Four Stars Out of Five for Skywriter!

From Tim Treanor's review at DCTheatreScene.com:
"...it has such an enormous beating heart, and the actors are so committed to the playwright’s vision, that it is impossible not to be moved by it, or to not accord it the respect it deserves."

You can read the full review here.

To Tim and the many other audience members who gave us a great opening weekend: many thanks. And if you haven't seen the show yet, make haste! There are only two more weekends and three performances to go!

Opening Weekend!

First and foremost, a huge thanks to everyone who came out to support the show this weekend.  We had our first two performances today and yesterday, and I have to say things went extraordinarily well!  No snafus, mishaps, lots of incredible energy coming from our cast, people laughing in the audience, perfectly-executed lightning flashes thanks to Marissa's magic touch.  What more could you ask for?

Here's a smattering of photos that our very own sound designer, Mike Losco snapped a few days ago.  There will be more to come!

Meet the SKYWRITER Production Staff

Who we are and what we do, in no particular order:

Austin Williams (Lighting Design) is a graduate of Georgetown University, where he worked as a technical director and lighting designer. He has previously worked as a freelance designer and technician in his home state of Wisconsin. Design credits include Cabaret (Mask & Bauble), Trestle of Pope Lick Creek (Nomadic Theatre), Assassins (Mask & Bauble), Annie Get Your Gun (Riverside Players), and Blithe Spirit (Rocket Players). He works at his day job as a federal employee.

Laura Broom's (Media Relations) media relations experience includes work with the Kennedy Center and Arena Stage, and she currently works for VSA arts in D.C. She is a 2007 graduate of Davidson College.

Amrita Mangus (Dramaturgy) is thrilled to be working with Seamus and Jamie again, having recently dramaturged Harlan at the Rockpile for Arena Stage's Downstairs New Play Reading Series. She completed a dramaturgy fellowship with Arena Stage and will continue working with them as the new works senior producing fellow. Other dramaturgy credits include Crowns (Arena Stage),Cymbeline (The Great River Shakespeare Festival), and The Who's Tommy (Arizona Repertory Theater). Amrita wishes everyone a fantastic run filled with whooshing and spandex!

Ted Parker (Scenic, Costume, & Properties Design) has been working in the performing arts in Washington for over 30 years. He has worked at Arena Stage, the Washington Theatre Club, the Kennedy Center, Ford’s Theatre, The Washington Opera and The Washington Performing Arts Society. He has designed scenery and lighting for over 40 local educational, community and professional productions. He co-founded The Actors’ Center, was active in the formation of the Cultural Alliance, and served on the boards of several arts institutions, including Library Theater and Arlington Dance Theatre. He was Project Director for the creation of TicketPlace for the Cultural Alliance, and has taught at American University and several local high schools, and consulted with numerous Washington arts groups. He served for two years on the Multi-media Panel of the DC Commission on the Arts. He lives in a restored Victorian house in Chevy Chase with his wife of 40 years. They have three daughters and 7 grandchildren.

Jamie Gahlon (Producer) is an aspiring new works producer.  While Skywriter is her first Fringe endeavor, previous producing credits include Harlan at the Rockpile by Seamus Sullivan (Arena Stage Downstairs Series), Taking Over by Danny Hoch (Line Producer, Arena Stage workshop) Mrs. Joseph Porter (Short Film), The Importance of Being Earnest(Mask & Bauble) and Assassins (Mask & Bauble).  By day, Jamie works as part of the Artistic Development Team at Arena Stage. 

Matt MacNelly (Publicity)

Meghan McCormick (Assistant Stage Manager) is a rising junior at Georgetown University where she is an active member of the Mask & Bauble Dramatic society. She is thrilled to be working on her first fringe show with such a talented group of artists. She would like to thank Seamus for writing a show with laughs and a powerful message and the Angry Young Theatre Company for giving her the opportunity to be a part of their inaugural show.  

