Welcome to the winter 2016 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.
Dear Friends:
It’s no secret that the UW School of Drama is training students to face the future with inspiration and courage. What better way to glimpse that future than by confronting the work of playwrights leading us there?
This quarter, I’m thrilled to announce, we’ll be working with 15 of the nation’s most forward-writing dramatic artists on projects ranging from partial readings to workshop stagings to full productions on UW stages and at Seattle’s professional theatres. To make matters more exciting, most of these adventures with the new will take place in partnership with our professional colleagues elsewhere in the city.
We’re so proud of these projects and of the willingness of the playwrights themselves, as aesthetically and culturally eclectic a group as you’ll find at any theatre in America, to come and play with us. For some—Kia Corthron, Melissa James Gibson, Taylor Mac and Ellen Maddow—this means second or third productions of recent works. For others—Clarence Coo, Karen Hartman, Philip Kan Gotanda and Yussef El Guindi, as well as the six writers in Seattle Rep’s Writers’ Group and the family of the late Oni Faida Lampley—it means entrusting us with work in the process of being made or finished.
We are ready to encounter the new and unknown. We hope you’ll join us there!
Warmly, Todd
PS: The New Play Workshop Series begins with...
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Thorn Michaels (third-year lighting design graduate student) finds it easy to relate to Sasha, the central character in Melissa James Gibson’s Brooklyn Bridge, being co-produced by UW Drama and Seattle Children’s Theatre and opening next month.
“It’s a beautiful show, with an adult message.” says Thorn. “Growing up an only child with a single mother, like Sasha, I battled with loneliness. What I love about this play is that she learns to look to the people around her and in them finds support and community that is greater than the insular nature of the old-fashioned family.”
Thorn is the show’s lighting designer—- her thesis production—- and it’s a bit of a homecoming for her. She started taking classes at Seattle Children’s Theatre when she was 12, including studying directing with Brooklyn Bridge director Rita Giomi.
“She was a big figure in my life. She influenced the way I think about theatre very early on,” says Thorn.
Before the winter break, Thorn took some time to chat about her time at UW, how she got into lighting, and how she approaches her art.
How did you get into lighting design?
When I came to UW as...
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Ben Gonio (PATP 2005) owns his own consulting business, teaches part-time at University of Washington Bothell, holds office hours at Startup Hall, continues to explore acting opportunities, and maintains a day job at Medex Northwest as part of a clinical team supporting medical education. After graduating with a BFA from Carnegie Mellon in 1998, Ben worked the regional theatre circuit and spent some time in Los Angeles before deciding to continue his acting studies in graduate school at the University of Washington School of Drama. He describes his post-graduation period of adjustment as “clunky.” Now he’s finding his niche as an artist in Seattle’s theatre community and as an artist in Seattle’s tech community.
What were your expectations going into grad school and joining the Seattle theatre community?
I knew I was going to have the opportunity to really explore roles and challenge perceptions. I just had a sense about Steve Pearson (former faculty) and the program being open to and embracing diversity—cultivating a student body that was diverse in its ideas and its representations of gender, belief systems, and culture. We were going to mix it up.
The theatre community in Seattle is so small, but it’s also complex and it’s constantly trying to do...
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MFA directing student Malika Oyetimein was selected for the City Arts 2016 Future List—artists and innovators who will shape the year to come.
Professor Valerie Curtis-Newton (MFA '96) directs Stephen Adly Guirgis's The Motherfucker with a Hat at Washington Ensemble Theatre, running January 15 thru February 1, and featuring Anna Lamadrid (PATP '15) and Moises Castro (PATP '16), with designs by Evan Anderson (BA '12), Katie Hegarty (MFA '09), and James Schreck (BA '11).
The Life Model, a collaborative project created by Jeffrey Fracé (professor) and Pirronne Yousefzadeh runs at On the Boards January 14–17. The Life Model explores the lives of four friends as they cross paths in Cairo before and during the transformative 2011 revolution. Also involved in the project are Deb Trout (professor) and Julia Sears (BA '12).
Lonnie Angle (BA '08) is part of the duo Cardiknox. The music video for their new single ...
Read moreUpcoming Events
The Tale of the Heike
New Play Workshop
by Philip Kan Gotanda and Yussef El Guindi
directed by Kurt Beattie
Penthouse Theatre
January 22–24
More info
Lost & Founded: Bathhouse Theatre
In partnership with UW World Series and One Coast Collaboration
Meany Studio Theatre
January 25, 7:30 PM
Reading & Reception, Free
More info
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Presented by the College of Arts & Sciences, Dance Program, School of Music, and School of Drama
Jones Playhouse
January 27–February 7
More info
Lost & Founded: NW Asian American Theatre
In partnership with UW World Series and One Coast Collaboration
Meany Studio Theatre
February 8, 7:30 PM
Reading & Reception, Free
More info
"Revisiting the New-ness of New Drama"
Jones Playhouse
February 16, 7:30 PM
Lecture & Reception, Free
More info
The Walk Across America for Mother Earth
In partnership with Washington Ensemble Theatre
by Taylor Mac
music by Ellen Maddow
directed by Ali el-Gasseir
Penthouse Theatre
February 24–28
More info
Brooklyn Bridge
In partnership with Seattle Children's Theatre
by Melissa James Gibson
directed by Rita Giomi
Charlotte Martin Theatre, SCT at Seattle Center
February 25–March 20
More info