WOUB & OU Media Highlight 3rd Year Thesis Play

Jeremy Sony

When the third-year MFA candidates were pitching their thesis plays last year, there was one word on the front page every day in Athens: fracking. Hydraulic-fracturing, which is a way to extract natural gas from underground deposits, has become an international debate -- but most people outside of the 'frack zones' haven't been exposed to the onslaught of pro- and anti-fracking sentiments. With Athens County and Eastern Ohio sitting atop a large expanse of natural gas, Sony -- like many Athens residents -- decided to research the topic for himself.

From that research, an idea formed that would develop into his thesis play, FRACKTURE, and become the basis for his winning Anthony Trisolini Graduate Fellowship proposal.

Sony sat down with Taylor Evans from Ohio University Research Communications to talk about FRACKTURE, his work, and how a story about fracking was right up his alley.

The story was first published by Research Communications and subsequently picked up and released by WOUB Public Media. You can read the full story at WOUB or you can find the original article on the Ohio University website. The story is currently being highlighted on the Ohio University home page.

Sony's plays have been staged at Luna Theatre, Penobscot Theatre, Curtain Players, The Last Frontier Theatre Conference, and Ohio University. His screenplay, Separation Anxiety, was produced by Glass City Films and he is published by Outskirts Press under the pseudonym Jamie Rotham. He holds a bachelor's degree in Film & Television from the University of Notre Dame and is an associate member of the Dramatists Guild. Sony is the recipient of the 2012-2013 Ohio University Anthony Trisolini Graduate Fellowship and the 2012 Scott McPherson Playwriting Award. You can follow his projects at jeremysony.com.

Eric Coble Takes 'Velocity' to Broadway

Eric Coble

Eric Coble, OU alum, is heading to Broadway in 2013 with his play THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN. Led by director Molly Smith, artistic director of Arena Stage in Washington, DC, the play marks the Broadway debut for the Ohio-based writer. Featuring Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons and two-time Tony winner Stephen Spinella, the 90-minute dramatic comedy bows in Spring 2013.

Read the Playbill.com article for more details.

OU was thrilled to welcome Eric as a guest artistic mentor during the 2012 Seabury Quinn, Jr. Playwrights Festival. His play have been produced Off-Broadway, throughout the U.S., and on several continents, including productions at Manhattan Class Company, The Kennedy Center, Playwrights Horizons, Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival, the Denver Center, New York and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, Alliance Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, South Coast Repertory, Florida Repertory Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Asolo Repertory, Coterie Theatre, Curious Theatre, Actors Theatre of Charlotte, Oregon Children’s Theatre, People’s Light and Theatre Company,  Stages Repertory Theatre, Great Lakes Theater Festival, and The Contemporary American Theatre Festival.

Learn more about Eric at ericcoble.com.

'The Art of Painting' at NYFringe

Third-year playwright Mark Chrisler is currently performing his one-man show THE ART OF PAINTING at the New York International Fringe Festival. The show, which centers around the titular painting, is being presented by Found Objects Theater Company through August 25th.

Critics are calling the show "masterful," "provocative," with "startling eloquence and intellectual depth." You can reviews for Mark's show at backstage.com and nytheatre.com.

Mark returns to Athens shortly after his NYFringe run to complete his MFA. You may have seen Mark's work at the 2011 or 2012 Seabury Quinn, Jr. Playwrights' Festival where he presented EXPECTING and TAKING UP SERPENTS, respectively.

Learn more about Mark and his work at www.markchrisler.com.

Qui Nguyen's AGENT G Begins Off-Broadway Previews

Before he returns to Ohio University to stage a brand new play this Spring, alumnus Qui Nguyen is pairing his celebrated Vampire Cowboys with the Drama Desk and OBIE Award winning Ma-Yi Theater to present The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G, which begins previews Off-Broadway tonight at the Beckett Theatre. A previous version of the show played to sold-out houses last season, when the New York Times called it "Ambitious Entertainment! Complex! An impressive feat!" The show has also been called "Wonderful! Funny! Eye-opening! A Critic's Pick!" by Timeout New York. According to the Vampire Cowboy's website, the Ma-Yi collaboration features a revamped script, new fights, new cast members, and a brand new song by Nguyen & Shane Rettig. More information about the production is listed below. Nguyen is a playwright, screenwriter, and Co-Artistic Director of the OBIE Award-winning Vampire Cowboys. His scripts include the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys productions of The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G; Soul Samurai; Alice in Slasherland; Fight Girl Battle World; Men of Steel; Living Dead in Denmark; Stained Glass Ugly; A Beginner's Guide to Deicide; and Vampire Cowboy Trilogy. Other scripts include She Kills Monsters (The Flea); Bike Wreck (Ensemble Studio Theatre; Metropolitan Playhouse); Aliens Versus Cheerleaders (Keen Teens); the Off-Broadway production of Trial By Water (Ma-Yi Theater/Queens Theatre in the Park); and the hip-hop musical Krunk Fu Battle Battle (East West Players). His plays are published by Broadway Play Publishing, Playscripts.com, and can be found in the anthologies, SAVAGE STAGE and PLAYS & PLAYWRIGHTS 2005. Nguyen is a proud member of New Dramatists, The Ma-Yi Writers Lab, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and The Playwrights Center.


