. To see the bios of the nationally known guest artists in residence as respondents to the festival this year, click here.

5/2/08
Madness Productions Featured:
Playwrights' Production Class, affectionately known as "Midnight Madness", has been featured again on the web, this time in the ezine Speakeasy. To read their article and coverage, click here.

4/17/08
Recent Graduate Awarded Wasserstein Prize: Laura Jacqmin, a 2007 graduate of the OU MFA Playwriting Program, has been awarded the second annual Wasserstein Prize for her play And When We Awoke There Was Light and Light.  The prize includes a $25,000 honorarium. For more information, see the Playbill article: click here.

4/10/08
Recent Grad's Play in San Francisco:
Mark Witteveen's The American Bar is at Stage Werx in San Francisco from April 3rd to the 26th. For more info: visit sfgate.com here, or the Stage Werx web site here.

3/20/08
Recent Graduate's Play at Atlantic Theater:
Laura Jacqmin's ten-minute play, Space, premiered at the Atlantic Theater in New York on March 17th in a co-production between The 24 Hour Play Company and At Play Productions (as a benefit for Working Playground), starring Zoe Perry, Sarah Bisman, and Jessica Walter (a.k.a. Lucille Bluth, from "Arrested Development". See photo at right).

3/19/08
Recent Grad Teaches Workshop with Former Poet Laureate:
Merri Biechler taught her "Character Voice" workshop at the 10th Annual Douglas Anderson Writers' Festival in Jacksonville, FL on March 15, 2008.  Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins spoke about his writing process, and "People Magazine" journalist Anne Driscoll discussed the interview process.

3/19/08
OU Alums' Vampire Cowboys in the New York Times:
Vampire Cowboys, a product of OU MFA alums Qui Nguyen and Robert Ross Parker, have produced a new show reviewed in the NYT: click here.
 
3/7/08
Recent Graduate's Play a National Finalist for KC/ACTF:
Laura Jacqmin's 10-minute play Parkersburg has been selected as one of the top five 10-minute plays in the nation and will be featured on the Kennedy Center stage in Washington D.C. on April 18th.

3/4/08
1st Year's National Kennedy Center Award Winning Play On Tour:
Ryan Dowler's play Mammals, which won the Kennedy Center's National 10-minute Play Contest and was featured at the Kennedy Center last year, has been on tour around the country (co-sponsored by the Northwest Playwrights Alliance and Western Washington University). The slate of productions began in early January and will culminate in March with a production in Chacombe, England (about an hour and half northeast of London).  Northwest Playwrights Alliance also featured Mammals as an informal reading on December 8, 2007, in Tacoma, WA, as part of NPA's monthly reading series, and plans to publish the play in the third edition of their anthology of ten-minute plays, "NorthNorthwest," co-produced by NPA and Western Washington University.

3/3/08
2nd Year MFA Play at ATHE:
Kara Dunn's short play, The Risque Root has been selected to receive a staged reading at the Association for Theater in Higher Education conference in Denver, Colorado this coming July.

2/29/08
2nd Year MFA Plays at MATC in Kansas City: Kara Dunn's ten-minute, The Risque Root, and Reginald Edmund's Goldielocks received staged readings at the Mid-America Theater Conference in Kansas City.

2/19/08
2nd Year MFA Play in Evanston:
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in Evanston, IL will perform a staged reading of Reginald Edmund's  Juneteenth Street on Saturday,  March 8th. From the press release: "Starting March 8, FJT invites you to join us for our series of theatrical readings by professional Evanston and Chicago playwrights every second Saturday of the month.All performances will take place at the Evanston Public Library, 1703 Orrington Avenue, at 3:00 p.m."

2/11/08
Recent Alum's Award Winning Play In Production:
Laura Jacqmin's "Parkersburg", winner of the Kennedy Center Region III 10-minute play competition,  will be produced in Collaboraction's Sketchbook 8 this May 15-June 15 in the Steppenwolf Garage; and her play "Released"  will be produced in Culture Project's Women Center Stage Festival in NYC this April.

2/10/08
Recent Alum's Third Year Play at Alliance Theater in Atlanta:
Recent alum Merri Biechler's "Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver" received a workshop reading at the Alliance Theater as part of its award for the Kendeda Playwriting Competition. The play, about a woman dealing with the death of both her parents from cancer, has earned more than $30,000 in grants from the Ohio University School of Osteopathic Medicine as well as from the American Cancer Society and other charitable foundations.

2/9/08
3rd Year's MFA Play in NYC:
Third year MFA playwright Joseph Gallo's play "Warning: Adult Content" will be produced by Shetler Studios TDG in association with the Bridge Theatre Company at THEATRE 54, 244 W. 54th Street (between B'way & 8th Ave.) from February 19th through March 9th. For more information visit the Theatermania web site: http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/140878

2/4/08
Two OU MFAs Win at Kennedy Center ACTF III in Milwaukee:
Recent alum Laura Jacqmin and Bill Zorn, 2nd year MFA, finished in the top two slots taking first and second place at the ACTF Region III festival in Milwaukee. Both plays are now in consideration for the Kennedy Center ACTF National 10-Minute Play Award and could be invited for showcasing at the national festival in Washington DC this coming April.

