Limboplays

Readings at Ohio Dominican!

2008-03-15T18:02:00.001-07:00

An evening of Limbo plays at Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio, on March 13, 2008.

Dr. Ann C. Hall, dean at Ohio Dominican University, member of ICWP, and the teacher of the drama class that chose to do the readings, introduces the evening.

Doin' the Limbo by Kathy Coudle King, with Phil Tobin as Bill, Erin McGuire as Victoria, Lynn Hall as Lorna, and Marty Stand as Freddy, with Shawn Steward (not visible) doing the stage directions.

Katherine Burkman's The Date; Phil Tobin does stage directions while Vicki Lefevre reads Marsha

Lynn Hall reads the stage directions for Saver by Mark Harvey Levine, with Phil Tobin as David, Allison Ricket as Irene, Marty Stand as Arthur, and Ann Trotter as Tina

Jan O'Connor's The Daylight Zone, with Brian West doing stage directions, Allison Ricket as the musician, Tim Mackey as Arnold, and Vicki Lefevre as the narrator.

Brian West does stage directions again for Ann C. Hall's Mary and Tom, with Lynn Hall as Mary and Shawn Steward as Tom.

Two Women, One Man, and a Bed, by J. Boyer. Tim Mackey reads stage directions for Lynn Hall as Melissa, Shawn Steward as Brian, and Erin McGuire as Sarah.

and the whole troupe, minus Phil Tobin, who ducked out early! Playwright (and ICWP member) Kathy Burkman, seated at the far right, joins the actors.

Date Set for readings at Ohio Dominican University

2008-02-22T09:44:00.001-08:00

Thursday, March 13th has been set for readings at Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio; map at http://www.ohiodominican.edu/about/directions/default.asp

Details and the plays to be read:

March 13th Ohio Dominican University, Columbus, Ohio
Spangler Library 7:00 p.m.
Jay Boyer,Tempe, Arizona: Two Women, One Man, and a Bed
Katherine Burkman, Columbus, Ohio: Date
Kathy Coudle King, Grand Forks, North Dakota: Doin’ the Limbo
Ann C. Hall, Columbus, Ohio: Limbo
Mark Harvey Levine, Pasadena, California : Saver
Jan O’Connor, North Hollywood, California: The Daylight Zone

and thanks to Dr. Ann C. Hall, whose Ohio Dominican class has taken on the task of doing these readings!

Readings Set at Muskingum College, Ohio

2008-02-07T19:36:00.000-08:00

an evening of readings has been scheduled for Muskingum College, New Concord, Ohio, on Wednesday, March 26th, at 7:00 p.m. in Caldwell Hall. Diane Rao, of the Muskingum faculty, is coordinating (and is also a Limbo playwright, although her play will be read elsewhere). The plays now set for Muskingum are:

Hank Kimmel, Atlanta, Georgia: The Cycle of Death
Shirley King, Benecia, California: Hold Tight
Robin Rice Lichtig, New York, New York: The Straight and Narrow
Barbara Lindsay, Seattle, Washington: Holy Hell
Kevin Six, San Diego, California: No Problem

more information about the college is at http://www.muskingum.edu/home/

More Limbo!

2008-01-30T19:33:00.001-08:00

A small but enthusiastic audience, on a bitterly cold midwestern night, celebrated Limbo with five more plays, performed in masterly style by four of Columbus's leading performers.

Lori Cannon and Ken Erney in Craig Abernethy's That Day, a chilling reminder of the limbo in which the events of 9/11 placed both victims and survivors alike.

Lori Cannon, who's been a major figure in Columbus theatre for the past twenty years, with appearances at CATCO, Red Herring, Reality Theatre, and many others. She'll be in Hay Fever for Actors Theatre in May at the Dublin Recreation Center, and was a swashbuckling Petruchio in the gender-switched Taming of the Shrew at Actors in Schiller Park last summer.

Christopher Roche, Anita Davis, Lori Cannon, and Ken Erney in Karen Jeynes' Go Home Affairs -- caught in the bureaucratic limbo of visas in the Republic of South Africa.

Anita Davis, who gave a spectacular reading last summer in Adam Bock's Thugs for Columbus's Available [Light] Theatre--which made me make contact with her for future readings. She'll also be reading Judy Juanita's Theodicy in March in the Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors series (see http://heckartdrama.blogspot.com)

Lori Cannon, Christopher Roche, and Ken Erney in Michael Kimball's imaginative Henny and Hitler in Hell

Ken Erney. I first worked with Ken some twenty-five years ago in the first season at CATCO, the Contemporary American Theatre Company; first saw him act some thirty years ago at OSU in The Importance of Being Earnest

Christopher Roche and Anita Davis in Joe Feinstein's Real Love

actor Christopher Roche, who finished his M.F.A. in acting last year and is now in his first year as a doctoral student; he'll be directing Working this spring at Ohio State.

