Upcoming: Stop Kiss by Diana Son, UT Lab Theatre, November 4 - 12

Found on-line:

UT Lab Theatre presents

Stop Kiss

by Diana Son

Performances: Nov. 4th, 6th, 9th - 12th, 2011 @ 8pm -

Laboratory Theatre (LTH), UT Austin, between Jackson Geological Bldg (JGB)and Winship Drama Building (WIN), near 24th and San Jacinto (click for map)

free admission - donations accepted


A collaboration between undergraduates from the University of Texas at Austin, MFA Acting Candidates, and professional theatre-makers from the Austin Community.

“They tell me to speak truth to power and I don’t know what that means, Sara. Do you? Do you know me? Do you know who I am?” -Callie, Scene 14.

The play

Two women meet by chance in the chaos of New York City – one hovers above her life, while the other has jumped in headfirst. As their friendship grows, both are faced with the daunting and exhilarating task of re-evaluating who they are and what they want.

“Sara is always asking me “What do you want, Callie?” And finally I let her know. I answered.”

The night that Callie and Sara share their first kiss, they are brutally attacked in a Greenwich Village park. With Sara plunged into a coma and her family threatening to take her away from the “dangerous” city and back to her hometown of Chesterfield, Missouri, Callie must take ownership of this new relationship and of what she truly wants.
Stop Kiss is a play that asks the difficult questions about self-identity, imposed identity, falling in love, and the hazards and joy of living in New York City - indeed, simply of living.

Our Goal (Mission Statement) (click for Facebook page for Stop Kiss)

This production developed out of a very simple want – we want to make theatre. We want to make theatre that is collaborative, explorative, risky, and truly reflective of the people who are in the room. MFA Actor at the University of Texas at Austin, Mykal Monroe, and recent UT graduate, Lily Wolff, were brought together by this shared desire: to make theatre that speaks directly to the people in the room making it.

As part of a hugely diverse university, in a diverse city, in a diverse state, in a diverse nation that feels surprisingly easy to get lost in, Diana’s Son’s note that the “cast should reflect the ethnic diversity of New York City” spoke strongly to our multi-cultural ensemble. We set out to create a piece of theatre that honors those words by reflecting our own ethnic diversity as collaborators, as well as the multiethnic nature of the world we live in. We value the richness theatre that embraces the similarities that connect us, as well as the differences that allow us to question our own assumptions. Indeed, we feel it is a vital aspect of our humanity.

The (ever-growing) creative team includes Mykal Monroe, Lily Wolff, Antoinette Robinson, Karen Rodriguez, Joseph Dailey, Adam Radford, William Ott, Eric Lara, Rene Castro, Danielle Wright, Jacyln Benavidez, and Josephine McAdam.

Auditions for Stop Kiss: Two Male Actors for UT Lab Theatre Production

Found at www.AustinActors.net:

Male Actors Needed for Collaborative Production of STOP KISS at UT Lab Theatre Austin


Diana Son’s award-winning play Stop Kiss, co-produced by UT MFA actor, Mykal Monroe and recent UT graduate, Lily Wolff, is to be included in the UT Laboratory Theatre’s fall 2011 season. This production is looking to combine the talents of undergraduate and graduate students, theatre majors and non-theatre majors, students and professionals to create a bold and explorative piece of theatre.

Rehearsal dates are September 27th – November 3rd (6-10.30pm approx. not all actors will be called at all times – rehearsals can be flexible) Performance dates are November 4th, 6th, 9th – 12th

We are looking for 2 male actors to play the parts of:

Detective Cole: late 30’s – mid 40’s. He's a New York detective investigating the attack on the two main women. He's manipulative and insensitive in his methods. He has all the answers and he knows exactly what box this crime fits in.

George: late 20’s – early 30’s. The leading lady's friend and fuck buddy from college. Neither has ever really moved on from each other, but neither is committed. It's a friendship/relationship of convenience that they both enjoy in its own right. He's a handsome guy's guy and life comes easy to him until new people and events cause things change.

To set up an audition please email our Stage Manager, Will Ott, at: (willjott@utexas.edu). Please include: Your name, telephone number, email address, and your availability to come in and audition. Please feel free to email any additional questions to the Director (Lily Wolff – lily.m.wolff@gmail.com) or the Stage Manager (Will Ott – willjott@utexas.edu).

Thanks for your interest in our project!