About Agent G:
It’s been 10 years since Agent G has last been in Vietnam where his family and friends were all viciously slain. He’s now come back looking for answers and a good bit of revenge, however forces are at hand trying to stop him as well as the playwright from finishing this brutal task.
February 7 - March 4, 2012
At THE BECKETT THEATRE
Theatre Row
410 West 42nd St (Btw 9th & 10th)
Buy tickets here.
Use the code TRVC25 to get $25 tix (regular price: $35). The code is only good until FEB 14!

MFA Jacquelyn Reingold Writing for NBC's "Smash"

Tonight at 10/9c, NBC premieres "Smash," a musical drama that celebrates the beauty and heartbreak of the Broadway theater as it follows a cross section of dreamers and schemers who all have one common desire - to be a "Smash." MFA alumna Jacquelyn Reingold writes for the show, which is executive produced by acclaimed playwright Theresa Rebeck. Starring Debra Messing, Anjelica Huston, Megan Hilty, and Katherine McPhee, the series centers on a desire to create a Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. Reingold penned episode six, which is slated to air in March. Before working for "Smash" Reingold worked on HBO's IN TREATMENT season two, (Executive Producer, Warren Leight), writing the "Mia" episodes for Emmy nominated Hope Davis and Gabriel Byrne. Recent plays include: I KNOW in Ensemble Studio Theatre's One-act Marathon and ARMS UP for Christine Jones' Theatre for One. Other plays include STRING FEVER had a sold out run Off-Broadway at Ensemble Studio Theatre, starring Cynthia Nixon and Evan Handler. It was produced at Playhouse West in California, and in Washington DC at Theatre J. Her one-acts THEY FLOAT UP, and A VERY VERY SHORT PLAY were produced in '10 and '08 at Ensemble Studio Theatre. Her other one-act 2B (OR NOT 2B) was produced at The Actors Theatre of Louisville in 2009. Her full length play, A STORY ABOUT A GIRL was part of the JAW Playwrights Festival at Portland Center Stage, Oregon. Her other plays: GIRL GONE, 2B (OR NOT 2B), ACAPULCO, FOR-EVERETT, DEAR KENNETH BLAKE, DOTTIE AND RICHIE, TUNNEL OF LOVE, JILEY & LEDNERG, JOE AND STEW'S THEATRE, LOST AND FOUND, A.M.L., and FREEZE TAG have been produced or workshopped in New York at the MCC Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Naked Angels, HB Playwrights Theatre, the Drama League at HERE, All Seasons Theatre, Atlantic Theatre, the Working Theatre, the Circle Rep Lab; in Los Angeles at the Canon Theatre, Theatre of NOTE, City Garage, ASK Theatre Projects; at theatres across the country; in London, Berlin, Belgrade, New Zealand, Australia, and Hong Kong. Read more at Jacquelyn Reingold's website.

36th Annual Humana Festival Taps OU Alumna

Each year, more than a thousand playwrights submit to the National 10-Minute Playwriting Contest. In the end, a chosen few are selected to have their plays featured at America's premiere new play event, the Humana Festival at the Actors Theatre of Louisville. Laura Jacqmin, who received her MFA in playwriting at Ohio University, will see her 10-minute play Hero Dad premiere during the final weekend of this year's festival. Read more about this year's featured playwrights in this Broadway.com article.

WOUB Highlights Playwrights Production Class

Photo credit: Hannah Van Brunt

Known affectionately as Madness, our weekly playwrights production class came to the attention of writer Taylor Evans. After attending several of our Friday night shows, she sat down with several current playwrights and the head of our program, Charles Smith, to find out what goes into a Madness, how it began, and why we do it. Read the WOUB article here.

Madness performances are free and open to the public nearly every Friday night at 11:00 p.m. in the Hahne Theater in Kantner Hall. Visit the Madness page on our website for the Winter Quarter schedule.