Marissa Reeves (Stage Manager)

Mike Losco (Sound Design)

Sarah Taurchini (Web Master)

Marjory Collado (Graphic Design)

120 minutes of tech

So, this morning we had first and only two hours of tech at The Shop @ Fort Fringe.  I woke up bright and early, met Hunter, picked up our lovely zipcar, "T-Rex," a far from T-Rex-like Toyota pick-up, headed to our rehearsal space to load everything in.  In all honesty, I was skeptical it would all fit in the bed, but thanks to our ever knowledgable set, props, and costume designer, Ted Parker (aka Renaissance man), we made it work.  Here are some photos of the finished product:

Tech itself went remarkably well, due to the awesomeness of the Cast, our Lighting Designer, SM, and everyone else who was around to offer their skills and support.  I'm doing laundry right now, trying to think of a way to tell my roommate why we suddenly have a hallway full of set pieces in my apartment, and gearing up for tonight's preview.  Less than 24 hours until we open- it's all happening!

Preview of Skywriter this Friday!

Thanks to Fringe's fabulousness, we have recieved a slot to promote Skywriter this Friday at the Baldacchino! We will perform roughly five minutes of the show to tease people into coming to see it in all its glory. Details are as follows:

WHEN: Friday, July 10th 7:30pm
WHERE: The Baldacchino Gypsy Tent/Bar
WHAT: 5 min previews of the following shows, and many others!

No 11 Productions: The Elephant Man
a musicalTrio: SOUP!
Angry Young Theatre Company: Skywriter
Zero Hour Theatre: The Foley Artist

WHY: Theater + Bar = good times


Hope to see you there!

..And we're in tech!

We started tech on Monday night, when we added full costumes into the mix. Yesterday we approved our sound design, and tonight we will practice load-in, run the show with costumes, transitions, sound, and make-up. It really seems to be coming together and Im excited to see as close to the real deal as we've gotten so far tonight.

For all of you visual learners out there, here's a photo from last night showing Hunter, Genevieve and Lynn hard at work on the final scene.

In other news, my friend and former colleague, Jared Neff, allowed me to ramble a bit about the Fringe process from a Producing standpoint on his blog, so check it out if you have a minute.

Skywriter Press Release

So, this release went out a while back, but I figured it best to share with all... So (drumroll......) Voila!

Contact: Laura Broom skywriterpress@gmail.com

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ANGRY YOUNG THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS

SKYWRITER BY SEAMUS SULLIVAN

(Washington, D.C.) – The new D.C. theatre collective Angry Young Theatre Company (AYTC) presents its inaugural production, Skywriter, as part of the 2009 Capital Fringe Festival. Playwright Seamus Sullivan – whose work Harlan at the Rockpile premiered recently in Arena Stage’s Downstairs Series – offers a play particular to the D.C. area. This unconventional story explores what it takes to be heroic in a D.C. public school. Is it compassion, or a kind of madness? And is there a difference?

Director Hunter Styles observes, “Seamus has a wonderful eye for comedy, and Skywriter is the fastest, quirkiest, snappiest thing he's written. We're looking forward to having a serious discussion about the public education system with D.C. audiences, especially within the framework of a poignant, funny new show."

"We spent the spring workshopping the script with Artists' Bloc,” Sullivan comments. “Since Skywriter is a short, sweet, off-beat new play rooted in D.C., I think Fringe audiences will go for it – and we're glad for the opportunity to present a show that's entirely our own."

STORY: As an English teacher at a troubled D.C. public school, Frank Fletcher deals with a host of problems: crumbling infrastructure, violence in the halls, controversial reforms, and students who aren't always inclined to sit and learn. Thanks to a traumatic accident, he also believes himself to be a superhero named Skywriter who spends his nights patrolling neighborhood rooftops. When a new student teacher uncovers his secret identity, Fletcher must reflect on whether his heroic alter ego is a dangerous delusion or a much-needed force for good in the city.

This production presented as a part of the 2009 Capital Fringe Festival. 

