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.