Volume 18, 5 | October 28. 2019
Week 5 NEWSLETTER
Department News
Week 5 - Oct 28 - Nov 1, 2019
We had a fantastic first read-through last week for MAN IN LOVE by Christina Anderson, and loved the design and dramaturgy presentations. MFA scenic design candidate Samuel Keamy-Minor and PhD student Maddie Williams teamed up to create this dramaturgy board, which will be on display in the Weiss lobby during the run— check it out when you come see the show!

For Information about tickets, click the link below.

When the scale of trauma exceeds our ability to understand it, how do we respond?


PhD student Alison Urban joined UC San Diego Theatre and Dance Alumni Dr. Shelley Orr and Dr. D.J. Hopkins in presenting research about Re/presentations of Trauma in art, memorials, museums, and performance at panel hosted by the San Diego State University Center for the Study of Media and Performance on October 24th.
Upcoming studio Project :

How to Be Uncomfortable All the Time  is a theatrical comedy one-person show. Written and performed by theatre undergrad Paola Diaz, and directed by alum Hailey Schneider, the show is a series of cautionary tales, in the form of stand up, vignettes, and skits. The audience is invited to immerse themselves in the show, contribute their own voices, and influence what happens every night. The show is a fun, if not slightly off-putting, engaging and informative experience.

The show runs  from November 5th through November 9th   in the Arthur Wagner Theater
tickets click the link below.

Happening Around Campus
Before attending MFA Alumna Lauren Yee's Cambodian Rock Band at La Jolla PLayhouse, be sure to check out Dengue Fever at the Price Center on Nov 5 at 8PM.

Part Cambodian pop and part American indie rock, Dengue Fever 's unique take on 1960s Cambodian pop and American surf rock has garnered praise and attention from fans and critics alike. Dengue Fever started in 2001 after keyboardist Ethan Holtzman took a trip to Cambodia and was inspired by what he heard. Since then, his brother Zac, saxophonist David Ralicke, drummer Paul Dreux Smith, bassist Senon Williams, and singer Chom Nimol have coalesced in Los Angeles to form the acclaimed band. It’s that cross pollination of Khmer rock, garage rock, psychedelic rock and the British Invasion sound that has pushed the band to heights they could only dream of. 

For more information about this event, click the link below.

Upcoming performance based guest lecture, Nov 4 6PM in The Visual Arts Facility Performance Space.

Malik Gaines and Alexandro Segade are artists based in New York. With longtime collaborator Jade Gordon, they form the collective My Barbarian, which has shown performances, videos, and installations in museums, galleries, theaters, festivals, music venues and public spaces since 2000 (including MoMA, Studio Museum in Harlem, New Museum, Hammer Museum, LACMA, MOCA, and internationally). 

For more information about this performance, click on the link below

Updates
If you have news to share please send it to us at [email protected] and we'll post in subsequent newsletters. Photos are encouraged.
MFA directing alumna  Lisa Portes  discusses the theatre scene for directors in Chicago in recent American Theatre Article.

" Lisa Portes  wants everyone to know one thing: Chicago may be famous for its devotion to the ensemble company model and (increasingly) for the playwrights who cut their teeth in our storefront scene before moving on to regional and Broadway productions (not to mention Hollywood writers’ rooms). But it’s a directors’ town, too. Or at least it’s 'a fantastic town for directors to develop, hone, and even transform their work over time,' as Portes puts it."

To read the article in full, click the link below.

This Friday Christopher Demos-Brown’s  American Son , directed by Kenny Leon, premieres as a television event on Netflix.

MFA stage management alumna Kamra Jacobs was the PSM of the broadway show and went right into working on the Netflix production last January when the show closed. The same four actors are featured in this adaptation: Kerry Washington, Jeremy Jordan, Steven Pasquale & Eugene Lee
MFA Scenic Design Alumni, Christopher Scott Murillo, was recently featured in a new profile by Stage Directions Magazine . Murillo's work has been seen at The Kirk Douglas Theatre, International City Theatre, The Chance Theater, Skylight Theatre Company, East West Players, New Village Arts Theatre, Native Voices at the Autry, The El Portal Theatre, and the Getty Villa, among others.

To read the profile, click on the link below.

UC San Diego Theatre and Dance Undergraduate Alumna Shellina Hefner was recently profiled regarding her development as an artist by SD Voyager.

“ I’ve also found my footing and joy in teaching artists work,” she said. “I think in the course of my life, I’ve discovered just how much I care deeply about people – and how pressing it is to tell stories.”

To read the profile click on the link below.

MFA playwriting alumna Lila Rose Kaplan's play We All Fall Down is part of Boston's Huntington Theater Company's season.

"Linda and Saul Stein still live in the Westchester home where they raised their two beautiful daughters. But when Saul unexpectedly retires, Linda summons the family to celebrate Passover for the first time in decades. Linda tends slightly toward the theatrical (okay, a lot), and their family has never been particularly religious (okay, not at all). So their comic attempts to bring the Seder to life go from riotous to heartwrenching in this play from Huntington Playwriting Fellow and Somerville resident Lila Rose Kaplan, directed by Obie Award winner Melia Bensussen."

Catch a video of Lila Rose talking about the play at the link below.

MFA costume design alumna  Maggie Whitaker  celebrates an upcoming video game release from Fogbank Entertainment on which she created costume designs, Titanic as part of Fogbank's larger Storyscape project.

" Wonderful narrative experiences and experiments exist on mobile but they are few, far between and often difficult to find. With Storyscape, we’ve brought together top writers and directors and put them under the same roof. In the same style as our favorite streaming services, we’ve made a place where romantic comedy can live side by side with dark fantasy. Where  Titanic  and  The X-Files  both have a home and fans can show up for one experience and then try something new."


To learn more about these projects click the link below.

Have news to share?
Send it to us at [email protected] and we'll pass it along for you. Photos are encouraged.
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Sincerely, UC San Diego Theatre & Dance