WHERE: 

The Shop at Fort Fringe

610 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20001

WHEN: 

Saturday July 11 @ 1:30 p.m.

Sunday, July 12 @ 3:15 p.m.

Saturday, July 18 @ 9:30 p.m.

Saturday, July 25 @ 9:00 p.m.

Sunday, July 26 @ 4:45 p.m.

This production runs approximately 60 minutes and has no intermission.

TICKETS: All tickets are $15 and may be purchased starting June 22 online at http://www.capfringe.org/fringe-festival.html or via phone at 1-866-811-411. Starting July 7, tickets may also be purchased at the Fort Fringe in the Festival Box Office at 607 New York Ave, NW, Washington, D.C. 20001.

CAST: 

Genevieve James as Elizabeth Finch

Christopher Michael Todd as Frank Fletcher

Lynn Bandoria as Lorena Cooper

Ricardo Frederick Evans as Principal Cooper

For more information, please visit http://angryyoungtheatre.blogspot.com/

###

Big Day at Big Monkey Comics!

This afternoon we set up shop at Big Monkey Comics to give a preview of Skywriter in anticipation of our first show next Saturday, July 11th.  While the space was a bit unconventional, it was a strikingly appropriate backdrop for a show that lives so much in the world of comics and superheroes.  Our fantastic cast performed three scenes in total, and did an amazing job adapting to the space, and giving us a glimpse of what's to come.  Hearing audience reaction, and laughter at that was a refreshing addition to the mix.  A huge thanks to Big Monkey for hosting, and thanks to all who came out to support!

Sizzlin' New Skywriter Poster

Courtesy of our graphic designer, Marjory Collado. Let's give her a hand, folks! Don't forget to buy your tickets, now on sale at http://shows.capfringe.org/shows/89-Angry-Young-Theatre-Company-Skywriter.html.

Floods, Feedback and Fringe

The Skywriter team, writing down their thoughts after the reading.

Wednesday night, June 3, 7pm EST found me with my friend and director, Hunter, crouching in a Popeye's on H Street NE, glumly contemplating the buckets of rain and crossfire of hail separating us from the Atlas Theatre and our final workshop reading of Skywriter. The Atlas, current headquarters of the good folk at Artists' Bloc, was just across the street from us, but said street had a roughly 3-foot-wide strip of asphalt, dead center, that wasn't covered with raging floodwaters. After much mutual encouragement, Hunter and I, like Butch and Sundance, gathered our courage and leaped out of the Popeye's and into the elements, which promptly pummeled us and left us smelling like mildew for the remainder of the evening.

Apart from our inauspicious entrance, the reading couldn't have gone better. This was the third in a series of workshop readings we set up with Artists' Bloc, an outfit run by our friends Colin and Roy that dedicates itself exclusively to helping artists develop new work. We did our first reading in April, with just the cast, designers, and Colin gathered around a table in the Atlas's basement. In early May, I produced a new draft based on feedback from the previous session and we read that at the Warehouse Theatre in Chinatown. Armed with input from that session, I made additional tweaks and came up with the latest, greatest, admittedly somewhat sodden new draft of the play that we were going to read through on Wednesday night. Then I'd have just under two weeks to revise before laying down my pen with the beginning of rehearsals.

We review some changes to the final scene before opening the house.

In the hour before the house opened, we reviewed and revisited new moments in the draft while eating waterlogged hamburgers and french fries that our stage manager, Marissa, resourcefully picked up at Checkers to sustain hungry actors and staff. Then we sent the cast to their perches behind the music stands, opened the doors, and ushered in the souls who had braved the deluge.

After hearing the extent to which Chris, Ricardo, Genevieve and Lynn have grown into their roles already in the space of a few readings, I can only giggle with anticipation at how Hunter and the cast will continue to build up the characters and the world of the show in the next few weeks of rehearsal. If you weren't among the few to attend the readings, you'll just have to come to the Shop at Fort Fringe to see one of our performances on Saturday, July 11 at 1:30 pm, Sunday, July 12 at 3:15 pm, Saturday, July 18 at 9:30 pm, Saturday, July 25 at 9:00 pm, and Sunday, July 26 at 4:45 pm. Tickets go on sale at www.capfringe.org or by calling 1-866-811-4111 starting June 22!