Reginald Edmund at Chicago Dramatists Saturday Series

Reginald Edmund (MFA '09), a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists, will have his play "SOUTHBRIDGE" read on Saturday, February 4, at the Windy City's new play development house. About the play: A white widow is assaulted and an angry mob is at the jailhouse door, screaming “Lynch him!”  The only way to untangle the truth is for the accused, Christopher C. Davis, to review the events that have lead him to the hangman’s tree in Athens, Ohio, in the year 1881. Read more about Edmund's reading and the Saturday Series. Since 1979, Chicago Dramatists has been dedicated to a single mission—the development and advancement of playwrights and new plays that contribute to the American theatre repertory and enrich the lives of audiences across the country.

Edmund is a 2009-2010, 2010-2011 Many Voices Fellow playwright originally from Houston, Texas, where he was Artistic Director for the Silver House Theatre, as well as the founder and producer for the Silver House Playwrights Festival and the Houston Urban Theatre Series. He was the inaugural recipient of the  Kennedy Center Fellowship at Soul Mountain Retreat as well as the 2009 National Runner-up for the Lorraine Hansberry and Rosa Parks Playwriting Award. Read more about Edmund and his work by visiting his website.

Roundabout Theatre's Underground Reading Series Features Ohio Graduate

MFA alumna Laura Jacqmin, will have a reading of her play "Two Lakes, Two Rivers" in Roundabout Underground's spring reading series on February 7, 2012. The series is a five night event that will include a nightly reading of a new play written and directed by an emerging artist. Roundabout Underground is an initiative launched in 2007 to introduce and cultivate artists in Roundabout’s 62-seat Black Box Theatre, at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. Jacqmin is a 2008 Wasserstein Prize Winner. She was a member of the inaugural 2010-2011 Playwrights' Unit at the Goodman Theatre, and is currently working on new play commissions for South Coast Rep, Goodman Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Science and Technology Project, Arden Theatre Company, Carthage College, Victory Gardens Theatre/NNPN, and InterAct Theatre. You can read more about Jacqmin at her website, and learn more about Roundabout Theatre and their Underground series by visiting roundabouttheatre.org.

Found Objects Theatre Group Tackles Chrisler's Views On Loss

Found Objects Theatre Group presents second year MFA playwright Mark Chrisler's "On Loss" in conjunction with Rhinofest, the longest-running multi-arts fringe festival in Chicago. Staged at Prop Theater, Chrisler's series of vignettes looks at how people express themselves when dealing with loss. A review of the show can be found on Chicagoreader.com. "On Loss" continues through 2/3: Fri 9 PM, $12-$15 or pay what you can. Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave. 773-539-7838.

First-Year Jacob Juntunen preps for World Premiere

The side project in Chicago takes us back to the last hour in the life of Joan of Arc as seen through the lense of playwright Jacob Juntunen and director Cecilie Keenan. Joan's Laughter, a world premiere, will run May 13-June 17. For tickets and information, visit www.sideproject.net or call 773-973-2150.

OU Playwrights Bound for Kennedy Center

Third-year MFA playwright Ira Gamerman and First-year Jacob Juntunen took top honors at the Region II KCACTF conference this past week. Both writers will see their 10-minute plays advance to the national competition at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival; additionally, Gamerman took home the prize for best one-act. Congratulations to both playwrights!

Started in 1969 by Roger L. Stevens, the Kennedy Center's founding chairman, the Kennedy Center American College Theater (KCACTF) is a national theater program involving 18,000 students from colleges and universities nationwide which has served as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theater in the United States.

Ryan Dowler talks about The Gratifications

Ryan Dowler, author of The Gratifications, talks about how the play came about and the intense rehearsal process leading up to its studio production in EST/Youngblood's Unfiltered 2012 (contains adult language).



In conjunction with Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Youngblood's 2012 Unfiltered festival presents four new plays in studio production, including The Gratifications by Ryan Dowler (MFA '10). Dowler's play, directed by Andrew Grosso, stars Michael Cullen* and Chet Siegel*. The Gratifications was developed in the OU MFA workshop during Dowler's third year in the program. In the play, Lailia considers her sex life liberated, but her father Ken sees things differently. When he refuses to cosign on a loan she desperately needs, Lailia sets out to prove that she’s the one in control of her life, even if it costs her the relationship she values most. The festival runs January 5-February 4, with each of the four plays showing multiple weekends. Visit the EST website for tickets.

*Denotes Member Actors' Equity