1/29/08
2nd Year Play in NYC:
2nd year playwright Dana Lynn Formby's Armed with Peanut Butter was selected to be part of The Turnip Theatre Company's 14th annual short play festival in association with the American Globe Theatre of New York City.  The Performance Date is April 19th.

1/4/08
Three OU MFAs Finalists at Kennedy Center ACTF III in Milwaukee:
Bill Zorn and Reggie Edmund, both 2nd year MFAs, and recent alum Laura Jacqmin have each finished in the top six 10-minute plays for the Kennedy Center's American College Theater Festival, to be held in Milwaukee next week. All three will be on hand in Milwaukee to workshop and present their plays. OU has a very strong track record with ACTF awards -- this is the second time in three years that three out of six finalists are OU students. (Note: though faculty member Erik Ramsey is affiliated with ACTF, the plays are judged by outside auditors.) The top six 10-minute plays are selected out of numerous submissions from Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana.

12/10/08
Three OU MFAs Commissioned by OU School of Nursing:
Nick Sgouros, G. William. Zorn, and Dana Formby were each commissioned for $1000 by Ohio University's School of Nursing to write one act plays about living with type II diabetes in Appalachia.   The scripts will be part of a program for Appalachian communities to raise awareness about the  complications of type II diabetes.

11/8/07
Three Recent OU Playwriting Alums at Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens:
In a press release dated Tuesday, Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago has announced that Aaron Carter (MFA 2005), Laura Jacqmin (MFA 2007) and Merri Biechler (MFA 2007) will all be an integral part of that theater's future through commissions and professional workshops with an eye toward producing them in coming seasons. From the press release: "Aaron Carter and Laura Jacqmin are each receiving commissions to develop new plays for consideration by Victory Gardens. Additionally, playwright Merri Biechler will see her new play Real Girls Can't Win!  -- a comedy with an all-female cast examining technology, body image and popularity at an unnamed college -- receive a professional workshop at Victory Gardens this December, culminating in a staged reading that will be free and open to the public.  These commissions and workshop are part of Victory Gardens' New Audiences for New Plays initiative, funded by a Wallace Foundation Excellence Award." You can also read more about it at the Chicago Tribune web site -- click here.) For more information on Merri Biechler, Aaron Carter or Laura Jacqmin, visit the alumni page of this web site.

11/1/07
Recent MFA Alum a Finalist for Clubbed Thumb's $15,000 Commission:
OU MFA Playwriting alum Merri Biechler (MFA 2007) is one of six finalists for Clubbed Thumb theater's prestigious playwriting commission. Clubbed Thumb commissions, develops, and produces funny, strange, and provocative new plays. Since its founding in 1996, the company has earned three Obies and presented plays in every form of development, including over 60 full productions. http://www.clubbedthumb.org/

10/25/07
2006 MFA Playwright Alum Mark Witteveen Featured In Short Play Festival:
Quoting from a prominent write-up in the Nantucket Independent: "Beginning Thursday, October 25, Nantucket Theatrical Production will present the series "Lessons Learned," three one-act plays from the 2007 Nationwide Short Play Festival and Competition. The plays being performed this year are "Leddy's Chair" written by Don Cook of Charlotte, N.C., "Drivers Test" written by Mark Witteveen [OU MFA '06] of Rochester, N.Y., and "Afterwards" written by John Zygmunt of Lake Elmo, Minn."  To read the whole article click here.

10/19/07
MFA Alum's Next Episode of Law and Order: CI 
2004 MFA Alum Jackie Reingold wrote the upcoming  episode of Law and Order Criminal Intent, directed by Constantine Makris, with actors Eric Bogosian, Amanda Detmer, Lola Glaudini, Alex Moggridge, Chris Noth, Josh Pais, Thomas Sadoski, and Alicia Witt. See it Thursday, October 25th at 10:00 PM on USA. 

10/5/07
Recent Alum Nominated for an Emmy:
Christopher De Paola (MFA '06) has been nominated for an Emmy Award for his role on WCIU-TV's show "Green Screen Adventures."  The official  category is: "outstanding achievement for individual excellence on camera: programming - performer". Christopher is also a head writer on the Chicago-based show. The Emmy Award winners will be announced at a ceremony in November.

10/4/07
Recent Alum to Workshop Thesis Play at Victory Gardens:
2007 MFA alum Merri Biechler has been invited to workshop her thesis play, Real Girls Can't Win!, at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago this coming winter.

10/3/07
2003 Alum a 2007-08 Dramatist Guild Fellow:
Justin Boyd (MFA 2003) has been named a 2007-2008 Dramatists Guild Fellow. The program brings playwrights and bookwriters/lyricists/composers together in a workshop and provides mentoring and observership opportunities with theater professionals around New York.

10/2/07
MFA Alum Pens Article for American Theater Magazine:
Justin Boyd’s (MFA 2003) article on the director Anne Kauffman appears in the October 2007 issue of American Theater magazine. Justin is currently an Affiliated Writer with American Theater through the support of the Jerome Foundation.

9/21/07
MFA Alum Co-Produces New NBC Series: "Chuck"
Anne Cofell Saunders (MFA 2000), previously a writer for the critically acclaimed and Emmy-winning Battlestar Gallactica, is now a co-producer of the new NBC television series Chuck. The show is an action/comedy about a nerd who works at a big-box computer store by day, but is a secret-agent by night. It premieres Monday, September 24th at 8:00 pm, 7:00 Central. 