Christopher Roche, Anita Davis, and Ken Erney in The Other Shoe by Lisa Soland.

photos by Ann Alaia Woods

Palpable Hits!

2008-01-26T19:48:00.001-08:00

An enthusiastic audience of about 40 people watched the Limbo Plays readings at Ohio State on Friday, January 25th--coincidently the name day of St. Gregory of Nazantius, and also of St. Tatyana of Russia (which performer Tatyana Yassenov let us know; a professional actress in her native Belarus, she emigrated to Columbus (which has given theatregoers reason to celebrate for the last dozen or so years!). I'm grateful to Nancy Gall-Clayton for the photographs she so kindly took, and even more graciously made available!

The Limbo Plays at this readings were:

Kathy Burkman, Columbus, Ohio: E-Mails from the Dead
read by Frank Barnhart as Hector
Maureen Brady Johnson, Oberlin, Ohio: Limbo
read by John Kuhn as Tom, Cate Blair-Wilhelm as Augusta, and Tatyana Yassenov as God
Nancy Gall-Clayton, Louisville, Kentucky: Terminal L
read by John Kuhn as Lush Limbaugh, Frank Barnhart as Lowell Lunyon, Cate Blair-Wilhelm as Linda Lindell, Tatyana Yassenov as the Fairy Godmother, and Alan Woods as Luigi Lyons.
John Kuhn, Columbus, Ohio: The Edge
read by Cate Blair-Wilhelm as Mary, Tatyana Yassenov as Ruth
and my own Limbo, Ohio
read by John Kuhn as Willy Loman, Cate Blair-Wilhelm as Jocasta, and Tatyana Yassenov as Cleopatra.

The New Works Lab at Ohio State's Drake Performance and Event Center, waiting for the readings to start.

Alan Woods (standing, right) introduces the readings. Readers (left to right) Frank Barnhart, John Kuhn, and Cate Blair-Wilhelm. Unhappily, accomplished performer Tatyana Yassenov is not visible.

Playwrights together! Kathy Burkman (Columbus), Nancy Gall-Clayton (Louisville), Carol Dale (Columbus) gather and schmooze

after the readings; Frank Barnhart, closest to camera on left, farther back John Kuhn, both enjoy cookies brought by Nancy Gall-Clayton. At back: Alan Woods, then more center, Cate Blair-Wilhelm, talk with audience members

First Plays Read!

2008-01-14T21:15:00.001-08:00

First group of plays read to a small, but highly enthusiastic! audience at Gallery 202 in Westerville, Ohio--much thanks to Gallery owner Renee Kropat for her hospitality--we'll be back there with more plays in April

plays read included:

Vicki Cheatwood, Dallas, Texas: For the Fourteenth Time
Small: Mark Mann Texie: Danielle Mann Blue: Donny Wohlenmeier Rayford: Irene Braverman
Emily Davis, Columbus, Ohio: Cappadocia
woman: Danielle Mann counselor: Irene Braverman Voice: Mark Mann
Shirley King, Benecia, California: Bingo
Liz: Danielle Man Carl: Donny Wohlenmeier Jenny: Irene Braverman Mack: Mark Mann
Stacey Lane, Miamisburg, Ohio: Lucy Dreaming
Lucy 1: Danielle Mann Lucy 2: Irene Braverman
Andrea Lepcio, New York, New York: Get In The Car
Our Jackson: Mark Mann Our Edith: Danielle Mann

Danielle Mann and Mark Mann, veteran Columbus performers; I first saw Danny work when she was Eve in The Diary of Adam and Eve as an undergraduate; Mark was (most recently) Malvolio in Twelfth Night at Columbus' outdoor Shakespeare in the Park.

Donny Wahlenmeier, a current OSU undergraduate theatre major, who was in Our Town last year as the milkman; I was the undertaker and typecast as the doddering professor

Irene Braverman, another veteran Columbus performer; she appeared in our International Women's Day readings last year in Matinee Lunch

all four performers in Gallery 202: Donny Wahlenmeier, Danielle Mann, Mark Mann, Irene Braverman

all photos by Ann Alaia Woods

Preliminary Schedule of readings

2007-12-23T21:07:00.001-08:00

St. Gregory of Nazianzus, fresco in Kariye Camii, Istanbul; St. Gregory (4th century, CE) was the first to articulate the concept of Limbo.

