Theatre Encore 2012 by Andrew Bromwell

News from the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Theatre

2013

ENCORE The Visit; Cover: aPOEtheosis

Table of Contents 6

2012 – 2013 Season Review

Guest Artists and Scholars

TRI Report

Spotlight on Students

2012 – 2013 Awards

Farewell Eric H. Mayer

Alumni and Friends

Regional Campus

Royal Shakespeare Company

Study Abroad

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Dear Friends of Ohio State Theatre, Happy New Year! I trust you will enjoy this year’s edition of encore. We are excited to share the news of this past year on these pages and encourage those hungry for even more information to check us out online at theatre.osu.edu. We hope this combination will allow us to get a little “greener” while still providing a thorough update of the terrific work being done by the students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the Department of Theatre. Our past season started with an enchanting telling of The Arabian Nights in the Roy Bowen Theatre. These tales spun by a talented combination of undergraduates and our new class of MFA actors proved a showcase for performers and designers alike. The Mystery of Edwin Drood, our collaboration with the Ohio State School of Music, provided a lively, pick-your-own-ending romp on a transformed Thurber stage. We also welcomed our friends from the Royal Shakespeare Company back by hosting their fast-paced, stripped-down version of King Lear for young audiences. We began spring semester with our own 60-minute adaptation on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. This delightful production, featuring an allundergraduate cast, opened at the historic Lincoln Theatre to packed houses and then hit the road as our school tour. Next, our audiences were treated to The Visit, a darkly comic and strikingly timely tale of greed and retribution written by Friedrich Durrenmatt in 1956. Next we showcased innovative, student-created video work presented under the title DIGI-EYE. We wrapped up the season with aPOEtheosis: a Fantasy Based on the Life and Work of Edgar Allan Poe co-conceived by Czech Scenographer Petr Matásek and faculty member Joe Brandesky. Using puppets/objects, stunning visual imagery and evocative choreography, aPOEtheosis brought to life many of Poe’s most famous works. Throughout the year, the department was happy to support The Lab Series. This is a student-driven series that places and emphasis on innovative work that functions on a zero-budget model. The work ranges from new student written pieces to re-workings of the classic and obscure. Over 15 productions were presented as part of this series! As you will see from the pages that follow, this is just a taste of the many highlights from another full year in the Department of Theatre. Please enjoy this issue of encore and let us know what you’ve been up to since graduation. You are an important part of the Ohio State theatre family and we want to share your successes in art and life. Look forward to hearing from you!

Dan Gray Chair/Associate Professor

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The Arabian Nights

Ohio State Theatre 2013 – 2014 season

Royal Shakespeare Company The Tempest October 10 – 25 By William Shakespeare Directed by Cressida Brown Roy Bowen Theatre Zombie Prom November 7 – 17 Book and Lyrics by John Dempsey Music by Dana P. Rowe Based on a story by Dempsey and Hugh M. Murphy Directed by Mandy Fox Thurber Theatre

MFA Devised Work based on the Life and Works of Marcel Marceau April 3 – 13 Directed by Jeanine Thompson Thurber Theatre

o enc

The House of the Spirits February 26 – March 6 By Caridad Svich Directed by Beth Kattleman Roy Bowen Theatre

Ohio State Shakespeare School Tour As You Like It February 7 – 9 By William Shakespeare, adapted for young audiences Directed by Maureen Ryan Lincoln Theatre

Editor-in-Chief: Dan Gray

is the annual newsletter of The Ohio State University Department of Theatre 1089 Drake Center 1849 Cannon Dr. Columbus, Ohio 43210-1208 Office: (614) 292-5821 Fax: (614) 292-3222

Editor: Damian Bowerman

Contributors: Marni Balint, Nena Couch, Pam Decker, Joseph Fahey, Elizabeth Harelik, Maria Ignatieva, Daniel Jeffries, Beth Kattelman, Eric H. Mayer, Chelsea Phillips, Beth Josephsen Simon, Lowri Sion, Francesca Spedalieri, Mary Tarantino, Andrew Trimmer, Elizabeth Wellman, Dave Williams, Geoffrey Wilson Written and researched by the faculty, staff and students of the Department of Theatre. All Alumni and Friends information is collected from alumni, friends, and other readers; gathered and processed at the Department of Theatre; researched, edited, and placed either in our Encore publication or the Alumni page of Encore on our website: theatre.osu.edu

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2012 – 2013 SEASON REVIEW Lab Series The Girls from the 3.5 Floppies September 4 Translated by Ana Puga. Directed by Jen Schlueter. Featuring Judy Rodriguez. Notorious Women September 10 – 11 Directed by PhD student Mina Choi Chocolate in Heat September 24 – 25 By Betty Shamieh. Directed by PhD student Allison Brogan. Flat 412 October 8 – 9 A new work written and directed by BA student Yelena Kondratova

Behind the Arras March 25 – 26 A staged reading of a new work written by Cori Martin (lecturer, English). Directed by Andrew Blasenak (PhD 2012) In Transit: An Evening of Automotive Theatre April 8 – 9 A site specific performance conceived by MA student Max Glenn Maymester Gender/Sexuality/Culture Festival May 28 – June 2 The Gender Project, devised by MFA acting student Jane Elliott in rep with The Normal Heart, by Larry Kramer. Roy Bowen Theatre. Directed by Jimmy Bohr. Produced by MFA acting student Brent Ries. In partnership with the Graduate Theatre Syndicate.

Happy Panda Shoots Himself October 22 – 23 A new work written and directed by Preston Witt Original of Laura November 5 – 6 A devised work from Nabokov’s unfinished novel by PhD student Chelsea Phillips Designated Mourner November 13 By Wallace Shawn. Directed by Matt Yde (PhD 2011) Best of 24-Hour Theatre January 29 The highlights of 24-Hour Theatre produced by Alpha Psi Omega Wave Over Wave February 11 – 12 A performance installation conceived by BA theatre student Leela Singh Flight February 25 – 26 A new play written by BA student Mitra Jouhari MAPS March 4 – 7 A solo performance devised by BA theatre student Genevieve Simon and MFA design student Marni Balint

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Lab Series - The Normal Heart

Lab Series The Gender Project

The Visit

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

The Arabian Nights

October 11 – 21 By Mary Zimmerman. Roy Bowen Theatre. Directed by Mandy Fox. Set Design by Trenton Bean. Costume Design by Emily Jeu. Lighting Design by Justin John. Stage Manager Sam Sharkey.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

November 8 – 11 Book, Music and Lyrics by Rupert Holmes. Thurber Theatre. Guest Directed by A. Scott Parry. Set Design by Marni Balint. Costume Design by Samantha A. Kuhn. Lighting Design by Brian Elston. Sound Design by Ruth Luketic. Stage Manager Angela Cutrell.

Twelfth Night

February 1 – 3 By William Shakespeare. Directed by Tori Matsos. Adapted by Christopher Matsos. Lincoln Theatre. Costume Design by Samantha A. Kuhn. Lighting Design by Chelsie McPhilimy. Sound Design by Zach Ivans. Stage Manager Claire Landuyt.

The Visit

February 28 – March 8 By Friedrich Dürrenmatt. Translated from the German by Patrick Bowles. Thurber Theatre. Directed by Lesley Ferris. Set Design by Shane Cinal. Costume Design by Natalie Cagle. Lighting Design by Chelsie McPhilimy. Sound Design by Ruth Luketic. Stage Manager Jen Monfort.

aPOEtheosis

April 4 – 14 Co-conceived by Czech Scenographer Petr Matásek and Joseph Brandesky. Directed by Joseph Brandesky. Roy Bowen Theatre. Set and Costume Design by Petr Matásek. Assistant Scenic Design by Trenton Bean and Marni Balint. Lighting Design by Justin John. Sound Design by Michelle Cohen. Stage Manager Sam Sharkey.

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GUEST ARTISTS AND SCHOLARS

Petr Matásek

Mervyn Heard

Stephen Wangh

Royal Shakespeare Company

Robert Post

Kelly Hunter

Michael Milligan

Tim Miller

Autumn 2012

Spring 2013

The cast and crew of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Young People’s Shakespeare King Lear were in residence in October and November to perform for the public and conduct several workshops/talkbacks with students.

Petr Matásek, Czech artist, set designer, director, and associate professor at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague was in residence for spring semester working with Joe Brandesky on their coconceived production of aPOEtheosis: A Fantasy Based on the Life and Work of Edgar Allan Poe. The two artists also gave several talks at the Columbus Museum of Art for the exhibit Strings Attached: The Living Tradition of Czech Puppets.

Spencer Stander (BA photography and cinema 1993), founder of Stander Productions Inc., visited in November to talk to students interested in Hollywood from acting to programming, pitches and projects, movies and television and other aspects of the production world. Spencer is an Executive Producer on the Billy Bob Thornton feature film Smell of Success and Hillary Duff, Winona Ryder, Chevy Chase, and Jon Cryers’ movie Stay Cool. In television Spencer currently produces the number one rated show for HDNet, Art Mann Presents. Comedic physical actor Robert Post held a workshop for the development of a new group piece of theatre. An alumnus of the Affiliate Artists program, he has received numerous awards and fellowships and has toured his performances to 45 states, Canada, Japan, Mexico, the Mediterranean and Russia. Since 1994, his work has been seen across the U.S. and in Canada on national television (PBS) in an award-winning special, Robert Post - In Performance. Robert’s one-man show was presented by Broadway’s New Victory Theater to rave reviews and sold-out houses.

