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