9/19/07
Current MFA and MFA Alum Both at Shades of Black:
Current MFA playwright Reginald Edmund, and 2005 MFA alum Aaron Carter both had plays included in the 2007 Shades of Black Theater Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee on September 13th: Aaron Carter's Panther Burn and Reginald Edmund's Goldielock and the Three Bears.

9/10/07
Recent MFA Alum Named Lit Manager of Tony Award-Winning Victory Gardens:
Beginning September 10th, 2007, Aaron Carter (MFA '05) has been appointed as the new literary manager for Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago. (See Carter's bio on the "alumni page" by clicking the link in the green column to the left.) For the complete story visit: http://www.playbill.com/news/article/110994.html

SUMMER 2007 NOTES:

8/30/07
1st Year MFA Play in New Jersey this past June:
Kara Dunn's ten-minute "Seven Questions" was selected for a reading at River Union Stage.

8/29/07
3rd Year MFA Dance/Theater Piece & Summer Productions
Third year MFA Joseph Gallo wrote the text for 80% of Love a dance/theater piece that debuted at the Obie award-winning Ice Factory Festival at the Ohio Theatre in New York, prompting nytheatre.com to write, "...this dance soap opera/symbolist dream play boasts a virtuosity seldom seen."  In June, a workshop of Gallo's new play - Warning:  Adult Content - was produced by Circus Theatricals at the Hayworth Theatre in Los Angeles.  Also on the boards this summer - Ya Gotta Believe! - seen in Mile Square Theatre's Seventh Inning Stretch Ten Minute Play Festival.

8/25/07
MFA Alum's OU Play at JAW
2004 MFA Playwriting alum Jacquelyn Reingold's A STORY ABOUT A GIRL (initially developed at OU) had a workshop this summer in the JAW Festival at Portland Center Stage in Portland, Oregon. Jackie has also started her second year writing for Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Her next episode will air in November.

8/21/07
News Coverage of Recent Alum's Continuing Project With Medical Schools:
2007 MFA grad Merri Biechler's play Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver continues to gather research money, has become a teaching tool for medical schools, and is moving toward even greater community outreach. The play has been developed with the support of  the OU School of Osteopathic Medicine and ongoing grants funded by the American Cancer Society, among others. See the article for more information at: http://www.ohio.edu/outlook/06-07/August/800n-067.cfm

8/20/07
Recent MFA Alum Commissioned by Kennedy Center:
Merri Biechler (MFA '07) has been commissioned by the Kennedy Center and the White House Historical Association to write a new play for young audiences.  The play explores Dolley Madison's rescue of the George Washington painting from the White House before British troops burned the building to the ground in 1814.

8/18/07
Recent MFA Alum at Steppenwolf:
Laura Jacqmin's (MFA '07) play The Revisionists received a staged reading at Steppenwolf theater in Chicago as part of their First Look Rep series. The play was originally developed in the OU MFA playwrights' workshop.

7/22/07
Chicago Dramatists' Many Voices Project:
OU Playwrights Christopher De Paola (MFA '06) and Aaron Carter (MFA '05) were both selected as finalists for Chicago Dramatists' 2007 Many Voices Project. The Many Voices Project is Chicago's only playwriting contest and readings festival that embraces all playwrights of color.  Carter's "Evening News" and De Paola's "Recovered" will be read on July 21st at Chicago Dramatists.

7/16/07
'03 MFA Alum in American Theater Magazine:
Justin Boyd (MFA 2003) has been named a 2007-2008 Affiliated Writer with American Theater magazine. He will receive a $3,000 fellowship to write 3-4 articles between July 2007 and July 2008.

MFA Playwriting Program News and Notes (2006-07):
NOTE: The 2007 festival was a great success and capped off a very fruitful and exciting school year. Scroll down through the news and notes below to see just a few of the 2005-2007 highlights, including the nearly $60,000 MFA playwrights have earned in grants funding for their new plays, as well as major productions and other developments.

6/1/07
2nd-year Play Reading at Knightsbridge in L.A.:
Nick Sgouros' 2007 festival play, School by the Sea, will have a staged reading on Sunday June 24th at the Knightsbridge Theatre in Los Angeles. www.knightsbridgetheatre.com

5/30/07
3rd-year Plays at Clubbed Thumb and Guerilla Cabaret:
Laura Jacqmin's  one-minute play "Ohio" will be produced in Clubbed Thumb's "A Pageant of the 50 States (and more)" this Wednesday, May 30, at the Ohio Theatre in NYC as a prelude to their Summerworks Festival.  In addition, her new ten-minute play "Advisor", will be also be produced in NYC this June by Guerilla Cabaret at Collective: Unconscious, dir. Pirrone Yousefzadeh. See guerillacabaret.com for more info and tickets.

5/24-26/07
Seabury Quinn Jr MFA Playwrights' Festival!

5/24/07
3rd-year MFA Play Wins Another Major Award and Earns More Grant Money:
In addition to being a Kendeda Finalist with readings in New York and Atlanta, and an participant in the upcoming WordBRIDGE Playwrights Lab, Merri Biechler's play Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver has been named the winner of the 2007 Jane Chambers Student Playwriting Award.  It will have a reading at the annual conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education this July in New Orleans. 