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University of Pittsburgh Professor of History Richard J. Smethurst gave his guest lecture “Tsukioka Kōgyo and the Popularization of Noh, 1869 – 1927.” His presentation was part of the Japanese Noh Theatre in Woodblock Exhibit at the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute in February. In February internationally acclaimed solo performer Tim Miller performed excerpts from his work and spoke about the role performance plays in constellating identity. Known for his charged performance work that takes up the most challenging social texts of our time, Tim shared fierce and funny performance material as well as speaking about how performance can be used to embolden communities and connect people with one another. Mervyn Heard gave the Theatre Research Institute Lecture “‘Oh What Horrors! What Delights!’ Three Centuries of Making Mischief with the Magic Lantern” in April. He is an arts professional with a broad interest in theatre practice and all aspects of the history of

popular entertainment and cross-form visual media. For the last 30 years he has held a particular fascination for the magic lantern and its use within the context of live performance. Michael Milligan (BA 1995) led a master class for students in March while in Columbus performing his play Mercy Killers. Michael is a performer who has been writing and acting for the theater for almost two decades. He has appeared both on and off the Broadway stage and in Regional Theaters throughout the country. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School and The Ohio State University. Kelly Hunter, a leading actress from the Royal Shakespeare Company taught several workshops on the Hunter Heartbeat Method. The method created by her has been used for the past 20 years with children who suffer from autism spectrum disorders. During her time here she gave workshops to those students involved in the Shakespeare and Autism interACT project. Kelly also gave a talk about the method at the university in conclusion to the 10 week Shakespeare and Autism project. Stephen Wangh was the keynote speaker for Shifting Boundaries/Crossing Cultures Symposium, sponsored by the Graduate Theatre Organization the Syndicate. Stephen studied with Jerzy Grotowski in 1967 and is the author of An Acrobat of the Heart and The Heart of Teaching. His playwriting credits include work as an associate writer for The Laramie Project, The People’s Temple, which won the Glickman Award for Best Play in the Bay Area, 2005, and many other collaborative works.

2012 – 2013 Wexner Center for the Arts Talkbacks and Workshop National Theatre of Scotland. The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, Created and devised by David Greig and Wils Wilson.

Talkback November 2.

The Builder’s Association. Sontag: Reborn. Talkback November 16.

Human Theater by Oriza Hirata and Oshiguru Laboratory. Robot/Android.

Talkback February 1.

Tim Crouch. I, Malvolio. Talkback February 19.

1927. The Animals and Children Took to the Streets. Workshop April 19.

Outreach InterACT

By Elizabeth Wellman (PhD student)

In the 2012 – 2013 season, the InterACT troupe continued its long-standing partnership with the University Center for the Advancement of Teaching (UCAT), as well as exploring new opportunities for community engagement. In autumn semester, the troupe devised and performed a piece on challenges facing international instructors in the university classroom. In spring semester, InterACT, in conjunction with the Institute for Human Services, developed an all-day training program and interactive performance-based workshop to assist in training of Child Protective Services trainers who educate and train social workers and foster parents in Ohio. As part of its focus on community outreach and engagement, InterACT continues to operate as a service-learning course, offering opportunities for theatre students to model diversity leadership, to learn techniques for creating safe rehearsal space, and to use improvisational and devising techniques to develop social change theatre work.

InterACT students performing at the Youngkin Success Center for UCAT.

Twelfth Night School Tour By Pamela Decker (PhD 2012)

Last spring, The Ohio State University Department of Theatre, in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company, presented Twelfth Night, Shakespeare’s comedy of mixed identities and joyful disorder. The 75-minute touring production was adapted by Christopher Matsos and directed by Tory Matsos, and introduced young audiences in the Columbus area to Shakespeare. Beginning with a successful run at the historic Lincoln Theatre, Twelfth Night toured to over a dozen elementary, middle, and high schools in the greater Columbus area for more than nine weeks. The production played to more than 3,500 students in grades 1 - 12.

Cast members conduct an interactive workshop with students.

Twelfth Night was performed by an exclusively undergraduate cast, and was designed to invite audience members to join in the revelry of the play’s action. During a key moment of the play, actors encouraged students to sing as loudly as they could to wake the sleeping Malvolio, which contributed to the general atmosphere of festivity and social disorder. School performances were followed by workshops led by the actors, who engaged students with exercises based on Stand Up for Shakespeare, the pedagogy at the heart of the Ohio State/Royal Shakespeare Company partnership.

Cody Troyan & Janice Robinson performing Twelfth Night in a local school.

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TRI REPORT TRI Report

By Nena Couch, Beth Kattelman, and Mary Tarantino

Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute (TRI) Report By Nena Couch, Beth Kattelman, and Mary Tarantino

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Margo Jones Award Presented to Tony Taccone

Tony Taccone receives the Margo Jones Award.

The TRI presented the 2012 – 2013 Margo Jones Award to Tony Taccone, artistic director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre, in a ceremony at the theatre on October 12. The award is given annually to a “citizen-of-the-theatre who has demonstrated a significant impact, understanding and affirmation of the craft of playwriting, with a lifetime commitment to the encouragement of the living theatre everywhere.” Taccone has served as artistic director of Berkeley Rep since 1997. During his tenure, the Tony Award-winning nonprofit has earned a reputation as an international leader in innovative theatre and an incubator of new plays. Under Taccone’s leadership, Berkeley Rep has presented more than 60 world, American, and West Coast premieres and has sent 18 shows to New York, two to London, and many more on tour. The ceremony was attended by Mary Tarantino, TRI director; Beth Kattelman, curator of theatre; Lisa Carter, associate director for special collections and area studies; and Valarie Williams, associate dean for arts and humanities. The Ohio State representatives were joined by members of the Lawrence and Lee families who serve on the Margo Jones Award Committee.

Scholarly Activities in and Around the Institute

Theatre class engagement by TRI and rare curators ranged from a presentation on Theatre Research Institute resources to Alex Oliszewski’s Performance in Media class; an exploration of Czech scenography and theatre research holdings for the Czech Theatre and Culture TH 5741 class which included artist in residence, Czech scenographer Petr Matásek to a session for Theatre 7702: Early Modern to the Enlightenment: Theatre, Performance, Theory, Text. Karen Mozingo’s Theatre 2101 Introduction to Theatre: Making History – Contemporary Women Playwrights researched selected women playwrights through the Institute’s Caridad Svich, African American Playwrights Exchange, and International Center for Women Playwrights collections for their class projects. Joy Reilly’s Bringing the Actor to Life, Theatre 5771.06 (originally developed with the Theatre Research Institute curator through a Course Enhancement Grant) provides students with primary resources to not only study historical actors, but to physically experience the movements and gestures that they performed through historical texts in the Theatre Research Institute and Rare Books including the outstanding Jerry Tarver collection. Beth Kattelman and Jen Schlueter collaborated on a course enhancement grant during spring semester 2013. The grant was in support of Schlueter’s class Vice, Status, Play: American Culture and Popular Performance, 1820 – 1920. Each week, students in the class met in the TRI to peruse primary source materials from the types of popular entertainments they were studying. The students were able to explore actual programs, photographs and promotional materials from minstrel shows, tent shows, burlesque shows, circuses and many others. The students were very positive about class and said that being able to see actual materials from the time period helped them to better understand the history.

Lawrence and Lee Visiting Research Fellow Mervyn Heard

Simona Rybáková being interviewed by MFA Design student Marni Balint.

The recipient of this year’s TRI fellowship was Mervyn Heard, an internationally recognized expert in the history of the magic lantern in performance. During his tenure at the TRI, Heard examined the Kliegl “pose” slide collection and supporting materials in the Joel Rubin Collection. Heard is interested in the pose slide within the context of 20th-century vaudeville, cabaret and lecture performance. Heard’s fellowship lecture, “Oh What Horrors, What Delights! Making Mischief with the Magic Lantern,” was held in the Bowen Theatre on Monday, April 22nd. The lecture presented an overview of the magic lantern’s use in performance and contained images of some of Heard’s favorite slides. While on campus, Heard also visited Mary Tarantino’s Advanced Lighting Technology class (TH8621) and Jen Schlueter’s American Culture and Popular Performance class (TH5771.04). The Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute Visiting Research Fellowship is awarded annually, and is supported through the Jerome Lawrence Endowed Fund.

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TRI Report William Case Kramer Fellowship The TRI curator worked closely with Marni Balint, winner of the 2012 – 2013 William Case Kramer Fellowship, in her exploration of Czech scenography held by the institute, and arranged interviews for her during the May term Czech Theatre and Culture study tour with scenographers represented in TRI including Simona Rýbaková, Jaroslav Malina, and Petr Mátasék.

