The Sixth Act is pleased to announce its 2014-2015 programming!
In the fall, we’ll host a screening of Death of a Salesman, followed by a conversation about the film, the play, and other Sixth Act library resources available for faculty/student/staff use. We’ll also host an “If All of MCC Read the Same Play” event, focusing on Samuel D. Hunter’s provocative new play The Whale. We chose The Whale for two reasons: (1) the play features a disabled, disenfranchised community-college professor who teaches online, making many of the play’s themes especially relevant across disciplines at MCC, and (2) the playwright will visit MCC in the spring.
In the spring, as mentioned above, we’ll host playwright Samuel D. Hunter. We’ll also run our Eighth Annual Student Playwriting Competition. Both semesters, we’ll continue to support VaPA curriculum by facilitating post-show conversations at both VaPA productions. More details about all events are listed below. As always, we welcome any comments/questions you might have—and we certainly welcome your involvement in any way you see fit! Please just contact Maria Brandt at HYPERLINK "mailto:mbrandt@monroecc.edu"mbrandt@monroecc.edu.
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THE SIXTH ACT
Formed in 2004, The Sixth Act provides co-curricular support for the study of drama across disciplines at MCC. To this end, The Sixth Act (1) develops co-curricular events and materials for MCC faculty and students, especially those who might teach or study plays or playwriting, and (2) provides enrichment opportunities to encourage all MCC faculty, students, and staff to see and talk about plays produced at MCC and in the Rochester area. The Sixth Act seeks as its leaders faculty, staff, and students drawn from a variety of academic disciplines and departments. The Sixth Act is supported by MCC’s Creative Arts Committee and Liberal Arts Program. Please contact Maria Brandt at HYPERLINK "mailto:mbrandt@monroecc.edu"mbrandt@monroecc.edu for more information or to get involved.
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Plays on Film: Death of a Salesman
Thursday, October 2, 2014, 7 PM, 8-200
This event will feature the screening of Death of a Salesman, borrowed from The Sixth Act’s Library Collection, followed by a conversation about the film, the play, and other library resources The Sixth Act can offer MCC faculty and students.
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If All of MCC Read the Same Play
Friday, November 7, 2014, 12 PM, 8-200
This event encourages the MCC community to read, view, and discuss Samuel D. Hunter’s provocative new play The Whale. The Whale features Charlie, an adjunct community-college professor who teaches expository writing over the internet, and the struggles he faces with faith, family, and chronic, life-threatening obesity. As New York Times critic Charles Isherwood claims, “Charlie [emerges] a man with great empathy for others who somehow cannot extend the same generosity of spirit to himself.” Hunter, the playwright, will visit MCC in the Spring. This event is co-sponsored by Creative Arts and Liberal Arts.
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Visiting Playwright: Samuel D. Hunter
Thursday, March 12, 2015, 7 PM, Monroe A, Reading and Book-Signing
Free and Open to the Public
Friday, March 13, 2015, 12 PM, 8-200, Playwriting Workshop
Free and Open to the MCC Community
Samuel D. Hunter’s plays include The Whale (2013 Drama Desk Award, 2013 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Play), A Bright New Boise (2011 Obie Award for Playwriting, 2011 Drama Desk nomination for Best Play), and his newest plays, The Few (The Old Globe, Rattlestick upcoming), A Great Wilderness (Seattle Repertory Theatre, Williamstown Theater Festival upcoming) and Rest (South Coast Repertory, Victory Gardens upcoming). His plays have been produced by Playwrights Horizons, South Coast Rep, Victory Gardens, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Denver Center Theatre Company, Clubbed Thumb, Page 73, and elsewhere. Sam is the winner of a 2012 Whiting Writers Award, the 2013 Otis Guernsey New Voices Award, the 2011 Sky Cooper Prize, and the 2008-2009 PONY Fellowship. He has active commissions from LCT3, Steppenwolf, Playwrights Horizons, and MTC/Ars Nova. He is an Ensemble Playwright at Victory Gardens, a Core Member of The Playwrights’ Center, a member of Partial Comfort Productions, and was a 2013 resident playwright at Arena Stage. A native of northern Idaho, Sam lives in NYC. He holds degrees in playwriting from NYU, The Iowa Playwrights Workshop, and Juilliard.
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Eighth Annual Sixth Act Student Playwriting Competition
Thursday, May 7, 2015, 7 PM, Black Box Theater
Reservations Required
This competition encourages MCC students to write plays for an audience, to provide MCC students a competitive venue for their scripts, to offer winning playwrights the opportunity to see their scripts performed and to receive constructive feedback for future play development, and to offer VaPA students the opportunity to participate in the new-play-development process. Scripts will be accepted for consideration beginning in September. This event is sponsored by Creative Arts.
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2014-2015 Special Project
The Sixth Act will continue to develop curriculum-support materials and post-production talk-backs for VaPA’s 2014-2015 season in an effort to encourage faculty across MCC to teach these plays in their individual courses and to enrich this process for all involved.
Maria Brandt
The Sixth Act
05/14/2014 |