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

The Bats and Vampires Unite for "She Kills Monsters" at the Flea

She Kills Monsters From left, Megha Nabe, Satomi Blair, Margaret Odette, Allison Buck, Raúl Sigmund Julia and Jack Corcoran in Qui Nguyen's play about role-playing games at the Flea Theater. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Qui Nguyen (MFA '02) and a few of his Vampire Cowboys have brought their work to the Flea Theater in Manhattan. Working with the Flea's resident actors, the Bats, Nguyen and director Robert Ross Parker (fellow OU alum, MFA Directing '02) present Nguyen's latest play "She Kills Monsters" a "deceptively breezy and rather ingenious comedy," says Eric Grode of the New York Times. "It will slash and shapeshift its way into your heart." Read the full review at NYTimes.com. She Kills Monsters continues through Dec. 23 at the Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa; (212) 352-3101; visit theflea .org for ticket and show information. Up next for Nguyen? He and Parker will return to Ohio University in the Spring of 2012 to develop an original work with the OU School of Theater.