Collections and Exhibitions

Mervyn Heard presents the TRI fellowship lecture.

Theatre Research Institute curators and staff worked with researchers from across the U.S. and foreign countries, whose requests have resulted in publications and presentations either out or forthcoming using research conducted in the Institute’s McCaghy, Rubin, Czech, Breen, and Harmount collections. A recent Theatre Research Institute acquisition is a collaborative project engaging the Theatre Research Institute, the East Asian Studies Center, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, Chinese studies librarian, and College of Arts and Sciences grant program. The Hong Shen Collection, donated by his daughter, documents the work of one of the key figures in the worlds of modern Chinese theatre, film, and drama studies. Hong had some of the most formative experiences of his career at The Ohio State University, where he studied between 1916 and 1919 and where he wrote and produced two English-language plays. The Theatre Research Institute’s Dance Heritage Coalition Fellow Jennifer Kishi, supported by IMLS funding, worked with Brian Stamper to update the Knowledge Bank and Flickr collection of scanned McCaghy images of early burlesque performers.

Beth Kattelman presents “Designing and Constructing Puppets for Avenue Q” at the Columbus Museum of Art.

Collaborating with the College of Arts and Sciences, Theatre, Slavic and East European Studies, and the Columbus Museum of Art, the Theatre Research Institute loaned two items from its Czech collections to the museum for Strings Attached: The Living Tradition of Czech Puppets and mounted a display in the Special Collections Gallery, featuring puppets from the United States, Taiwan, Brazil, Indonesia, and the former Czechoslovakia. Associate Curator Beth Kattelman presented a talk on “Designing and Constructing Puppets for Avenue Q” at the Columbus Museum of Art in conjunction with the exhibition. Dancing Dimensions: Movement through Time and Space, highlighting TRI dance and movement collections, introduced 3D technology and iPads to the libraries’ exhibition portfolio. Items shown range from an 18th-century French fan with dance scenes to a top hat from Chorus Line; from dance in notation to dance animated in 3D; costume and set designs to costumes and scenery. Through a variety of materials such as photographs, programs, posters, correspondence, the exhibition celebrated dance and movement artists and companies, international as well as those who have kept dance thriving in Ohio. As curator of Dancing Dimensions, Couch gave a public gallery talk on September 27, 2012. This exhibition elicited dance donations including a gift from Odette Blum of the manuscript Labanotated score of Kurt Jooss’s The Green Table and numerous Chinese and Korean Labanotation publications, an addition to the Randy Skinner collection, and materials from Dave Patton for the Maggie Patton collection.

OSU team with Hong Shen collection

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An addition to the Shakespeare holdings was acquired in time for the Royal Shakespeare Company performance of the Young People’s King Lear as part of the Department of Theatre season – a woodcut engraving by Edward Gordon Craig for the Storm Scene in King Lear.

spotlight on students STUDENT STORIES Awards and recognition

aPOEtheosis

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Spotlight on Students

spotlight on students By Damian Bowerman and Beth Josephsen Simon

Dave Fisher directs Buckeye TV students for a live shoot.

Autumn PhD student Chris Hill presented “Let Her Do It Her Own Way: The Post-Celtic Tiger Women of Elaine Murphy’s Little Gem” at VIA 2012: Irish Drama (Drámaíocht na hÉireann) A Scholarly Conference on Irish Drama (Comhdháil Acadúil ar Dhrámaíocht na hÉireann) at the University of Notre Dame. Hill also presented “All My Buddies Are In Boston: The Rubberbandits’ Hip-Hop Eulogy on the Tiger’s Demise” at a conference in London entitled “The Future State of Ireland.” PhD student John Boyd presented a paper investigating issues of translation and transculturation connected with Lope de Vega’s play El nuevo mundo descubierto pro Cristobal Colón in the Spanish Golden Age working session at the 2012 American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR) conference in Nashville, Tennessee. PhD student Chelsea Phillips published “I Have Given Suck: The Maternal Body in Sarah Siddons’ Lady Macbeth” as part of the Shakespeare Embodied collection (Fairleigh Dickinson Press, 2013).

The sparkling Ohio State University production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood plays off the British music-hall tradition with wit and style. {Margaret Quamme, The Columbus Dispatch}

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PhD student Andrew Blasenak presented “Architecture of Collaboration: Michael Boyd, Malaya Bronnaya, and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre” in the Shakespeare Performance Working Group of the American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR) Conference. MFA design students Marni Balint, Trenton Bean and Justin John traveled to Prague to assist Petr Matásek in developing and executing the designs for aPOEtheosis. BA students Genevieve Simon and Anooj Bhandari presented the work of the Shakespeare & Autism project at the Anne Frank Project 2012 Conference at Buffalo State College in Buffalo, New York. The annual four day conference was inspired by student trips to Rwanda and strives to examine human interaction and tolerance through the arts, education, social justice activism, and humanitarianism. The Shakespeare & Autism project, a collaboration between Ohio State’s Department of Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company, and the Nisonger Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, completed a 12-week pilot project during the winter and spring quarters of last year. For more information about the Anne Frank Project: theannefrankproject.com; Shakespeare & Autism: shakespeare.osu.edu.

Dave Fisher directs Buckeye TV students for a live shoot.

BA student Andrew Trimmer was one of two winners of the top money award for the fall Arts Honors contest. PhD student Emily Davis directed Sperlos Vernakt in Columbus for Evolution Theatre’s Bicentennial Play Festival. PhD student Elizabeth Wellman successfully passed her comprehensive exams. Her committee members were Beth Kattelman, Stratos Constantinidis, Jen Schlueter, and Jeanine Thompson. PhD student Andrew Blasenak successfully completed and defended his dissertation, Six Companies in Search of Shakespeare: Rehearsal, Performance, and Management Practices by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare & Company, Shakespeare’s Globe, and the American Shakespeare Center. The members of his dissertation committee were: Stratos E. Constantinidis (chair), Beth Kattelman, and Nena Couch. The Graduate Faculty Representative was Mo-Yee Lee. PhD student Melissa Lee co-facilitated “The First Actress” lecture on at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Lesley Ferris, as part of the Talks and Study Days Programme 2012 – 2013.

Spring PhD student Ian Pugh attended the 8th annual Devoted & Disgruntled conference in London, England working behind the scenes with Improbable Theatre, helping with the planning and preparation for the event, and as a participant/observer. PhD student Josh Patterson presented “The Ritual Performance of Haka at College Football Games” at the national conference for the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association in Washington, D.C. PhD student Elizabeth Wellman attended the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend in Las Vegas for research to prepare her dissertation prospectus which is focused on burlesque performance.

PhD student Melissa Lee presented a paper as part of a double panel on Chekhov at the Comparative Drama Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. PhD student Chelsea Phillips presented “Carrying All Before Her: Ghosting, Double Vision, and Pregnancy in the Lives of Sarah Siddons and Dorothy Jordan” at the Shakespeare Association of America conference in Toronto, Canada. MFA lighting design student Justin John went to London, England, to design the remount of Hamlet’s Fool with Peter Cutts and Mandy Fox at the Cockpit. BA student William Kinney worked as an intern for Walt Disney World. BA student Leela Singh was selected to be one of two 2013 Summer Holbrook Research Abroad Fellows funded through the Undergraduate Research Office and the Office of International Affairs. Her project, advised by Jennifer Schlueter, took Leela to India in the summer to study Chokhi Dhani and performance. Leela was competing with projects from across all disciplines at Ohio State. BA student Katie Howard was honored with the Ohio State Board of Trustees Student Recognition Award. Howard has had extensive experiences inside and outside the university, including interning at NBC4, writing for the Lantern, participating in intensives with the Radio City Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, and in the Disney College Program as a character performer at Walt Disney World. PhD student Elizabeth Wellman received the Betty Masters Advocate of the Year Award from the Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio (SARNCO). PhD student Pamela Decker presented “An Unlikely Dialogue: Combining Cognitive Studies and the Chekhov Technique in the Rehearsal Process,” PhD student Jill Summerville presented “She’s Not As Dumb As She Looks: The Myth of the Dependent Gimp in Craig Lucas’ Reckless,” PhD student Geoffrey Wilson presented “An Appropriate(d) Myth: Antigone in a Post-colonial and Post-conflict