Also, Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver Palliative Educational Program has just this week been named as the recipient of an Ohio University Research and Scholarly Affairs Committee grant in the amount of $6,500.  This grant will be used to develop the play as part of an educational program to teach end-of-life and caregiving issues to medical students.  (With this grant OU MFA Playwrights have now pulled in nearly $60,000 in funds to support and develop their new plays in the last two years alone.)

5/17/07
2004 MFA Alum Pens Season Finale of Law and Order: Criminal Intent
Jacquelyn Reingold's final episode of the season will air will air Monday, May 21 and Tuesday, May 22, at 9PM on NBC. (Directed by Norberto Barba, the actors include: Eric Bogosian, Erik Jensen, Leslie Lyles, Julianne Nicholson, Chris Noth, Brooke Tansley, Alec Von Bargen, Kelli Williams, and a bunch more.)

5/16/07
Festival Studio Production Opens:
The studio production of 3rd-year MFA Merri Biechler's Real Girls Can't Win opens this week. It runs from May 16-18  this week, as well as May 24-26 next week during the official festival. The show begins at 8:00 pm in the Hahne Theater at Kantner Hall. Tickets are $7.00.

5/14/07
3rd-year MFA Invited to "The 24 Hour Plays: Old Vic New Voices":
3rd-year Laura Jacqmin has been selected to participate in The 24 Hour Plays: Old Vic New Voices at the Atlantic Theater in New York this year. Here is a description of the program from their submission materials: "The 24 Hour Plays: Old Vic New Voices involves workshops with seasoned theater practitioners, an additional workshop with Kevin Spacey, and a chance to produce The 24 Hour Plays with their peers.  Due to Kevin's involvement in Moon for the Misbegotten in New York, we have rapidly moved up our schedule for the inaugural New York version to this Spring and Summer, with a July 2 performance at the Atlantic Theater, one of Off Broadway's most celebrated stages."

5/11/07
2nd-year MFA Earns SEA Grant Money:
2nd-year playwright Joseph Gallo as been awarded the SEA grant for 2007-08 in the amount of  $5,500. This brings the total grant money earned by OU MFA playwrights, in support of writing and developing their new plays, to over $52,000 since 2005.

5/4/07
1st-year MFA at Karamu House Theatre's ArenaFest:
1st-year MFA Reggie Edmund's play Redemption of Allah Black will be given two staged readings at Karamu Theater in Cleveland. The first reading is on Wednesday, May 16th at 6pm and the second on Tuesday, May 22nd at 6pm at the Karamu House Theatre's ArenaFest.

4/29/07
3rd-year MFA to Attend WordBRIDGE Playwright's Lab:
Merri Biechler's play, Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver, has been invited as one of only four MFA plays nationally to be workshopped at WordBRIDGE play lab this summer, June 9th-24th. Originally conceived by founders Rich Rice of Eckerd College, and David Kranes, founder of the Sundance Playwriting Lab, WordBRIDGE is now hosted by Clemson University in conjunction with Generous Theater Company. (Erik Ramsey, Asst Professor in the OU MFA Playwriting Program, is a three-time alum of WordBRIDGE and returns this year to work as a "dramatic engineer" on two invited plays.) For more about WordBRIDGE visit their web site: wordbridge.org

4/27/07
3rd-year MFA Produced in the Mainstage Season at OU School of Theater:
Laura Jacqmin's thesis play Happyslap opened on the Baker Mainstage on friday night. It runs through Saturday, May 5th. For tickets or information call 740.593.4800. For an article discussing the timely issues the play addresses, visit the Athens News web site: Click Here.

4/24/07
Recent Alum at Victory Gardens and Collaboraction:
Recent alum Christopher De Paola is currently understudying the role of Manny in the Victory Gardens' world premiere production of "Cynical Weathers" by Douglas Post.  He will be performing the role on May 8th.  Chris has also been recently cast in the play "Autobiography" as part of Sketchbook, the 7th annual festival of short plays produced by Collaboraction and performed at the Steppenwolf Garage. Sketchbook 7 will run May 31 to July 1st.  (To see Chris's recent writing accolades, scroll down a little to his latest commission and his TV show.)

4/11/07
3rd-year MFA Published:
Two monologues from 3rd-year Laura Jacqmin's short story West of the Moon are being published in the forthcoming Smith & Kraus anthology titled 221 ONE-MINUTE MONOLOGUES FROM LITERATURE (pub. date Autumn 2007). The titles of
the monologues are "Down There" and "Pack Job."

4/2/07
Recent Alum Commissioned:
Pearson Scott Foresman, the world's leading elementary educational publisher, has commissioned 2006 MFA Christopher De Paola to write a play for 6th graders to be published in their new reading anthology. (See his recent work with children's television programming below.)

3/31/07
Recent Alum Creates TV Show in Chicago (part 2):
Recent MFA alum Chris DePaola's "Green Screen Adventures", a children's TV show, will air in Chicago on Saturday March 31 at 7 a.m. on WCIU. The concept of the show is that actors and writers take stories written by elementary school students and adapt those stories for TV. Children can see their work come to life on TV and get excited about writing and drawing. The target audience is 1st-4th grade.  Chris serves as a writer and performer. To see a clip, visit:
http://www.wciu.com/video/featured_video.aspx?VideoName=greenscreen.flv

3/28/07
1st-year MFA Earns Staged Readings at Houston Theaters:
1st-year playwright Reginald Edmund's play The Redemption of Allah Black will be read at the Country Playhouse New Play Reading Series on April 8th and his play Juneteenth Street will have a staged reading at Ensemble Theater in Houston on April 11th.

