Welcome to the fall 2015 edition of our academic e-newsletter, The Through-Line. On a quarterly basis, The Through-Line keeps you informed of the work being done by our students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
We hope you'll enjoy reading The Through-Line, and we welcome your thoughts, questions, and suggestions. Please get in touch with us at: katrinae@uw.edu.
Last month new and returning students, faculty, and staff gathered in the 75-year-old Penthouse Theatre to greet one another and the new school year. We do this every year, but this year, I realized, we stand at the center of a history reaching 75 years back—to the founding of the School of Drama--and, potentially (given the youth of the new students) 75 years into the future.
We’ve been talking a lot about our 75th anniversary…and it’s finally underway. At the end of September we held our first reading in the Lost & Founded series, produced in collaboration with UW World Series and One Coast Collaboration. This series celebrates the legacy of Seattle Theatre and the relationship between the School and its greater community. The connections were very much alive at the inaugural reading, honoring Alice B. Theatre, as co-founder Susan Finque is now a candidate in our PhD program. Next up, in November, alumnus Tim Bond will join us to celebrate the legacy of the Seattle Group Theatre. Stay tuned.
In this e-newsletter, you’ll read about Jennifer Lupton, who graduated with an MFA in scenic and lighting design in 1980. Happily, Jennifer is back, working with MFA directing student Sean Ryan on his staging of Loot.
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Read moreby Michael Monicatti (BA student)
They say, showing up is half the battle.
From the time I was a boy, I have considered myself an actor. It began in my backyard with bins of costumes, playing dress up in what I am now confortable admitting were my grandmother’s old shawls and has since taken me to the UW School of Drama and, this last summer, to London.
In the winter quarter of my sophomore year, I took a course affectionately called “Shakespeare” with the great (and I really mean it when I say great) Amy Thone. In the only Shakespeare acting course offered to undergraduate actors, Thone introduced us to Shakespeare’s sonnets, his plays, and his characters. We learned how to speak in rhythm using tennis rackets; we learned how important it was to emphasize double entendre; we learned how to shape the words into images; we learned how to make the text come alive. And we learned and we learned and we learned.
But those ten weeks go by too quickly. On top of that, I was spending four hours a night rehearsing for a show outside of class, so I felt like I didn’t even have the time I would have liked to fully invest. Procrastinating on writing a paper late one night, I stumbled upon an application to the Fulbright Summer Institute Scholarship at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London. I applied, not for a second expecting to hear...
Read moreDesigner Jennifer Lupton (MFA 1980) started her professional Seattle theatre career working for companies such as Pioneer Square Theatre, Empty Space, and Seattle Group Theatre.
“All those companies that are gone now were the lifeblood for people like me who were just getting out of school,” says Jennifer.
While those companies may no longer be in operation, their legacy continues, and a well-spring of talented theatre artists follow in their footsteps, seen in the recent founding of companies such as The Horse in Motion, Azeotrope, and the now well-established Washington Ensemble Theatre. These companies are the manifestations of the dreams and tenacity of School of Drama students, and this season is full of collaborations between the School, local theatres, and our alumni.
Jennifer is one of the alumni who has been called back to the School to create work and celebrate our 75th anniversary season. Literally, called back to work on Loot with MFA directing student Sean Ryan, opening in December at Meany Studio Theatre.
We recently sat down with Jennifer, who just returned from New York, where she was opening Seattle Children Theatre’s ...
Read moreThe UW School of Drama PhD program hosts a symposium examining the founding visions of our city’s theatres.
Presentations by current PhD students include:
UW School of Drama—Monica Cortes Viharo
The Mountaineers Players—Robert Wighs
Alice B. Theatre—Jay Eckard
Following the presentations, the symposium will continue with a panel moderated by Seattle Times theatre critic, Misha Berson. Panelists will include Marya Sea Kaminski, Desdemona Chiang, Andrew McMasters, and Myra Platt.
Small bites and drinks provided. RSVP requested.
Questions? Please contact Katrina Ernst at katrinae@uw.edu or 206-685-0600.
Christine Tschirgi (MFA 2007) designed the costumes for and Yesenia Iglesias (PATP 2014) plays Yaz in Water By the Spoonful, produced by Theatre22 and opening October 23 at West of Lenin.
Marya Sea Kiminski (PATP 2004), Lynn Shelton (BA 1987), Jennifer Zeyl (MFA 2003), and Valerie Curtis-Newton (MFA 1996 and faculty) are included in the exhibition Genius / 21 Century / Seattle at the Frye Art Museum, on view through January 10.
Geoff Korf (faculty) and Jennifer Lupton (MFA 1980) are part of the design team that took Seattle Children's Theatre's production of Robin Hood to New Victory Theater in New York.
Christopher Goodson (PhD candidate) published a couple of articles on Howlround, including an interview with playwright Diane Rodriguez and a piece about Seattle company eSe Teatro.
Ada Limón (BA 1998) made the National Book Award poetry longlist for her collection ...
Read moreThe Cradle Will Rock
by Marc Blitzstein
directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton
Jones Playhouse
October 28–November 8
More info
Seattle Theatre Symposium
Jones Playhouse
November 2 at 7:30 PM
Public Talk, Free
More info
Seattle Theatres Lost & Founded: Seattle Group Theatre
In partnership with Meany Hall and One Coast Collaboration
Meany Studio Theatre
November 9
More info
Art of the Costume
Penthouse Theatre
November 11–15
Exhibition featuring the work of Seattle artist Susan Pasco
More info
Rainn Wilson at University Bookstore
University Temple United Methodist Church
November 14
Purchase tickets online
Loot
by Joe Orton
directed by Sean Ryan
Meany Studio Theatre
December 2–13
More info
Beginnings: First Breath
In partnership with Jet City Improv
...