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spotlight on students company, directing, and making conference presentations in England and Ireland. Joy Reilly served as Chris’ dissertation advisor and his oral defense committee included Ray Cashman (English) and Jennifer Schlueter (Theatre). BA student Andrew Trimmer’s presentation at the 18th Denman Undergraduate Research Forum qualified for Honorable Mention. Based on the judges’ evaluations, his project was ranked in the top 25 percent of his research area of all that were presented (more than 600 projects in total). Francesa Spedalieri at the International Federation for Theatre Research conference. Landscape,” MA student Max Glenn chaired the Mythic AUTHORity panel and presented “A Benevolent Dictator: Greg Allen and Creation Myth of The Neo-Futurists Inaugural Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind,” PhD student Seunghyun Hwang presented “Getting into American Family Pictures before the Model Minority Myth,” and MA student Alaina Orchard presented “Transformation through Dialogue: The Tradition of Reshaping Narrative in Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses” at the 34th Annual Mid-America Theatre Conference in St. Louis. MFA design student Trenton Bean won a Peggy Ezekiel Award Board’s Choice for the set design of Ohio State’s production of Marat/Sade in 2012. “The Peggy Ezekiel Awards are presented annually to recognize outstanding achievement in Design and Technology for any produced work by a USITT/Ohio Valley Section member or for any produced work by a non-

member for a production within the USITT/Ohio Valley Section. There are multiple awards in many different disciplines.” - usittohiovalley.org PhD student Chelsea Phillips’ application for the 2013 Visual & Performing Arts Award was awarded an Honorable Mention. She received an Arts & Humanities Graduate Research Small Grant for $750 to support her travel to Montpellier, France, where she presented a paper at the European Shakespeare Research Association. PhD student Chris Hill successfully defended his doctoral dissertation. The title of his thesis is “We’ve All To Grow Old: Representations of Aging as Reflections of Cultural Change on the Celtic Tiger Irish Stage.” Chris completed his master’s degree at Ohio State in two years followed by his doctoral degree in three, while negotiating life with a very active young family, teaching, serving as artistic director of his own

PhD student Ian Pugh defended his dissertation and passed the oral defense. His dissertation “Devoted & Disgruntled: Improbable’s Devising, Eldership, and Open Space Technology” focused on London’s Improbable, a devising company that has had numerous visits to the Wexner Center for the Arts. As the

inaugural Kramer Fellow from the TRI, Ian went through the extensive Improbable archives in London that focused specifically on “Devoted and Disgruntled.” Lesley Ferris served as Pugh’s dissertation advisor and his oral defense committee included Beth Kattelman (Theatre Research Institute/theatre), Joy Reilly (theatre), and Clayton Funk (arts administration, education and policy). BA student Taylor Moss played the younger version of the main character, Stew, in the Short North Stage version of the musical Passing Strange. The play revolves around the story of an iconic rock composer/ performer who developed a cult following after forming a band called The Negro Problem in 1991. Fellow BA student Mia Fowler was in the play’s ensemble, and Tatjana Longerot (MFA 2002) was costume designer.

Kelly Hunter, Andrew Trimmer and Robin Post at the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum.

Elizabeth Wellman with neo-burlesque performer, Jovie DeVoe, outside the Burlesque Hall of Fame Museum.

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This trip was so encouraging to me as a scholar. I gained a great deal of insight into the culture of burlesque and I have a wealth of new resources and knowledge to include in my work. Thank you for supporting research in a relatively unknown field of American performance history. I look forward to sharing my research with the university in the future! {Elizabeth Wellman, phd Student}

PhD student Chelsea Phillips was presented the Graduate Assistant Teaching Award in the middle of her Script Analysis class by Scott Herness, associate dean of the Ohio State Graduate School and his team as well as Dan Gray, Jeanine Thompson and Lesley Ferris. Scott Herness read from student letters who supported her nomination and told the class that the award is given annually to only 10 graduate students out of over 3,000 GTAs on campus, and more than a 100 who were nominated for the award. MFA design student Brian Elston successfully defended his MFA thesis on the lighting design for The Mystery of Edwin Drood. His committee consisted of members A. Scott Parry and Kristine Kearney, and committee chair Mary Tarantino. After designing many shows for the department, Brian headed to Interlochen Arts Academy as lighting designer for the summer and then off to seek his fame and fortune in the world of lighting. Samantha A. Kuhn successfully defended her thesis and passed her oral defense. Her thesis is Costume Design and Production for the Mystery of Edwin Drood. Her committee members included Kristine Kearney, thesis advisor and chair, Mary Tarantino, and A. Scott Parry.

Summer PhD student Francesca Spedalieri presented “Re-Membering Storytelling: Teatro di Narrazione and the Solo Performances of Ascanio Celestini” at the at the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) annual conference in Barcelona, Spain. MFA acting student Brent Ries attended training workshops at the The Roy Hart International Arts Centre at Malérargues in the Cévennes hills of southern France. MFA acting students Camille Bullock acted and Sarah Ware was a dramaturg/stage manager for Available Light Theater’s production of Transplant by Alexis Schaetzle and directed by Ohio State Theatre

Assistant Professor Jennifer Schlueter. Projections were designed by Ohio State Assistant Professor Brad Steinmetz. PhD student Emily Davis directed Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance! for the Evolution Theatre in Columbus which played at the Van Fleet Theatre. PhD student Pamela Decker successfully defended her dissertation and passed her oral defense. The title of her dissertation— “Theatrical Spectatorship in the United States and Soviet Union, 1921 – 1936: A Cognitive Approach to Comedy, identity, and Nation”— focused on four productions in the US—Sisle and Blake’s Shuffle Along and Orson Welles and John Houseman’s Horse Eats Hat and two Soviet productions, Vahktangov’s Turandot and Mayakovsky and Meyerhold’s The Bedbug. Lesley Ferris served as Pam’s dissertation advisor and members of her oral defense committee include: Jennifer Schlueter (Theatre), Frederick Luis Aldama (English) and Andrew Shelton (Art History). Pam presented “Playing the Body, Expanding the Imagination: The Benefits of Michael Chekhov and Alexander Techniques for Student Actors,” and “’Dusky Premieres’ and Creole Choruses: Marketing African American Female Performance in 1920s New York” at the American Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) conference in Orlando, Florida. She also presented “Routes of Culture, Reception, and Consumption: Black Theatre Performance and White Spectatorship in Shuffle Along and 1920s New York” in the New Scholars’ Forum at International Federation of Theatre Research conference in Barcelona, Spain. MFA acting student Jane Elliott presented “Playing With/Across Gender: Expression and Theory” at the Voice and Speech Trainers’ Association (VASTA) Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She also presented The Gender Project: Cross-dressing and Re-gendering in Development, Production, and Reception at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) Conference in Orlando, Florida.

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PhD student John Boyd successfully completed and defended his dissertation, “Wrighting Back to Spain: Constructing Latina/o Identities Through Translation, Adaptation, and Staging of Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s La vida es sueño.” His advisor is Ana Elena Puga and his other committee members are Nena Couch, Beth Kattelman, and Elizabeth Davis, from the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. John accepted a theatre and speech teaching job for Northside Independent School District at John P. Stevens High School in San Antonio. Josh Patterson presented “The Ritual Performance of Haka and College Football” as part of a panel called “Sports/Play, Sports/ Performance” under the Performance Studies Focus Group at the ATHE 2013 conference in Orlando, Florida. MFA acting student Brent Ries was among 30 participants from around the world chosen to participate in the Summer Intensive Program at the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski in Pontedera, Italy. Ashton Brammer (BA 2013) worked as a directing intern for Columbus Children’s Theatre, and took the following year off from academia to gain experience and work. In the future, she hopes to return to college to pursue a PhD in theatre. Angela Cutrell (BA 2013) remained in Columbus after graduation where she continued her work with local theatre companies before pursuing an MFA in stage management. Drew Doherty (BA 2013) moved to California to work at Disneyland in Anaheim. Brian Elston (MFA 2013) spent his summer at Interlochen Center for the Arts as its lighting designer.

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Chris Hill (PhD 2013) accepted a tenure-track position as an assistant professor of theatre and speech at Tennessee Wesleyan College. The school is a small liberal arts college, with a student population of around 1,000, in southeast Tennessee. In addition to teaching a full range of theatre courses and Introduction to Speech, he will be head of the theatre program—with a mandate to grow and develop an interdisciplinary major, produce and direct productions, and assist the college in reaching into the community and beyond. Samantha A. Kuhn (MFA 2013) got married. She and her fiancé moved to Minneapolis where she will try her hand at freelancing, unless she gets a job somewhere else. Catherine Madden (BA 2013) worked in the real estate business and stayed involved in theatre. Thanh Nguyen (BA 2013) finished an internship with the American Red Cross and wrote plays. He also interned in Los Angeles at Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc. and FilAm Arts where he combined his passions: Asian American advocacy and the arts. After, he plans to participate in Americorps and then pursue a master’s in social work at UCLA or USC. PhD student Amany Seleem successfully completed and defended her dissertation, “The Interface of Religious and Political Conflict in Egyptian Theatre.” Her advisor is Lesley Ferris and committee members are Nena Couch and Beth Kattelman; Graduate Faculty Representative, Patrice Hamel (Department of Microbiology). In addition to analyzing 11 plays spanning Egyptian leadership from King Farouk through to Mubarak, Amany translated text from a number of the plays as most were not available in English. She returned to Egypt to teach in the Academy of Arts acting and directing department, and continued acting for Egyptian theatre and making short movies.

The Visit

2012–2013 end of year celebration Awards and Recognition Program 2012-2013 Honorary Dramatic Fraternity Alpha Psi Omega (APO) President Liz Light led the newly elected 2012-2013 APO officer Business Manager Elizabeth Rogge in the oath of office.

Outstanding Contribution to the 2012–2013 Production Season

The following students were honored with Undergraduate Student Excellence in recognition for participation in this year’s Denman Undergraduate Research Forum.

The Lab Series - Performance: Genevieve Simon (MAPS); Technical: Natalie Woods

Yelena Kondratova - “The Brilliant Detective Cupcake” Julia Langholt - “The Science of a Story” Andrew Trimmer - “Shakespeare and Autism”

The Arabian Nights - Performance: Jesse Massaro, Kelly Hogan; Costume Design: Emily Jeu The Mystery of Edwin Drood - Performance: Drew Doherty, Roxanne Knepp; Technical: Zachory Ivans Twelfth Night - Performance: Janice Robinson, Lance McPherson The Visit - Performance: Caleb Inboden, Catherine Madden; Crew: Derek Faraji aPOEtheosis - Performance: Andrew Trimmer; Choreography: Rachel Switlick; Sound Design: Michelle Cohen; Technical: Natalie Woods Leela Singh was honored with Best Undergraduate Lab Series New Work for her installation of Wave Over Wave. Max Glenn was honored for the Best Graduate Lab Series New Work for his production of In Transit with Francesca Spedalieri, Camille Bullock and Andrew Trimmer.

Students receive recognition for their outstanding contribution to the 2012 -2013 production season.

Genevieve Simon and Andrew Trimmer were honored for their outstanding work on the Shakespeare and Autism Outreach Project.

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2012–2013 end of year celebration Awards and Recognition Program Graduate Student Morrow and Snow Fund Recipients Established in 1980 in memory of John C. Morrow, professor of theatre from 1963 until his death in 1979, the Morrow Memorial Fund provides small grants for graduate student research. Recipients: Marni Balint, Trenton Bean, Andrew Blasenak, John Boyd, Emily Davis, Pamela Decker, Jane Elliott, Max Glenn, Chris Hill, Seunghyun Hwang, Justin John, Melissa Lee, Sifiso Mazibuko, Alaina Orchard, Josh Patterson, Chelsea Phillips, Ian Pugh, Brent Ries, Amany Seleem, Francesca Spedalieri, Jill Summerville, Elizabeth Wellman, Geoffrey Wilson Established February 7, 2003, The Aida Cannarsa Snow Endowment Fund was established to provide need-based scholarships to students interested in the arts. Recipients: Marni Balint, Trenton Bean, Andrew Blasenak, John Boyd, Emily Davis, Pamela Decker, Jane Elliott, Max Glenn, Chris Hill, Seunghyun Hwang, Justin John, Melissa Lee, Sifiso Mazibuko, Alaina Orchard, Josh Patterson, Chelsea Phillips, Ian Pugh, Brent Ries, Amany Seleem, Francesca Spedalieri, Jill Summerville, Elizabeth Wellman, Geoffrey Wilson

Undergraduate Scholarship Recipients

The Michael Swink Fund for Talent in Theatre Technology was established in 1980 in memory of Michael Swink (BA 1975) and provides funding for undergraduate students who have demonstrated exceptional talent and ability in theatre in the area of design and technology. Recipient: Emily Jeu The Scarlet Mask Award was established in 1973 by members of the Scarlet Mask Society to recognize distinction and outstanding performance. Recipient: Jesse Massaro The Robert Eugene Johnson Memorial Scholarship was established in 1983 with gifts from the estate of Robert Eugene Johnson (MA 1950) to provide one or more scholarships for junior and/or senior students who are majoring in theatre and are maintaining at least a 2.5 cumulative grade point average. Recipients: Victoria Carthorn, Rebekah Vouis The Roy and Addeleen Bowen Fund for Exceptional Talent in Theatre was established in 1978 to honor Roy H. Bowen, professor emeritus of theatre. The scholarship supports undergraduate students who have demonstrated exceptional talent in theatre. Recipients: Kelly Hogan, Claire Landuyt, Anna Leeper, Yixin Pang, Amanda Schlemmer

Chair’s Award for Academic Achievement for Undergraduate Students Mehak Arora, Travis Bihn, Matthew Bowman, Ashton Brammer, David Budde, Emi Bungo, Victoria Carthorn, James DeBacker, Mia Fowler, Ryan Harrison, Alyssa Haverfield, Robert Hildreth, Kelly Hogan, Katie Howard, Roxanne Knepp, Claire Landuyt, Bethany Landwehr, Chase Ledin, Anna Leeper, Elizabeth Light, Kathryn Miller, Ashton Montgomery, Catherine Quamme, Maggie Roby, Judith Rodriguez, Elisabeth Rogge, Trenton Rowland, Daniel Shtivelberg, Genevieve Simon, Leela Singh, Sophie Stokes, Kayla Theis, Andrew Trimmer, Rebekah Vouis, Natalie Woods, Ellen Yahnke

Undergraduate students receive scholarship awards. Established December 9, 1982, by American Playwrights Theatre, Inc. Income provides scholarships to students who have demonstrated exceptional talent and ability in dramatic writing. Recipients: Julia Langholt, Elizabeth Light, Andrew Trimmer The Gerald R. Black Scholarship Fund for Recognition of Excellence in Theatre was established in 1974 in memory of Gerald R. Black, a 1924 graduate of The Ohio State University. The scholarship is intended for undergraduate students within the Department of Theatre interested in the area of playwriting. Recipients: Elisabeth Rogge, Ellen Yanke

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William Case Kramer Theatre Research Fellowship Congratulations to Marni Balint, the 2013 recipient of the William Case Kramer Theatre Research Fellowship. Marni will be undertaking a biographical and artistic analysis of the TRI’s significant collection of Czech scenography. A presentation of her research findings will be scheduled during autumn semester 2013.

Graduate Student Excellence Awards Recipients: Amany Seleem, service; Elizabeth Wellman, teaching; Samantha A. Kuhn, creative activity; Chris Hill, teaching, research and creative activity; Pamela Decker, scholarly leadership; Ian Pugh, service and research; Elizabeth Harelik, service.

A Fond Farewell to Eric H. Mayer By Dan Gray, Chair

Eric H. Mayer

I am one of the faculty who has been frequently saved by his generous help, extraordinary patience and brilliance with technology. He enriches us with his presence, his sense of humor and his enormous collection of OSU paraphernalia. He is truly a Buckeye beyond compare! {Joy Reilly, associate Professor}

After 15 years of service, the Department of Theatre wished Administrative and Production Manager Eric H. Mayer a very fond farewell as he moved to New York City to pursue a career as an Equity stage manager. Eric was an outstanding staff member as evidenced by his receiving a 2013 Ohio State Outstanding Staff award and an enormous asset to the Department of Theatre. He began his Ohio State career in 1998 as a student focused on stage management and sound design. His earliest projects with the department were as an assistant sound designer for our 2000 production of Orpheus Descending and as stage manager for our 2001 production of Wit directed by then Chair Lesley Ferris. And, in true Eric fashion, he did all this while he was working as the head manager for the Ohio State Marching Band. Upon his graduation in 2003 with a BA in theatre Eric joined our staff as the undergraduate studies and stage management coordinator, a position he ably manned until 2008 when he was promoted to administrative coordinator. Eric continued to pursue his true passion for stage management as the production stage manager for such personal favorites as The Rocky Horror Show in 2005 and Hair in 2006 – both at the Southern Theatre. In 2011, when Eric completed a specialized MFA in stage and theatre management we crafted a hybrid position of administrative manager and production manager to capitalize on Eric’s considerable production/stage management skills. It is no surprise that even given his added production responsibilities, Eric still excelled in his job. He is highly organized and worked tirelessly to complete such mind-numbing tasks as entering all our course information for semester conversion and created our teaching matrix. He was extremely patient with a faculty who saw him as a “fixer” who could handle everything from computer problems to travel reimbursements. He was well versed in the intricacies of the budgeting process and maneuvering within the ever-changing financial system at the university. He worked very well with students and had a clear sense of the things he can solve for them and the details that required my attention. Eric also worked well with other departments and centers and was instrumental in coordinating the multi-disciplinary efforts that went into our recent tour of The Camouflage Project. He also deftly negotiated the presentation of The Camouflage Project at the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation and the University of Maryland. He has been an integral part of managing the delicate interface with the Royal Shakespeare Company as we enter the fourth year of our partnership with this prestigious company. Eric was also widely recognized across the university for his work on the ASC Staff Advisory Council, Business Process Improvement Working Groups and the former College of the Arts Staff Professional Development Grants Committee. Eric moved to New York City to stage manage a site specific production of Street Scene by Elmer Rice. He served as the production stage manager and production manager for this showcase code production produced by Brave New World Repertory Theatre in Brooklyn. Rehearsals started on June 4 with performances on June 22 and 23. He completed a general management internship with 321 Theatre Management (current general manager for Wicked and Peter and the Starcatcher – previous productions include Next to Normal, Sister Act, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee). Recently, Eric was hired to be the production stage manager for the Off-Broadway production of Strawberry and Chocolate which runs November 7 through December 29 and is directed by Tony Award winning actor Roger Robinson.