3/28/07
3rd-year MFA to be Produced by Side Project in Chicago:
3rd-year MFA Laura Jacqmin's BUTT NEKKID will be produced by The Side Project in Chicago in the 2007-2008 season. Dates have yet to be announced.

3/22/07
MFA Alum Joins "Brooklyn Rail" as Theater Editor:
Justin Boyd (MFA 2003) has joined The Brooklyn Rail as co-editor of its Theater section. The March issue includes an article that quotes OU MFAs Qui Nguyen and Robert Ross Parker talking about Vampire Cowboys' latest production Men of Steel. www.brooklynrail.org/2007-03/theater

3/15/07
3rd-year MFA to be Produced by Chicago Dramatists:
Each year Chicago Dramatists chooses three of its member plays to be professionally produced. The new season has just been announced and 10 VIRGINS by C.D. Resident Playwright Laura Jacqmin (3rd-yr OU MFA) has been chosen as one of the three. Directed by Russ Tutterow, April 24 - June 1, 2008.

3/10/07
2nd-year MFA's Upcoming Productions:
Joseph Gallo's Warning: Adult Content has been selected for production at the Lark Theater in NYC in the Fall of 2007. His baseball play Ya Gotta Believe! has been selected for the 7th Inning Stretch 10-minute play festival produced by Miles Square Theatre in Hoboken, New Jersey, the birthplace of baseball. 

2/20/07
3rd-year MFA a Finalist for Kendeda at Alliance (Atlanta):
Third-year MFA playwright Merri Biechler's play Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver has been chosen as a finalist for the 2007 Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. The play will have a reading in NYC in November in connection with SPF/NYC and she will spend a week in residence in Atlanta in February '08 to do a reading there. The Alliance is committed to getting the Kendeda Finalist plays produced at a variety of regional theatres. Other finalists this year include MFA playwrights from Yale, NYU, and UC-San Diego.

1/27/07
MFA Alum To Be Produced at Major Regional Theater:
2001 Alum Chantal Bilodeau's play, Pleasure & Pain, soon debuts at Magic Theatre in California. From the Magic press release: "December 2006 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA: – Magic Theatre continues its 40th Anniversary Season with HOT HOUSE ’07 featuring the best of the new – three world premiere plays by playwrights from a new generation shaping the future of American Theatre. In its fourth year, HOT HOUSE presents full productions of new plays in rotating repertory by Chantal Bilodeau, Kirsten Greenidge and C. Michèle Kaplan and runs Saturday, February 3 through Sunday, April 1... Our 40th Anniversary Season has been about celebrating Magic’s amazing legacy. HOT HOUSE is where we look to Magic’s future. These bold, new plays by exciting new writers keep us on the leading edge,” says Artistic Director Chris Smith... HOT HOUSE ’07 opens with Pleasure & Pain by Chantal Bilodeau, directed by Associate Artistic Director Jessica Heidt. In this sexy, suspenseful thriller, a Midwestern woman finds herself drawn into impulsive and erotic daydreams. When her fantasies spill over onto the page and into the hands of her boss, Peggy realizes she can't have pleasure without pain. Pleasure & Pain previews Saturday, February 3 through Friday, February 9; Opening Night is Saturday, February 10, with performances in the Sam Shepard Theatre." Visit www.magictheatre.org for more details.

1/21/07
3rd-year MFA Wins Aurora Theatre Company Global Age Project:
3rd-year MFA Laura Jacqmin's play HAPPYSLAP is a winner of Aurora Theatre Company's Global Age Project, a "program to nurture and explore forward-looking visions of global import." The play will be presented as a staged reading in April 2007; Jacqmin will be flown to Berkeley, California for the reading and awarded $1,000. To see more about the Global Age Project: click here 

1/16/07
2nd-year MFA takes 2nd Place in Kennedy Center ACTF III:
2nd-year MFA playwright Joseph Gallo's short play "Star Song" took second place in the Kennedy Center ACTF III festival's short play program this past weekend. Gallo, and playwriting professor Erik Ramsey were in Milwaukee to attend the ACTF III Festival.

1/16/07
Ramsey Nominated for Vice Chair of the Kennedy Center ACTF III NPP:
Pending formal approval by the national executive committee, Erik Ramsey, playwriting professor in the OU MFA program, will assume duties as the Vice Chair of the New Play Programs for the Kennedy Center ACTF III. In addition, and separately from the nomination to Vice Chair, Ramsey was also awarded the Kennedy Center Faculty Fellowship.

1/15/07
2005 Alum Produced in New York:
From Melissa Gawlowski, MFA 2005: "A short play of mine called The Cellar has been selected for performance as part of The Strawberry One-Act Festival in NY.  It's going to be performed on February 16th at 7:30 p.m. at the American Theatre of Actors, at 314 West 54th Street, between 8th and 9th Ave. (second floor).  It's a competition where the audience votes for their favorite play; the winning plays receive prizes and possible publication.  Tickets are on sale now, for those in the area, at www.therianttheatre.com. You can also watch the show online, which is pretty fun.  My show will be screened all day (I think) Feb. 17th.  People's online votes count, as well, towards advancing the play."
 
1/05/07
Recent Alum and a 3rd-year MFA to Read at Chicago Dramatists:
On Saturday, January 6 at 2 PM, Alum Aaron Carter (MFA '05) and 3rd-year MFA Laura Jacqmin will be featured in the 5th Annual Showcase of the New Resident Playwrights at Chicago Dramatists. The showcase will feature a scene from Jacqmin's BUTT NEKKID (dir. Ann Filmer) and Carter's SWAMP BABY (dir. Ilesa Duncan), along with scenes by the other 4 new residents. For more information, see: http://www.chicagodramatists.org/events.

12/30/06
Recent Alum Creates TV Show in Chicago:
Beginning in January  2007, Christopher De Paola (MFA 2006) will be working for the Chicago television station WCIU: Channel 26.  His position will be as a head writer and on-air talent for "Green Screen Adventures," a children's program currently in development.  Look for Chris on four distinct episodes per week set to begin airing in February.

12/27/06
Recent Alum's Episode of "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" to Air 1/02/07:
The latest episode of "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" written by 2004 MFA playwriting alum Jacquelyn Reingold will air on NBC on Tuesday, January 2nd at 9:00 pm EST. The director is Steve Shill. The actors include: Erick Avari, Eric Bogosian, Jason Cerbone, Patti D'Arbanville, Mahira Kakkar, Tony LoBianco, Julianne Nicholson, Chris Noth, Maulik Pancholy, and Meera Simhan. Jackie's first episode aired last October.

12/14/06
Recent Alum in NYC:
2005 MFA Alum Aaron Carter's play Swamp Baby will be read in February at the Soho Think Tank, 6th floor reading series: http://www.sohothinktank.org/sixthfloor.html. Carter's If Condition (his thesis play at OU) will be produced as part of the Manhattan Rep's Winterfest 2007 in March.

12/6/06
2nd-year MFA Makes Region III Finals of KC/ACTF:
2nd-year MFA Joseph Gallo's short play Star Song was recently selected as one of six plays to be workshopped at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region III held in Milwaukee at Marquette University this coming January. The winner among the six plays, based on the scripts submitted the last day of the workshop, will go on to be produced at the Kennedy Center in May 2007.

11/27/06
3rd-year MFA at Victory Gardens:
3rd-year MFA Laura Jacqmin's play 10 Virgins was read at Victory Gardens as part of their Readers Theater; directed by Zack Zulauf.

11/16/06
Recent Alum at Victory Gardens:
2006 Alum Christopher De Paola's thesis play Streets Come Knocking was given a reading at Victory Gardens as part of their Readers Theater. Under the guidance of the Literary Manager, Andrea J. Dymond, the Readers Theater program assists playwrights in the development of their work by allowing them to hear their plays read aloud by actors in front of a live audience. This reading of Streets Come Knocking was directed by Eddie Torres, Artistic Director of Teatro Vista Theater Company.

11/14/06
2nd-year MFA Pulls Grant Money:
2nd-year MFA Joseph Gallo has been awarded $1300 by the GSS to travel and research his second-year full length play.

11/12/06
2005 MFA Alum at "Around the Coyote" In Chicago:
Alum Aaron Carter's play First Words will be read at Around The Coyote on November 18th. First Words explores the power that hope exerts on our perception of reality. The influence of hope can allow us to persevere against all odds. It can also blind us to important truths. In First Words, the power of hope can either save or destroy a family raising an autistic child... Around the Coyote is committed to fostering new art in all its forms. This reading series is a platform for playwrights to reach new audiences while workshopping new scripts. The reading series offers playwrights and directors a forum in which to table their script in the hopes of creating a stronger play. Directed by Zach Zulauf. Nov. 18th, 2006 at 7pm at the Around the Coyote Gallery. $5 suggested donation.

11/12/06
MFA Program in Chicago:
The OU MFA Playwriting Program traveled as a group to Chicago for the weekend to see Program Head Charles Smith's play Denmark at the Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Theatre and also 2005 MFA Alum Aaron Carter's play produced by MPAACT at Victory Gardens Greenhouse. The students also met with VG Artistic Director Dennis Zacek and Sandy Shinner, Associate Artistic Director, for a seminar on the Chicago theatre scene, and what VG is looking for from OU MFAs when they submit scripts.

11/9/06
More Reviews of MFA Alum's Chicago Premiere:
2005 Alum Aaron Carter's play Panther Burn opened recently in Chicago. The Chicago Tribune review can be found here: Click Here. (Note: to log into the Chicago Tribune you'll have to create a free account with them.) A "Time Out:  Chicago" review of the play can be found by Clicking Here. For the Windy City Times review, Click Here. (See his first review by scrolling down to the date: 11/4/06).

11/8/06
3rd-Year MFA Earns More Grant Money:
3rd-year MFA Laura Jacqmin has earned a Fall Quarter Graduate Student Senate Original Work Grant in the amount of $750 to continue research on her thesis play. To date, Jacqmin has pulled in $6,750 in grant money for assistance in writing her play 10 Virgins. (The two 3rd-year MFA students, Jacqmin and Merri Biechler, have together pulled in almost $27,000 in the last year alone to support the research and writing of their thesis plays; and, in the last two years OU playwrights have earned about $45,000 in new play development funding.)