Here's a preliminary schedule of readings--everything subject to change, of course!
All readings are scheduled, although we're waiting for some to be fully confirmed. And unless otherwise specified, readings will be at 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 12 Gallery 202, Westerville, Ohio
Vicki Cheatwood, Dallas, Texas: For the Fourteenth Time
Emily Davis, Columbus, Ohio: Cappadocia
Shirley King, Benecia, California: Bingo
Stacey Lane, Miamisburg, Ohio: Lucy Dreaming
Andrea Lepcio, New York, New York: Get In The Car

Jan. 25 Ohio State University, New Works Lab
Katherine Burkman, Columbus, Ohio: E-Mails From the Dead
Maureen Brady Johnson, Oberlin, Ohio: Limbo
Nancy Gall-Clayton, Louisville, Kentucky: Terminal L
John Kuhn, Columbus, Ohio: The Edge
Rebecca Nesvet, Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Galileo in the Underworld

Jan. 30 Ohio State University, New Works Lab
Craig Abernethy,: That Day
Joe Feinstein, West Bloomfield, Michigan: Real Love
Karen Jeynes, Cape Town, South Africa: Go Home Affairs
Michael Kimball, Cape Neddick, Maine: Henny and Hitler in Hell
Lisa Soland, Granada Hills, California: The Other Shoe

Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania April 23-25 (coordinated by Dr. Michael Swanson)
Emily Cicchini, Austin, Texas: Passing Judgement Day
Christine Emmert, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: Raft of Medusa – Post Modern
Joan Lipkin, St. Louis, Missouri Crab Cakes
Josh McIlvain, New York, New York: Conversation;
Steven Schutzman, Baltimore, Maryland: Theories in Limbo

Scheduled, waiting for confirmation of date
Ohio Dominican University, Columbus, Ohio
Jay Boyer,: Two Women, One Man, and a Bed
Kathy Coudle King, Grand Forks, North Dakota: Doin’ the Limbo
Mark Harvey Levine, Pasadena, California : Saver
Robin Rice Lichtig, New York, New York: The Straight and Narrow
Jan O’Connor, North Hollywood, California: The Daylight Zone

Ohio State University School of Music
Jean H. Klein, Virginia Beach, Virginia: Inside and Out
Paul Lockwood, Columbus, Ohio: The Waiting Game
Barbara H. Macchia, Plano, Texas: Texas Holding Pen
Jay Rehak, Chicago, Illinois: Last Call
Mary Steelsmith, Los Angeles, California: Slideshow with God

Scheduled, waiting for confirmation of date and place

Outside Ohio
Damon Chua, Los Angeles, California: Dogs Are Evil
Joan Lipkin, St. Louis, Missouri Crab Cakes
Kristine McGovern, Centennial, Colorado: Waiting for the Ice Cream Man
Gretchen C. O’Halloran, Vancouver, Washington: Aminazine
Ellen West, Portland, Oregon: All Through the Years

Western Ohio
Hortense Gerardo, Boston, Massachusetts: No Entry
Shirley King, Benecia, California: Locomotion
Joan Lipkin, St. Louis, Missouri: The Date
Cary Pepper, San Francisco, California: The Answer
Kathleen Warnock, Astoria, Long Island, New York: Wash It Out

Eastern Ohio
Sandra Hosking, Spokane, Washington: Fast Track
Hank Kimmel, Atlanta, Georgia: The Cycle of Death
Barbara Lindsay, Seattle, Washington: Holy Hell
Diane Rao, New Concord, Ohio: Limbo (Mezzo Dimenticato)
Kevin Six, San Diego, California: No Problem

Southern Ohio
Sue Brody, Brookline, Massachusetts: Shoot
Linda Evans, Tucson, Arizona: Ohio’s Dante
Bill McCann, Jr., Lexington, Kentucky: Hitler in Heaven
Jennie S. Redling, Suffern, New York: Broken Moon >
Sharyn Shipley: Coach and the Scout

Northern Ohio
Joe Feinstein, West Bloomfield, Michigan: One-on-One
Amy Lynne Holland, Lakewood, Ohio: Darkness, By New Faust
Jean H. Klein, Virginia Beach, Virginia: Limbo
B.W. Shearer, Melbourne, Australia: A Nice Night Out
Lisa Soland, Granada Hills, California: The Garden

Central Ohio
Shirley King, Benecia, California: Hold Tight
Donna Latham, St. Charles, Illinois: Skullduggery
Josh McIlvain, New York, New York: Conversation
Elena Naskova, Seattle, Washington: Beau Ideal
Kit Wainer, Albany, New York: As a Result of the Vatican Commission April 2007

60 Plays Submitted!

2007-12-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

sixty plays came in by the deadline yesterday (12/12/07)! We'll obviously need to do some work to schedule multiple readings and locations (a marathan reading of all the plays at one sitting may appeal to fans of Robert Wilson or Richard Wagner or Phillip Glass, but we'll do that only if there's an enormous groundswell of popular enthusiasm), and will both notify interested folks and playwrights, and post schedule here. In the meantime: here's the list of plays and playwrights. An astonishing range, and an astonishing range of what "Limbo" means!