Upcoming: Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris, UT Lab Theatre, May 4 - 7

Found on-line:

UT Lab Theatre
presents

May 4 - 7 at 8 p.m., matinee May 7 at 2 p.m.
no admission charge

Lab Theatre (LTH), located between the Jackson Geological Sciences Building (JGB) and the F. Loren Winship Drama Building (WIN) near 24th and San Jacinto. Parking available in the San Jacinto Garage on San Jacinto near Dean Keaton

Clybourne Park is a 2010 play by Bruce Norris written in response to Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun portraying fictional events set before and after the play and loosely based on real life events. Issues concerning black and white relations and personal human values are challenged in this very dramatic and frequently hilarious play. Clybourne Park was named one of the “Best Ten Plays of 2010” by The New York Times and by The London Times.

Performance contains mature content.

Contact: Theatre and Dance Info Line
inquiry@uts.cc.utexas.edu or 512-471-5793

Daily Texan: UT Lab Theatre Project profiled by Sara Pressley of Daily Texan, February 26

Excerpted from Sara Pressley's article of February 26 about the UT Lab Theatre presentations of plays by MFA playwriting candidates:

Event lifts curtains on student-driven playwright project

By Sarah Pressley
[photo: Sydney Andrews rehearses lines, by Jeff Heimsath, Daily Texan] [. . . .]

Blue Point

Kyle John Schmidt decided to switch from acting to playwriting when, during a train ride to Connecticut, he realized the change meant choosing writing over memorizing monologues.

Once he saw how time-consuming writing full-length plays can be, Schmidt decided to take advantage of the opportunities graduate school has to offer.

“I had time and space to make mistakes and do things,” Schmidt said about his graduate school experience. “I had time to write. It’s been nice.”

Schmidt’s play, Blue Point, was featured last weekend as a part of the UTNT production. Schmidt began writing Blue Point for a UT workshop, but it took encouragement for him to realize the potential of the play. [. . .]

The Tides of Aberdeen

This weekend, UTNT will feature The Tides of Aberdeen by Erin Phillips, who is happy to have spent the past three years exploring her craft.

“An M.F.A. in playwriting is sort of like a gift because you get three years to just write and not have to do anything else,” Phillips said. “The people you work with and your collaborators are probably going to be your collaborators forever, so it’s a good place to network.”

During her first week of graduate school, Phillips began the first version of The Tides of Aberdeen, though she did not realize it would develop into a play at that point. [. . .]

Read full article at Daily Texan online. . . .

Upcoming: White Tie Ball by Martin Zimmerman, UT Lab Theatre, February 12 - 14

Found on-line:


White Tie Ball

by Martin Zimmerman
directed by Steve Moulds
February 12, 13 at 8p.m. and February 13, 14 at 2 p.m.
UT Lab Theatre

Born to a mestiza mother who illegally immigrated from Mexico and a white father from the United States, Edward looks just like his mother and Beto just like his father. And despite the two of them being raised by their mother in an impoverished Latino neighborhood in Tucson, Arizona, Edward works his way through law school to become an Arizona County Attorney. Beto, however, falls in with a Latino gang and is convicted of armed robbery at age nineteen.

At the start of the play, Beto has recently been paroled from prison, Edward has recently been elected to office, and the bond between the two brothers is the strongest it has been in years, largely due to Edward's tireless efforts to help re-build Beto's life. But when Alberto Jimenez, one of Beto's former friends from his gang, kills an on-duty Latina police officer as she breaks into his home without identifying herself, Edward has to prosecute the case. The decisions Edward faces about what charges to pursue put both his career and his relationship with his brother in jeopardy.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: The Art of Depicting Nature As It Is Seen By Toads with Luke Leonard and Ben Schave, UT Lab Theatre, January 29 - 30

Received indirectly:

The Art of Depicting Nature As It Is Seen By Toads

January 29, 7 p.m. & January 30, 4 p.m.,
Featuring Ben Schave
Directed and conceived by Luke Leonard

The Art of Depicting Nature As It Is Seen By Toads is a progressive art event featuring two men and two toads engaged in a two-hour endurance test. Part theater, part performance art, all exploration, The Art of Depicting ….challenges perceptions of human behavior and reality.

“How you live changes your brain--Thought changes our life and our behavior."
--Milton Glaser

The production produced by Monk Parrots will play Friday, January 29 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, January 30 at 4 p.m. at the University of Texas at Austin’s Lab Theatre. Admission is free. Reservations & directions: theartofdepicting@gmail.com.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .