Olney Theatre Center presents “Streaming Saturdays: Artists Envision the Future” a new series of live, online discussions that will feature the perspectives of a wide range of theatre makers locally and across the country. On alternate Saturdays at 5:00 pm on the OTC Facebook and YouTube pages, Washington Post Chief Theatre Critic Peter Marks will host a live-streamed discussion with artists in different parts of the industry, and Olney Artistic Director Jason Loewith will talk with Olney-affiliated artists with productions slated for the 20-21 Season. Marks will moderate discussions among Playwrights (May 9), Actors & Stage Managers (May 23), Directors (June 6), and Artistic & Managing Directors (June 13). Loewith will handle discussions with artists attached to Olney productions scheduled for the 20-21 Season including Dance Nation (May 16), The Music Man (May 30) and the world premiere musical A.D. 16 (June 20). Panelists include Michael R. Jackson (winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for A Strange Loop), Lauren Gunderson (I and You), Stephen Brackett (Be More Chill), Tracy Lynn Olivera (Matilda: The Musical), Sandra Mae Frank (DeafWest’s Spring Awakening) and Alexandria Wailes (also DeafWest’s Spring Awakening). A full listing of panelists and dates is below.
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New Voices: Unmuted
Saturday, June 27 at 5:00pm
New Voices is a two-week production process for students aged 13-19 that takes original one-act plays from script to stage for public performance. These plays will be written, directed, designed, performed, and technically managed by program participants.
Past Streaming Saturdays
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Saturday, May 9 at 5:00pm
PLAYWRIGHTS
Moderated by Peter Marks
One prominent article advised theatres emerging from the crisis to think smaller - one-person plays and two-handers. But Michael Kaiser of the DeVos Institute takes the opposite tack, essentially arguing that theatres need to “go big or go home.” What’s a playwright to do? How are working playwrights thinking about their viability in the new environment? And what amazing stories lie ahead for us in a post-pandemic world?
with
Lauren Gunderson (I and You)
Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop - winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama)
Dani Stoller (Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes)
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Saturday, May 16 at 5:00pm
Dance Nation
Jason Loewith speaks with Paige Hernandez, the director/choreographer of this season’s Helen Hayes Nominated The Royale. Paige is set to return to direct Claire Barron’s incendiary dream-play Dance Nation in the 20-21 Season.
with
Claire Barron, playwright
Paige Hernandez, director
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Saturday, May 23 at 5:00pm
ACTORS & STAGE MANAGERS
Moderated by Peter Marks
Making a living in the theater has never been easy, but COVID-19 has thrown an unprecedented challenge at working actors and stage managers. What are freelance DMV artists expecting and hoping for when theatre returns? How will they manage the tension between practicing their craft and staying safe?
with
Dylan Arredondo, former National Player and the upcoming Disney's Beauty and the Beast
Evan Casey, actor (The Amateurs)
Tracy Lynn Olivera, actor (Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical)
Karen Currie, stage manager
Jade Jones, (Ford’s Theater’s Into the Woods)
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Saturday, May 30 at 5:00pm
Meredith Willson’s The Music Man
Moderated by Jason Loewith
Deaf and hearing artists will collaborate on an unprecedented production of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man next season that puts the importance of theatre’s role in making community centerstage . Though opening night is over a year away, much work has already been done. Learn about it in this pre-production conversation.
with
Michael Baron, director
Joey Caverly, actor
Sandra Mae Frank, actor
Alexandria Wailes, director
Chris Youstra, music director
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Postponed because this is a time for listening.
Futurecasting: Todd London in conversation with Peter Marks
Todd London in conversation with Peter Marks
Peter talks with Todd London, former artistic director of New Dramatists and head of the MFA Playwriting program at the New School, School of Drama, and the Director of Theatre Relations for the Dramatists Guild of America.
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Postponed because this is a time for listening.
DIRECTORS
Moderated by Peter Marks
How will the staging of productions change in an era of social distancing? Can an effective family drama or rousing musical observe social distancing between actors? How are directors going to approach plays with a whole new set of considerations for performers and audiences?
with
Stephen Brackett, (Be More Chill)
Others TBA
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Saturday, June 20 at 5:00 pm
A.D. 16
moderated by Jason Loewith
Jason checks-in with the powerhouse team behind OTC’s world premiere musical A.D. 16. From Cinco Paul (Despicable Me) and Bekah Brunstetter (This Is Us) comes the delightfully witty, sublimely inspiring story of teenaged Mary Magdalene, who falls in love with the carpenter’s son next door… who happens to be a kid named Jesus.
with
Cinco Paul (composer, lyricist)
Bekah Brunstetter (bookwriter)