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Alumni and friends 1960s

1990s

Peter Lawrence (BA, 1966) was awarded a Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre on Saturday, June 8, at the Tony Awards Ceremony. Lawrence has worked as a production stage manager and assistant director for more than 20 Broadway shows, including the current Annie, along with Shrek, the Musical; Spamalot; Gypsy; and Annie Get Your Gun. He teaches at Columbia University, and has written a textbook about stage management.

Roy Sexton (MA, 1997) is the vice president of marketing and strategic planning for Trott & Trott, Farmington Hills-based law firm and has been appointed to the Michigan Mortgage Lenders Association’s (MMLA) Southeast Chapter Board of Governors. This year he performed in The Penny Seat’s productions of Little Me and She Loves Me and Spotlight Players production of From the Shadows: The Villains Take the Stage.

1970s Frank Mohler (PhD, 1976) published an article, “The Upper Inner Stage in the Illusionistic Theatre” in Theatre Design and Technology and presented a paper on the use of digital technology in theatre restoration at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education convention. He created several design concepts for the renovation of the Appalachian Theatre (a 1938 movie theatre in downtown Boone, NC) into a performing arts venue and made presentations to several groups. In September 2012 he was appointed to the Appalachian Theatre Board of Trustees and is serving as a vice chair of the board and chair of the design and construction committee. He was also appointed chair of the Town of Boone Cultural Resources Advisory Board. Frank designed lights for a concert version of Rent in December 2012. His wife and alumna Claudia was also on the Save the Appalachian Theatre Task Force and is involved with the fundraising campaign for the theatre.

1980s Geoffrey Nelson (MA, 1981) launched A Portable Theatre to tour small works statewide. His first production was with former CATCO partner Jonathan Putnam (MFA, 1990) in the first touring production: The Duck Variations, by David Mamet. Diane Wondisford (MFA, 1982) is the president and producing director of MusicTheater Group in Brooklyn, New York. She oversees the making of music-theater from scratch. She works with composers, writers, directors, designers, and performing companies from the conceptual phase of an idea to the final product of performance and creation. She also was Lawrence and Isabel Barnett Center for Integrated Arts & Enterprise candidate earlier this year.

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Chérie Gallinati (MFA, 1999) joined the team at Gopher Stage Lighting, returning to the industry after a brief hiatus with a soft goods/ orthopedics manufacturer. She has worked over 10 years in the Twin Cities theatre and construction trades, both at SECOA and Norcostco. She also designs freelance all over the Twin Cities, both for theatre and movies. Her most recent production, The Giant Spider, premiered on May 22 at The Heights Theatre. Michael Jon Washer (BA, 1994) has, after two years as head carpenter for Metallica, (which includes a cameo in the band’s 3D movie Through the Never released in August 2013), been promoted to stage manager for the legendary San Francisco heavy metal band. Mark David Winchester (PhD, 1995) died May 15, 2013, after several years of battling with illness. After receiving his MA and PhD at Ohio State, he worked in San Francisco and Chicago before he fell ill.

2000s Katarina Aubrecht (BA, 2008) after graduation moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where she has found many uses for her theatre degree. She is a part time middle school theatre teacher, ballet teacher assistant for 2-4 year olds, a consult for a ballet interpretation of The Wiz, and assists a milliner. Jaclyn Benedict (BA, 2012) is a production stage manager for City Parks Foundation, a nonprofit organization, based in New York. Andrew Blasenak (PhD, 2012) is a visiting assistant professor at Emory and Henry College teaching acting and introduction to theatre classes and directing Talley’s Folly and Pericles. Alex Boyles (MFA, 2013) and Zoey Boyles welcomed Jack Vincent Boyles into the world at 3:07 AM on August 20, 2013.

Brandon Curtis (BA, 2009) was assistant stage manager for for/word company’s production North in New York City and The Acting Company’s touring productions of As You Like It and Of Mice and Men. Margaret Glaser (BA, 2012) was accepted into Carnegie Mellon University’s master of entertainment industry management program. The program will train her to work in the screen-based entertainment industry John O.S. Houston (BA, 2012) performed his one-man show, When a Man Stands Alone: The Life of the Louisville Lip, about Muhammad Ali at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Benjamin Jones (BA, 2003) is an officer in the Navy who was recently assigned to Indianapolis for duty. After discovering old theatre assignments and memoriam he reminisced on the some of his favorite memories of his life working on run crew during Comic Potential. Ashley Kobza (MFA, 2013) is in Illinois as an adjunct faculty at DePage University. Tatjana Longerot (MFA, 2002) worked alongside designers John Gillie (lighting) and Atlanta set designer Carla Raleigh in the production of As You Like It, the schools Shakespearean debut. Christopher Matsos (PhD, 2010) is assistant professor and director of theatre at the University of Findlay. Tory Matsos (MFA, 2012) is adjunct faculty at the University of Findlay. Kevin McClatchy (MFA, 2012) is assistant professor of theatre at The Ohio State University. Jeremy Meier (MFA, 2002) performed Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry with Ohio Chautauqua. Allyson Morgan (BA, 2004) announced the screening of the new film, A Little Game, where she played Mrs. Winter alongside such actors as F. Murray Abraham, Olympia Dukakis, Ralph Macchio, Janeane Garofalo, and Oona Laurence. Moopi Mothibeli (MFA, 2012) was accepted into the film schools of NYU, Columbia and CalArts. Paul Moon (BA, 2011) appeared in the Off-Broadway show My Big Gay Italian Wedding and earned his Actors’ Equity Card.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood He was also cast on the soap opera, All My Children, which is the newest addition to his surging television career; the others being, Tainted Dreams, and another where he’ll play a commentator in a reality show set to air on ESPN this fall about the Collegiate Arm Wrestling League. Moon also hopes to assemble a cast, producer, and director soon for his play, Prophets of Providence, which is about his experiences at military school. Divya Murthy (MFA, 2012) is working at the La Jolla Playhouse in the props department. Thanh Nguyen (BA, 2012) finished an internship with the American Red Cross and wrote plays. He completed an internship in Los Angeles at Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc. and FilAm Arts. Kal Poole (MFA, 2009) is managing director of Grandstreet Theatre in Helena, Montana. He plans to make a school more accessible to children in Helena Valley launching a satellite program. He also wishes to create a “green” theatre, where all costumes and sets will be recycled. Chris Roche (MFA, 2006) is visiting assistant professor and musical theatre specialist in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. He will teach acting, the singing actor, and history of musical theatre. Amy (Long) Schmidt (BA, 2004) completed the MFA in dance at Ohio State in 2008 and is now academic program coordinator in the Department of Dance at Ohio State. She is married to Matthew Schmidt (BS Chemical Engineering, MEd) with two children, David (born 2009) and Eleanor (born 2012).

Cole Simon (BA, 2007) worked on Glass City Films’ production of Chrysalis. Gabe Solomon (BA, 2010) worked at the Hot Chelle Rae concert in New Albany. Jennifer Stoessner (Ph.D, 2008) is at Missouri State teaching two acting sections, theatre history, and either introduction to theatre or performance of literature. Matt Vadnais (PhD, 2008) is assistant professor of renaissance literature and creative writing in the English department at Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin and was finalist for the prestigious 2013 J. Leeds Barroll Dissertation Prize awarded by the Shakespeare Association of America. Alison Vasquez (MFA, 2013) is a full-time adjunct faculty member in the theatre department at Palo Alto College within the Alamo College system in the city of San Antonio, Texas. Darius Williams (PhD, 2006) is a tenure track assistant professor in the Department of Theatre and the Program of Africana Studies at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Matthew Yde (PhD, 2011) wrote the essay “The Radical Theology of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Decalogue” which is featured as a chapter in a book, Godly Heretics: Essays on Alternative Christianity in Literature and Popular Culture, published by McFarland Press. His article, “Building the New City of God: Shaw’s Provisional Supermen,” was published in a recent volume of SHAW: The Annual of Bernard Shaw Studies (volume 32), which can be found in the Ohio State library.

Local Theatre Company with Ohio State Ties has Off-Broadway Debut Local theatre troupe, the for/word company – which has strong ties to the Department of Theatre - debuted its production of North OffBroadway. The company was selected by the Drama Desk award-winning 59E59 Theaters to present North October 4-28 in New York City. The production was conceived by Christina Ritter (PhD 2007) and Jennifer Schlueter (PhD 2007), written and directed by Jennifer Schlueter, starring Kalafatic Poole (MFA 2009), Christina Ritter, and Christopher Marlowe Roche (PhD 2012), designed by Brad Steinmetz (MFA 2003), choreography by lecturer Karen Mozingo (PhD 2008), lighting design by Anjeanette Stokes (MFA 2005) stage management by Production Manager Eric Mayer (MFA 2011), assistant stage management by Brandon Curtis (BA 2009) and marketing by Elizabeth Dekker (MA 2004). North, first performed in Chicago in 2008, is the story of a meeting between Anne Morrow Lindbergh and French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery. For more, go to: for-word-company.net.

Friends News Ohio State Department of Theatre emeritus faculty member Ionia Zelenka died on Saturday, October 20, 2012. She was a professor at Ohio State from 1977 to 1988 and was associate artistic director of CATCO, which she co-founded with alumnus Geoffrey Nelson.