Colin (right) and me (left) pondering what looks like a doozy of a question
during the talkback session following the reading.

Rehearsals commence this Tuesday, and I hope to blog more then. For now, I'll leave you with one last example of why Artists' Bloc is awesome and we should support them. After the reading and talkback session, Roy, the Managing Director of Artists' Bloc, comes up to me.

"I figured I'd wait to tell you this one-on-one, because it's a little thing," he says. "At one point you have a character putting a roll of quarters in his fist during a fight. In real life, if you punch someone while holding a roll of quarters, you'll break every bone in your hand."

Roy pauses to let this sink in, and I ponder how he knows this and whether I should be, like, way more deferential towards Roy in the future.

"Have him use a roll of dimes," he concludes.

"Roy," I say, "We need to hang out more."

Public Reading Wednesday June 3rd!

On Wednesday, June 3rd we will have our final reading in partnership with Artists' Bloc.  Any and all are welcome, though seats are first come, first serve so try and get there early.  

WHAT: Skywriter Reading

WHERE:  Lab Theatre I, Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St NE

WHEN: Wednesday, June 3rd 8pm

WHO: Open to the public

Artists' Bloc Readings, Fringe Dates and more!

On Tuesday, May 12th we had the second reading of Skywriter facilitated through our ongoing partnership with Artists' Bloc.  Seamus had done some major re-writes, in large part influenced by the discussion we had after the first read through in early May and it was awesome to continue to see the script develop, deepen and continue on its journey.  This was also the first time we had heard the script read by the full cast and it was really something to see Fletcher, Finch, Cooper & Lorena come to life.  

Here are a couple of actions shots from the impromptu press photo shoot we had after the reading:

If all goes to plan, we will have one more reading in early June with the goal of having a more or less final script in time for us to begin rehearsals in mid-June.  

Speaking of timeline, we got our dates for Fringe!  Here are the details:

Skywriter at The Shop @ Fort Fringe

610 L Street NW

Washington, DC 20001

Saturday, July 11 1:30pm

Sunday, July 12 3:15pm

Saturday, July 18 9:30pm

Saturday, July 25 9:00pm

Sunday, July 26 4:45pm

See you there!

...And We're Cast!

After an intensely enjoyable round of callbacks on March 29, we had some tough decisions to make. We are thrilled with the results!

Please allow me to introduce the cast of Skywriter (drumroll......):

Genevieve James (Finch) previously participated in Fringe 2008 as Andy in The Nature and Purpose of the Universe with Circle of Fools.   Other regional credits include Chick in Crimes of the Heart (Firebelly Productions); The Mute in The Fantasticks, Mille in Picnic (Bay Theatre);Lucy Rose in Lucy Rose...Here's the Thing About Me!, Ismenia in Lysistrata; Edna in An Inspector Calls (Washington Stage Guild); Claire in Mistakes Inc (VSA/Kennedy Center); Ma in Babe The Sheep Pig (Adventure Theatre); Old Woman/Monkey in Momotaro (Classika Theatre); Leading Player in Pippin, Sally in  You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown,  "By My Side" soloist in Godspell (NobleHeart Rep); the USA in A Flag is Born (American Century Theatre).  She received her Bachelors of Music in Musical Theatre from Catholic University in 2003.

Christopher Michael Todd (Frank Fletcher) recently moved to Washington, DC from New York City. On the New York stage, he has acted in works by playwrights as diverse as Sophocles, Shakespeare, Büchner, Mokuami, Chekhov, Ibsen, Wilde, Beckett, Pinter and Wellman. Chris has performed across the U.S. and around the world with The National Shakespeare Company and The National Theatre of the Deaf. Other recent roles include Lucentio in The Taming of the Shrew at North Shore Music Theatre, and David O. Selznick in Moonlight and Magnolias at Wayside Theatre. Chris is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.