11/6/06
MFA Alum at Drilling Co. & Winning Trustus Theatre Fest Production:
Justin Boyd’s (MFA 2003) short play Crusade will open Nov. 9 in New York City as part of Security 2, a production by the Drilling Co., where OU Acting professor Shelley Delaney is an artistic associate. Also, his play Copy Man recently won the 2007 Trustus Theatre Playwrights’ Festival (Columbia, S.C.), and will be produced there in August 2007. The play was also selected as a semifinalist for the 2006 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, and as a finalist for the Lark Play Development Center’s 2006 Playwrights’ Week.

11/4/06
Review of MFA Alum's Chicago Premiere:
2005 Alum Aaron Carter's play Panther Burn opened recently in Chicago. A short review can be found at the following link in the Chicago Reader: http://www.chicagoreader.com/listings/static/listings.html#91

11/4/06
Review of 3rd-Year MFA's Production at Perishable:
The following link is to a review of 3rd-year MFA Laura Jacqmin's Gotham is Safe Again at Perishable Theatre. Written by Channing Gray (Spalding Gray's brother) in the Providence Journal: click here

11/3/06
MFA Alum Directs New Play at Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia
The Preyer, written by Kareem Rogers and directed by Dwight Wilkins (OU MFA Alum), also features original music by Tim Johnson. The play explores the male psyche and the complexity of male-female relationships.  It features actors Jerald Bennett, Andre Jones, Jack Drummond, Kevin Moore, Terrell Nelson, and actresses Nichelle Nichols, Dionne Stone, Donnie Hammond, Tiffany Barrett, Anjoli Santiago, and Joella Norris. Performance Location: Freedom Theater, 1346 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19121. www.FreedomTheatre.org. Nov. 3rd-5th.

10/30/06
MFA Student Interviewed About Perishable Production:
3rd-year MFA playwright Laura Jacqmin is interviewed about her writing in connection with winning production at Perishable Theatre:
http://rezaritesri.com/blog/?p=88

10/30/06
MFA Playwriting Alum Nominated for Hugo Award:
Playwriting alum Anne Cofell Saunders' television script for an episode of Battlestar Galactica has been nominated for a 2006 Hugo Award. The episode is "Pegasus", first broadcast last season. (Anne is a staff writer and story editor for the series.) The Hugo Award for "Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form" is one of the annual Hugo Award categories presented by members of the World Science Fiction Convention. It is for a dramatic production in any medium of running time 90 minutes or less. To see Anne's television writing bio go to the "alumni" link on the left border of this page.

10/25/06
Production at Perishable:
3rd-year MFA playwright Laura Jacqmin’s GOTHAM IS SAFE AGAIN! will be produced at Perishable Theatre’s 13th Annual Women’s Playwriting Festival, October 26th through the November 5th. Click here for more info: http://www.perishable.org/show.htm

10/25/06
Alum Produced at Drama of Works:
From MFA alum (2005) Melissa Gawlowski: "I've got a ten-minute play going up as part of Drama of Works' Carnival of Samhain.  It's a four-day festival of puppetry... and then there's my non-puppet play.  I'm gonna be so outclassed by the puppets, but that's alright.  I'm really excited about it, because puppets rule in general, and these acts sound especially awesome.  Check out the web site (link's below) and you'll see what I mean.  You can get tickets from the Henry Street Settlement at https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/2015 (or if that link doesn't work, just google Abrons Arts Center)." For more:  http://www.dramaofworks.com/carnival/index.html

10/19/06
Production at Cleveland Public Theatre:
3rd-year MFA playwright Merri Biechler's BRACE FOR IMPACT will be presented
as part of the Cleveland Public Theatre's Not Quite Series opening October 19 and running through  October 22.

10/10/06
MFA Alum's World Premiere:
Aaron Carter's (MFA 2005) play Panther Burn will receive a world premiere on October 27th in Chicago. Produced by MPAACT theater and directed by Andrea J. Dymond, lit manager of Victory Gardens, the play's blurb reads: "In an effort to fan the flames of Revolution, two black radicals kidnap the Governor's daughter and convince the public the crime was committed by white supremacists. When public interest in the kidnapping wanes, a last desperate bid is made to keep the sparks of Revolution alive." The play runs through December 4th at the Victory Gardens theatre.

10/10/06
Play Published:
3rd-year MFA playwright Laura Jacqmin's play LUCKY will be published in a forthcoming anthology from Smith & Kraus, entitled THE BEST 10-MINUTE PLAYS 2006: 2 ACTORS. Estimated release date is spring 2007. The play LUCKY was also the American College Theatre Festival Region III winner at the festival in January of 2006.

10/9/06
MFA Alum Earns Major Productions in English and Spanish:
Chantal Bilodeau's (MFA 2001) most recent play PLEASURE & PAIN will be presented at the Magic Theatre in February 2007 and in a Spanish translation in Mexico City in May 2007.  Both productions come out of development with the Lark theatre in NYC. For more info on the Magic production, go to: www.magictheatre.org. For more info on the Lark development process go to: www.larktheatre.org.

10/5/06
Denmark World Premiere
Program Head, Charles Smith's play Denmark is currently in previews at the Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago. Denmark is the inaugural play to open VG's new production space, the famed Biograph Theater. From VG's web site about the play: " What is our commitment to fulfill our personal hopes and dreams, versus our obligation to a greater public good, at the time when the need for that greater public good is dire? With his distinctive flair, Charles Smith explores these provocative questions in his searing historical drama about freed slave Denmark Vesey, who in 1822, used his new earnings as a carpenter, not to free the woman he loved but to plan an extensive slave uprising in Charleston, South Carolina." The play runs through November 12th.