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Regional Campus Reports 24

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Newark Lima Mansfield The Jungle Book, Ohio State Lima

Ohio State Newark

By Dave Williams, Associate Professor The Black Box Theater in 2012 – 2013 presented its most ambitious season to date. With the conversion to semesters, it became logical to raise the number of performances from three a year to four. The season featured two established, award-winning scripts and two world premieres. The first production was Frank McGuinness’ powerful drama of hostages in Lebanon (based on actual events), Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me. The three-man cast included me, a student (Mark Allison), and a writer/ director from the Newark community (Travis Kopp). My visit to Ireland the previous summer gave me the necessary information to provide Mark with authoritative assistance on the Irish accent he needed to assume. To convey the proper impression of the Middle East locale, the set featured a complex and labor-intensive pattern called the Cairo Tessellation, a stark contrast to the generally distressed and dilapidated walls. This production played to large houses, and got the season off to a rousing start. This was followed by the world premiere of Dan Borengasser’s Goat Song Revel, an innovative and comic reworking of the Job story, with the addition of several Greek elements to the Biblical story. Two of the cast members, who played the Chorus (Kristen Demlow) and Dionysus (Mark Allison), were required to work in masks, a new experience for both. After some early difficulties, they

reported that they found this to be somewhat challenging, but also an interesting learning experience, which would help them in further stage work. The set not only presented three separate environments simultaneously, but also surprised the audience when one character, the Messenger, appeared above the 10-feet-high flats. The playwright and his wife journeyed to Newark from their home in Arkansas, and saw the production twice. After the second performance, Mr. Borengasser graciously addressed questions and comments from the audience, which appeared well satisfied with the production. A dark drama, Marsha Norman’s ‘night, Mother followed, as it was the perfect show for the depths of winter. Community favorites Edie L. Norlin and Kristen Hayes played out the story of Jessie’s suicide against a set that was an accurate representation of an isolated house in Oklahoma. (As an Oklahoma native, Edie was extremely helpful in providing sitespecific details of the set dressing that only residents would know.) At more than one performance, members of the audience could be observed weeping as the play led to its inevitable and fatal climax.

anguished over the death of his father in Vietnam. The set appeared to be merely a cramped metropolitan apartment, but featured a trick panel to allow the ghostly character Nevada (Dave Williams) seemingly to pass through a wall. The playwright lives in Cincinnati, and not only witnessed two rehearsals (one early, one late), but also traveled to Newark on both weekends of performance. The cast, crew, director, and audience were grateful for her attendance. In addition to these scripted performances, the Ohio State-Newark improv troupe, Outside the Box, presented a show at the end of each semester. The December performance occurred before a packed house, and was probably the finest ever presented by the troupe. Despite the lure of free pizza, the audience for the spring show was smaller, but no less appreciative, and the show featured some formats previously untried.

The season closed with its second world premiere, Sally Domet’s tale of redemption and maturity, In the Midnight Hour. Finishing an ambitious season for a student actor, Mark Allison played the lead role of Zack, an aspiring New York City playwright still

Goat Song Revel, Ohio State Newark

‘night Mother, Ohio State Newark Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, Ohio State Newark

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Ohio State Lima

By Maria Ignatieva, Associate Professor

Ohio State Lima inaugurated the bachelor’s degree in theatre. With the production of The Jungle Book, directed and choreographed by Margie Anich, the Ohio State Lima program Theatre for the Young Audiences celebrated its 18th season. Nearly 2,000 elementary school children attended the performances. In the spring, Maria Ignatieva directed Larry Shue’s The Foreigner. In addition to these two productions, the Departments of Theatre, Art and Music initiated the ATM project (Art, Theatre, and Music), which features the collaborative work of the students. The first one included stage monologues written and acted out by the students, which were inspired by student photography; the second one included a revue of rock musicals which coincided with a gallery opening of student art work.

Margie Anich directed and choreographed both evenings. Scenery for the two productions, as well as for the ATM evenings, was designed by Greg Owen; costumes were designed and constructed by Loo Brandesky and the students; and Doug Raver was the producer of both shows. Six students were awarded Martha W. Farmer scholarships, and Kyle Craft received the Ohio State Lima Department of Theatre award as the best student of the year. 2013 – 2014 will feature The Journey of a Duppy Boy, written and directed by Maria Ignatieva for the Theatre for the Young Audiences program in autumn 2013, and the musical Spamalot, directed by Margie Anich in spring 2014. The Foreigner, Ohio State Lima

Ohio State Mansfield

By Joseph Fahey, Assistant Professor

The 2012 – 2013 season in Mansfield was an exciting one. It began in August with another installment of The 24, a oneday exercise in creating and performing original scripts. Four teams presented challenging work that was alternately amusing and thought-provoking. In November we opened the mainstage season with a touring production of Macbeth in cooperation with the Children’s Theatre Foundation and the Renaissance Theatre. Thanks to the generous support of our Columbus colleagues, we were able to bring Christopher Matsos’s thoughtful abridgement of Shakespeare’s script to life for four local high schools and our campus audiences, employing the same set pieces as well as an original video design created by student Brice Eyerly. We then collaborated with the Mansfield Youth Theatre to present Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Jr. to sold-out houses in Founders Auditorium in January. The large cast of elementary and high school students offered a spirited performance in this ambitious production.

ENCORE

In March, our theatre program presented a workshop production of a new musical, Chasing, by local playwright Paulina Trunzo. The workshop presentation was a great experience for our actors as well as the writing and composing team. It also allowed our audiences to offer feedback on a new work in development. We closed our season in May with My Way, A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra. This delightful show thrilled audiences of older and younger patrons, and was a great performance opportunity for our talented four singers and three musicians. The 2013 – 14 season should also be a great one. We will present another installment of The 24, and then present an eclectic mix of classics with Arsenic and Old Lace, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and The Fantastiks. We’ve also expanded our youth theatre offerings and will present three youth productions in collaboration with The Renaissance Theatre.

My Way, A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra, Ohio State Mansfield

Shift ing b ounda cross ries/ ing cu lture s:

The Jungle Book, Ohio State Lima

Stephen Wangh (center) leads an introductory workshop on Grotowski’s exercises.

The Politics, Process, and Performance of Collaboration By Geoffrey Wilson, PhD Student On April 5 and 6, 2013, the Graduate Theatre Syndicate hosted its fifth annual symposium, “Shifting Boundaries/Crossing Cultures: The Politics, Process, and Performance of Collaboration.” The symposium was co-sponsored by The Performance/ Politics Humanities Institute Working Group, coconveners Harmony Bench (Dance), Ryan Skinner (ethnomusicology), and Jennifer Schlueter (Theatre). The keynote speaker Stephen Wangh studied with Jerzy Grotowski in 1967 and is the author of An Acrobat of the Heart and The Heart of Teaching. His playwriting credits include work as an associate writer for The Laramie Project and The People’s Temple, which won the Glickman Award for Best Play in the Bay Area, 2005. In addition to his keynote speech, Stephen gave an introductory workshop on Grotowski’s exercises, which he has taught in the United States and internationally. The Graduate Theatre Syndicate was also pleased to welcome special guest Petr Matásek. Petr is a Czech artist, set designer, director, and associate professor at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre at DAMU, in Prague. Petr co-directed The Ohio State Department of Theatre’s production of aPOEtheosis with Joe Brandesky. aPOEtheosis was a new devised work of theatre and the two directors were gracious enough to begin this year’s symposium with a public discussion of the challenges of devising new work and collaborating across national and cultural borders. In addition to scholarly papers addressing the symposium’s theme, this year’s event also included several workshops and performances. The Syndicate hopes to continue a trend toward greater inclusion of all disciplines within the Department of Theatre, as well as toward broader engagement with other departments in the Ohio State community and academia in general.

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Ohio State and Royal Shakespeare company expand partnership MFA acting students and local teachers’ physical interpretations of Hamlet’s love letters to Ophelia at the RSC Stand-up for Shakespeare training. By Chelsea Phillips, PhD Student In October 2012, with the continued support of Leslie and Abigail Wexner, The Ohio State University and the UK’s Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) announced a major expansion of their initial three-year collaboration. The expansion supports Ohio State’s aspiration to be a destination for the innovative teaching, research and performance of Shakespeare, and fosters RSC’s presence in North America. The new agreement expands innovative, rehearsal-room inspired K-12 teacher training beyond the 4,000 K-12 students and teachers and 22 Ohio State graduate students engaged during the initial three years. The extended partnership also supports the continuation of the RSC’s co-productions with some of America’s leading theater makers and artists. In autumn 2012, the RSC’s Young People’s Shakespeare production of King Lear toured to Columbus, where over 3,000 area K-12 and undergraduate students saw the performance. Throughout their residency, the company worked with students and faculty from the Departments of Teaching and Learning, English, and Theatre in a

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series of workshops. Also during that residency, RSC training for the 2012 – 2013 cohort of 16 teachers and 14 graduate students began with a weekend intensive workshop series led by RSC Director of Education Jacqui O’Hanlon, teaching artist Rebecca Gould, and assistant director of King Lear, Caroline Byrne. In February, the Department of Theatre opened its touring production of Twelfth Night at the Lincoln Theatre in downtown Columbus. Tory Matsos, an MFA acting alumna who participated in the first three years of the RSC training, directed the production that toured to area schools from February to April. The all-undergraduate cast not only performed, but also conducted interactive workshops with K-12 students. In conjunction with this tour, the Wexner Center for the Arts’ season included Tim Crouch’s solo production, I, Malvolio, which tells the story of Twelfth Night from Malvolio’s perspective. Crouch, who directed the production of King Lear seen in Columbus in the fall, worked with teachers and students during the February training session. Peggy O’Brien of the Folger Shakespeare Library also gave a lecture at Ohio State’s Theatre Research Institute as part of the training.