Lynn Bandoria (Lorena Cooper) is a graduate of the University of Virginia, where she studied Drama and appeared in both theatre and film productions. She has worked in radio, television, and print commercial advertising. Lynn is an accomplished puppeteer, plays numerous sports, and has an identical twin sister.

Ricardo Frederick Evans (Principal Cooper) is a native Washingtonian, an accomplished actor, stage manager, playwright, and producer.  He is finishing up his first season as a teaching artist with the Folger Shakespeare Library's educational touring company "Bill's Buddies."  Other local credits include Imagination Stage, Young Playwright's Theatre, Theatre on the Hill, the Black Theatre Ensemble and the African-American Collective Theatre.  Ricardo is one of the cohosts for theDCplace.com. He studied acting at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts and is a member of Actor's Equity.

Callbacks!

THANKS FOR COMING OUT!

We were very impressed by all who came out for Skywriter auditions.  

Callback notifications were sent out two weeks ago and we are excited to continue laying groundwork for what is already proving to be a rewarding process of new play development.  To one and all who came out to audition: our heartfelt thanks for your interest and willingness to explore this text with us.  Unfortunately we are only able to cll back a certain number of people, but a great many of you are doing admirable, exciting work and I encourage you to join our blog to stay posted on future opportunities and to follow updates on the new company in the coming year.  Again, thank you for your interest!

 

See you soon,

Hunter Styles

Director

Our First Auditions!

The Angry Young Theater Company is holding auditions for its 2009 Capital Fringe production Skywriter (synopsis and cast breakdown below). Equity and non-equity actors eligible. Prepared, two-minute monologues are welcome, but not required. Selections from the script will also be available for audition materials. Auditions will take place in room 036 of Georgetown University's Davis Performing Arts Center on Saturday, March 14 and Sunday, March 15 from 2-6pm each day. Please use the loading dock entrance opposite Harbin Hall.

Performances will be in July, with the bulk of rehearsals in June. There will also be staged readings at the beginning of April and the beginning of May. Each will have a minimal time commitment.

Walk-ins are welcome, but we will give priority to auditioners who e-mail a headshot, resume, and preferred audition times to angry.young.tc@gmail.com.

Synopsis: As an English teacher at a troubled DC public school, Frank Fletcher deals with a host of problems: crumbling infrastructure, violence in the halls, controversial reforms, and students who aren't always inclined to sit and learn. Thanks to a traumatic accident, he also believes himself to be a superhero named Skywriter who spends his nights patrolling neighborhood rooftops. When a new student teacher uncovers his secret identity, Fletcher must reflect on whether his heroic alter ego is a dangerous delusion or a much needed force for good in the city. The play runs roughly an hour with a cast of four.

Cast:

Frank Fletcher- Male, any race, 30s-50s. Teaches 8th Grade English at Stanley Woods Middle School in Washington, DC. Confident and dedicated to the point of madness. Also plays a 24-year-old version of himself.

Elizabeth Finch- Female, any race, 20s. Student teacher from suburban Virginia, assigned to shadow Fletcher for the semester. Had to raise three brothers by herself, and since then has nursed a steady, if vague, sense of responsibility for absolutely everyone she encounters.

Lorena Cooper- Female, African American, 14 (or able to play 14). A student in Fletcher's class. As smart as she is calculatedly difficult. Wants to be pulled from her failing public school and enrolled in a charter. Engaged in a battle of the wills with her equally smart, difficult father. Also plays Naomi, a childhood friend of Fletcher's in her 20s.

Principal Cooper- Male, African American, 40s. Principal of Stanley Woods Middle School. In the difficult position of having to acknowledge and address a failing DC public school system without sacrificing his pride in himself or his school. Also plays Train, an ageless, hallucinatory embodiment of urban alienation.