10/4/06
MFA Alum Pens a "Law and Order: CI" Episode:
Direct from Jackie Reingold (OU MFA 2004): "My first LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT will air on Tuesday, October 10th at 9PM. Actors include: Chris Noth, Julianne Nicholson, Eric Bogosian, Geoffrey Nauffts, Rosalyn Coleman, and Rocco Sisto. It's directed by Jim McKay. Executive Producer, Warren Leight. I had a great time; it was crazy fun. If you see it, hope that comes through. Cheers, Jackie."

10/2/06
Our Weekly Madness Productions Get Press:
A recent article explores Madness from the inside. Please visit the web site below:
http://www.ohio.edu/outlook/06-07/October/58f-067.cfm
(The above link opens in a new window. If you fail to see the page, copy and paste the web address into a new browser window.) You can also find out more about Madness by clicking here: madness details.

9/27/06
Staged Reading:
3rd-year MFA playwright Laura Jacqmin's play BUTT NEKKID will receive a staged reading at The Side Project (Chicago) as part of their HARVEST Festival, Sunday, October 15, 10:30 AM. For more info, see www.thesideproject.net.

9/18/06
OU MFAs in Chicago Dramatists: 
Aaron Carter (OU MFA 2005) and 3rd-year MFA playwright Laura Jacqmin have been selected as "Resident Playwrights" of Chicago Dramatists.  From CD's web site: "Since 1979, Chicago Dramatists, the playwrights' theatre, has devoted all of its resources and programming to its singular mission of developing new plays and nurturing playwrights. Last season alone, Chicago Dramatists' playwrights earned a record number of 624 productions, awards, commissions, readings, and other honors, at large and small theatres in Chicago and around the country." http://www.chicagodramatists.org/

9/6/06
Playwright Wins "Perishable" Competition:
3rd-year MFA playwright Laura Jacqmin’s GOTHAM IS SAFE AGAIN! has been selected as the winner of Perishable Theatre’s 13th Annual Women’s Playwriting Contest. It will be produced at PerishableTheatre, Rhode Island's Research and Development Theatre, in late October of 2006.

MFA Playwriting Program News and Notes (2005-06):
NOTE: The 2006 festival was a great success and capped off a very fruitful and exciting school year. Scroll through the news and notes below to see just a few of the 2005-2006 highlights, including over $45,000 the MFA playwrights scored in grants funding for their new plays, as well as major productions and other developments.

6/5/06
MFA Alum Hired to Write for "Law and Order: Criminal Intent":
Jackie Reingold (OU MFA 2004) has just been hired onto the writing staff of "Law and Order: Criminal Intent".  Jackie was here at OU a week ago for the OU Playwrights' Festival as a guest respondent. Her previous TV credits include NBC’s "Miss Match" starring Alicia Silverstone, and MTV’s "Daria".  Keep track of what Jackie is up to at: www.jacquelynreingold.com

6/3/06
Recent Alum Takes 3rd in Chicago Dramatist's "Many Voices Project":
3rd-year MFA Christopher De Paola's play STREETS COME KNOCKING has been selected as one of twelve finalists for Chicago Dramatist's Many Voices Project. The Many Voices Project is a national competition/search to find new playwrights of color sponsored by Chicago Dramatists and numerous Chicago theater companies.  STREETS COME KNOCKING will be read during a two week festival running in Chicago, July 10th-23rd.  (STREETS was Chris's OU Playwrights'  Festival play this past month receiving a studio production in the Hahne Theater.) UPDATE (8/15/06) Chris' play was selected in third place at the Many Voices Project.

6/3/06
Happyslap at CATF:
2nd-year MFA Laura Jacqmin's HAPPYSLAP will be produced at the Contemporary American Theater Festival as their Actors' Lab Production this summer, directed by Melissa Crespo, the current Allen Lee Hughes Directing Fellow at Arena Stage.
There will be four performances at various odd times and dates starting July 21, free to the public. Ed Herendeen, Artisitic Director of CATF, saw the play at OU's recent playwrights' festival and immediately requested it for his Actors' Lab.

6/3/06
Summer Internships and Research:
1st-year MFA Nick Sgouros will be on internship at 20th Century Fox this summer working on development of late night comedy programming. 1st-year MFA Joseph Gallo will travel to Japan this summer to study Kabuki theatre for an upcoming play he plans to write. 2nd year MFA playwright Laura Jacqmin has been invited to participate in the University Playwrights Workshop at Stanford University this coming summer, to workshop her new play BUTT NEKKID. 2nd-year MFA Merri Biechler will be traveling to numerous nationally recognized medical schools and meeting with specialists this summer using some of the $19,000 in Ohio University grant money she was recently awarded to research and write her new play about end of life and palliative care issues.

5/28/06
MFA Alum in Residence at Grinell:
Aaron Carter (MFA 2005) has been invited to be playwright in residence for a month at Grinnell College in Iowa next April. He'll be teaching a playwriting intensive and Grinnell will be reading and developing his latest new play.

5/25-5/27/2006  
Festival Dates: May 25-27, 2006.