In May, the RSC presented its acclaimed production of Julius Caesar, set in contemporary Africa and directed by the RSC’s new Artistic Director Gregory Doran, at the Southern Theatre in Columbus. As part of the Julius Caesar residency, Ohio State organized a panel discussion featuring Gregory Doran and faculty members from departments around the university, including theatre faculty member Kevin McClatchy. In June 2013, the cohort of teachers and graduate students traveled to England for a week-long intensive with RSC educators and actors in Stratford-upon-Avon. Six faculty members accompanied the group, including Robin Post and Maureen Ryan from theatre. Cohort members attended the RSC productions of Hamlet and As You Like It, which MFA actor Melonie Mazibuko described as “an absolute joy.”

2013 – 2014 promises to be another exciting year. Performance opportunities include The Tempest, directed by RSC artist Cressida Brown; Ohio State’s touring production of As You Like It directed by theatre faculty member Maureen Ryan; and the RSC’s First Encounters production of The Taming of the Shrew.

Seeing the change that theatre can bring into young lives is something I will hold on to for the rest of my life. {ALEX BOYLES, MFA Acting, 2012}

Shakespeare and Autism Project at Kilbourne Middle School. The full-length Shakespeare and Autism research project launched in fall 2012, and Post offered a new service learning course (Theatre 5922S) in spring 2013, aimed at training more students in HHM . Post and student members of the acting team have presented on this project at several conferences, including Post’s presentation at the World Stages Conference at the Tate Modern in September 2012. Additionally, the MFA actors’ upcoming work with Shakespeare and Autism will form the basis for their devised Outreach and Engagement Project, which will premiere in fall 2014. Kelly Hunter training a student in the Hunter Heartbeat Method.

By Elizabeth Harelik, PhD Student In late June/early July 2013, the MFA acting cohort and two PhD students from the Department of Theatre began training in the Hunter Heartbeat Method (HHM), the methodology at the heart of the Shakespeare and Autism program. After completing a full day of HHM training in Stratford, led by HHM creator Kelly Hunter, the students, along with Robin Post, director of the Shakespeare & Autism Project at Ohio State, and Maureen Ryan, associate professor in the Department of Theatre, traveled to London to join Hunter in her work with students at the Village School in Brent, a northwest borough of London.

The work in England was the most recent development in a three year research collaboration between Hunter, The Ohio State University Department of Theatre, the Ohio State/Royal Shakespeare Company collaboration, the Nisonger Center, and

Columbus City Schools. HHM is a series of activities, developed by Hunter over 10 years ago, drawn from Shakespeare’s text

and stories and designed to break through communicative blocks for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). She first demonstrated her methodology at Ohio State in February 2011. In early 2012, a team of theatre students, led by Robin Post, began HHM workshops with students with ASD

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Kayla Theis, Rachel Moore, Victoria Carthorn, Francesca Spedalieri, Andrew Trimmer, Camille Bullock, Emily Kacsandi, Melonie Mazibuko, Sifiso Mazibuko, Julia Langholt, Maria Kenngott, and Devonte’ Johnson outside of Shakespeare’s Globe after seeing Macbeth.

Travel London Prague

Marni Balint at the John Lennon Wall in Prague.

Liz Hall, Emi Bungo, Marni Balint, and Emily Jeu on the wall leading into Český Krumlov.

Emily Kacsandi, Rachel Moore, Andrew Trimmer, Maria Kenngott, Melonie Mazibuko, Sifiso Mazibuko, Kristine Kearney, Devonte’ Johnson during a workshop with solo artist Peter Cutts. Photo by Chelsea Phillips.

Emily Jeu, Marni Balint, Liz Hall, Kaitlin Whitt, and Emi Bungo in the gardens outside of the palace of Český Krumlov.

London Study Abroad By Chelsea Phillips (PhD Student) In July 2013, a group of five graduate and eight undergraduate students from Ohio State’s Department of Theatre participated in a four-week study abroad program in London. The bi-annual study abroad program focuses on exposing students to contemporary British theatre and immersing them in the vibrant, multi-cultural experiences available in London. Associate Professor Kristine Kearney and Assistant Professor Jennifer Schlueter led the program, with assistance from PhD students Francesca Spedalieri and Chelsea Phillips. While in London, the students viewed work by many prominent British theatre companies, such as Complicite, Shared Experience, and visited renowned bastions of new work, like the Royal Court and Tricycle Theatre. They also experienced West End hits such as Matilda, the Musical and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (each the recipient of seven Olivier awards), and saw new and classical work at the National, Old and Young Vic theatres, the Globe, and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Highlights of the trip included August Wilson’s Fences starring Lenny Henry, A Season in the Congo with Chiwetel Ejiofor, David Grieg’s The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, Titus Andronicus at the RSC, and Alistair MacDowell’s Talk Show, a new work from the Royal Court.

In addition to viewing a remarkable amount of theatre (22 plays in 31 days), students had the opportunity to participate in the creation process for a new play by Jennifer Schlueter, Patience Worth. The play received its first staged reading at the Tristan Bates theatre in London on August 3rd. The program also exposed students to a number of guest speakers, including actor and director Sam West, solo artist Peter Cutts, London theatre experts Lesley Ferris, Ruth Tompsett, and Phoebe Ferris-Rotman, and New York Times theatre critic Matt Wolf (New York Times, The Guardian, The Arts Desk). Over a long weekend, students had the opportunity to explore beyond the bounds of London itself, traveling to destinations such as Paris and Dublin. In all, it was a trip filled with spectacular theatre, delicious meals, and excellent company.

Prague Theatre Program By Marni Balint, MFA Scenic Design Student During May term, I had the immense privilege of traveling with the Czech Theatre and History class to Prague and the Czech Republic for a 12 day excursion around the country. During this trip with the Prague Theatre Program we traveled to several different cities and towns within the Czech Republic for many tours, shows and adventures. Some of the highlights and favorite parts of my trip include visiting Český Krumlov, a small town a couple of hours outside of Prague. The winding streets in this town led to a large castle on a hill. It was owned and used by one family for over 400 years that continuously renovated different parts of the castle during their residence there. During this tour we were also able to see one of the oldest, working Baroque style theatres still used to this day. The theatre was beautiful and we were also able to see original drops and costumes used in this theatre. Another amazing part of the journey was exploring the fortress town of Terezín. Terezín is home to the National Museum and its large national Theatre collection. We went through the building and saw hundreds original renderings of scenic and costume designs, scenic models and original costume pieces – one even dating back to the early 1750s–from famous designers and scenographers throughout the Czech Republic. We even toured the museum they had in dedication to the concentration camp and the artwork the prisoners created during WWII. Some of their artwork also included original plays, costume pieces and designs. Terezín was one of the most powerful and historically rich places we visited.

While the trip did not coincide with the Prague Quadrennial, we still were able to participate and interact with many prominent members and events of Czech Theatre. The first show we saw was an all student devised, performed and designed production of an interpretation of Romeo and Juliet from the students of DAMU – the theatre school in Prague. This was probably my favorite show we saw there. It was a great inspiration to see a work that was totally devised by students. We also saw several other shows in Prague and Brno including two operas, a Mark Twain production, a Tom Stoppard play, and a couple of devised shows. We had the great pleasure of spending time and talking with Petr Matásek (who recently co-devised aPOEtheosis), Jaroslav Malina (a famous Czech scenographer), and Simona Rybáková (a famous Czech costume designer). For young theatre students to spend time with prominent members of the Czech theatre community, it was a great opportunity to learn, grow and talk about their careers current and in the future. The Prague Theatre Program is a great program to participate in. It has greatly helped to enhance my knowledge of theatre on an international level while learning about how history and culture can influence theatre. I look forward to visiting Prague again and strongly recommend anyone to participate in such an amazing program.

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Theatre-goers at a festival in Cardiff, Wales, would not have experienced Willow Theatre, an ethereal and mystical sustainable performance space surrounded by an airy â&#x20AC;&#x153;forestâ&#x20AC;? of swaying fabric fronds. Brad Steinmetz, assistant professor of design in the Department of Theatre, and Columbus architect Tim Lai created the winning design for World Stage Design 2013, a quadrennial celebration of international theatre design. Their fully functioning temporary theater was made entirely from locally sourced, reusable, and recyclable materials, and was chosen by an international panel of judges to be constructed for the festival in September.

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Photo credit: Matthew Carbone