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SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER—THE MONTHS TO WATCH
The DC Horn Foundation and the Yale Drama Series Special Events
September 12
The Yale Drama Series 2011 Award Ceremony
Shannon Murdoch will be awarded the 2011 Yale Drama Series Prize for her play New Light Shine at a private reception at The Study Hotel Penthouse on the evening of September 12. Runners-up Mary Elizabeth Hamilton (We Three) and Laura Marks (Bethany)will also be on hand for the festivities. The Yale Repertory Theater will present a reading of New Light Shine following the award ceremony. The reading is open to the public.
New Light Shine
By Shannon Murdoch
Directed By Jackson Gay
The cast features Alec Beard, Emily Dorsch, and Sarah Sokolovic
September 12 at 7:30 PM
The Iseman Theater
1156 Chapel Street, New Haven
To guarantee seats, please call 203.436.8957 or e-mail dramaseries@yale.edu.
Present series judge John Guare chose New Light Shine from over 870 submissions.
September 20 – October 15
New York Premiere of Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig’s Lidless
Lidless
By Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig
Directed by Tea Alagic
The cast features Danielle Skraastad, Laith Nakli, Thom Rivera, Maha Chehlaoul and Emma Galvin
Walkerspace
46 Walker Street (between Broadway and Church), New York City
This is a Page 73 Production
For tickets: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/3082 or visit http://www.p73.org/
Sir David Hare chose Lidless as the 2009 winner of the Yale Drama Series. Since then, Lidless debuted at the 2010 High Tide Festival in the UK, won the 2010 Edinburgh Festival Fringe First Award and had a 2011 run at the Trafalgar Studios in London’s West End.
September 26
NYC Reading of Neil Wechsler’s Grenadine
Grenadine
By Neil Wechsler
Directed by Hal Brooks
The cast features Bruce Dow
September 26 at 7:00 PM
Theater for the New City / Joyce and Seward Johnson Theater
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th), New York City
For tickets: http://www.tctnyc.org/tct/GRENADINE.html
Edward Albee chose Grenadine as the 2008 winner of the Yale Drama Series. In 2009 Grenadine premiered at the Road Less Traveled Productions in Buffalo, NY. It has received student productions at SMU (2010) and UNC-Chapel Hill (2011).
October 14 – November 13
World Premiere of Virginia Grise's blu
blu
By Virginia Grise
Directed by Laurie Carlos
The cast features Diana DeLaCruz, Romi Dias, Luis Galindo, Phillip Garcia, Alexandra Jimenez and Xavi Moreno
Company of Angels at the Alexandria
501 Spring Street, Downtown Los Angeles
For tickets: www.companyofangels.org
Sir David Hare chose blu as the 2010 winner of the Yale Drama Series.
EDWARD ALBEE, SIR DAVID HARE AND JOHN GUARE
HONOR VIRGINIA GRISE AND HER AWARD WINNING PLAY "BLU"
"blu" is the 2010 winner of The Yale Drama Series Competition
supported by the DC Horn Foundation
Past winners Francis Ya-Chu Cowhig "Lidless" and Neil Wechsler "Grenadine" attended the dinner and conversation held at the Ritz Carlton Rise Bar in Battery Park September 18, 2010.
Reception held at the Ritz Carlton Rise Bar, Battery Park Manhattan 9/18/2010.
Photo from left to right: John Guare, Edward Albee and Francine Horn. Sir David Hare, Francis Ya-Chu Cowhig and Virginia Grise. John Guare, Edward Albee and Sir David Hare. James Bundy and Sir David Hare. John Donatich and Virginia Grise. (Photo credit: Harvey Wang)
"LIDLESS" OPENS IN THE WEST END
The Yale Drama Series 2009 Winner Francis Ya Chu Cowhig premiers "Lidless" in Londons West End March 15th before moving to New York this Autumn. The Horn Foundation is extremely proud of her achievements and thanks our judge, at that time, Sir David Hare for choosing Francis. The play is at the Trafalgar Square Studios until the first week in April.
"GRENADINE" PERFORMS AT SMC By Lauren Smart December 2, 2010
Collaboration must be in the air in Meadows because everyone seems to be catching onto the idea that two skills are better than one.
Theater student Ezra Bookman caught the bug to collaborate with MFA visual art student Bernie Diaz for his undertaking of "Grenadine" by Neil Wechsler.
"There's a lot of potential for collaboration in Meadows," Bookman said. " There's a power in combining art forms; it's a challenge for the creators that hopefully translates to an interesting show."
Bookman found "Grenadine" when perusing bookstores in New York City.
Although relatively new, Wechsler's play was awarded the 2008 Yale Drama Series Award by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Edward Albee.
The play is a story of friendship, love and a journey.
Similar in plot to "Oh Brother Where art Thou?" the play is about four friends on a journey from prison to reunite with the lives they once led.
The four friends are played by Dylan Stewart, Micah Figueroa, Tyler Crim and Piper Werle.
The other four theater students in the show play a total of 24 characters whom the friends encounter on this journey.
These parts are performed by Alia Tavakouan, Isaac McGinley, Aneesha Kudtarkar and Nick Cains.
"Grenadine captures the change that people undergo when they are faced with problems that they need to conquer," Bookman said.
Bookman has pulled together a show that promises to be both challenging and aesthetically pleasing, thanks to Diaz' hand drawn designs for the projected backdrops.
Bookman has crafted the play into something all his own, from the white backdrop for Diaz's backgrounds to the mixture of puppetry, shadow puppetry, physical presence and shadows.
The play's surrealism fits well into the setting that Bookman has envisioned, and the only way to fully visualize it is to come see it.
"I hope the show challenges people's preconceived notions of what theater is and should be," Bookman said.
Grenadine will be produced in Meadows B150, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 and 8 p.m.