Craig Abernethy, San Diego, California: That Day
Jay Boyer, Tempe, Arizona: Two Women, One Man, and a Bed
Sue Brody, Brookline, Massachusetts: Shoot
Katherine Burkman, Columbus, Ohio: E-Mails From the Dead
Vicki Cheatwood, Dallas, Texas: For the Fourteenth Time
Damon Chua, Los Angeles, California: Dogs Are Evil
Emily Cicchini, Austin, Texas: Passing Judgement Day
Emily Davis, Columbus, Ohio: Cappadocia
Christine Emmert, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: Raft of Medusa – Post Modern
Linda Evans, Tucson, Arizona: Ohio’s Dante
Joe Feinstein, West Bloomfield, Michigan: One-on-One
-----.: Real Love
Nancy Gall-Clayton, Louisville, Kentucky: Terminal L
Hortense Gerardo, Boston, Massachusetts: No Entry
Paddy Gillard-Bentley, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada: Extreme Unction
Amy Lynne Holland, Lakewood, Ohio: Darkness, By New Faust
Sandra Hoskings, Spokane, Washington: Fast Track
Karen Jeynes, Cape Town, South Africa: Go Home Affairs
Maureen Brady Johnson, Oberlin, Ohio: Limbo
Michael Kimball, Cape Neddick, Maine: Henny and Hitler in Hell
Hank Kimmel, Atlanta, Georgia: The Cycle of Death
Kathy Coudle King, Grand Forks, North Dakota: Doin’ the Limbo
Shirley King, Benecia, California: Hold Tight
----: Bingo
----: Locomotion
Jean H. Klein, Virginia Beach, Virginia: Inside and Out
----: Limbo
John Kuhn, Columbus, Ohio: The Edge
Stacey Lane, Miamisburg, Ohio: Lucy Dreaming
Donna Latham, St. Charles, Illinois: Skullduggery
Andrea Lepcio, New York, New York: Get In The Car
Mark Harvey Levine, Pasadena, California : Saver
Robin Rice Lichtig, New York, New York: The Straight and Narrow
Barbara Lindsay, Seattle, Washington: Holy Hell
Joan Lipkin, St. Louis, Missouri: The Date
-----: Crab Cakes
Paul Lockwood, Columbus, Ohio: The Waiting Game
Barbara H. Macchia, Plano, Texas: Texas Holding Pen
Bill McCann, Jr., Lexington, Kentucky: Hitler in Heaven
Kristine McGovern, Centennial, Colorado: Waiting for the Ice Cream Man
Josh McIlvain, New York, New York: Conversation
Elena Naskova, Seattle, Washington: Beau Ideal
Rebecca Nesvet, Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Galileo in the Underworld
Jan O’Connor, North Hollywood, California: The Daylight Zone
Gretchen C. O’Halloran, Vancouver, Washington: Aminazine
Cary Pepper, San Francisco, California: The Answer
Diane Rao, New Concord, Ohio: Limbo (Mezzo Dimenticato)
Jennie S. Redling, Suffern, New York: Broken Moon
Jay Rehak, Chicago, Illinois: Last Call
Steven Schutzman, Baltimore, Maryland: Theories in Limbo
B.W. Shearer, Melbourne, Australia: A Nice Night Out
Sharyn Shipley: Coach and the Scout
Kevin Six, San Diego, California: No Problem
Lisa Soland, Granada Hills, California: The Garden
-----: The Other Shoe
Mary Steelsmith, Los Angeles, California: Slideshow with God
Bara Swain, New York, New York: Womb Mates: On the Waterfront
Ella Veres, New York, New York: Lint Picking
Kit Wainer, Albany, New York: As a Result of the Commission April 2007
Kathleen Warnock, Astoria, Long Island, New York: Wash It Out
Ellen West, Portland, Oregon: All Through the Years
Alan Woods, Columbus, Ohio: Limbo, Ohio

Another update--

2007-12-06T09:02:00.000-08:00

Thirty-nine plays in hand now, and a week to go. Still nothing on carnival, although 'Limbo' has taken some interesting twists in various plays--

Sent out a call to local (Central Ohio) theatre folks for help, given the volume of plays submitted. Any others farther away who can help as well, more than welcome!

Update!

2007-12-02T19:35:00.000-08:00

Twenty-seven short plays submitted so far for the Limbo project--so it looks pretty certain that we'll need more than one night for readings, particularly since the goal is to read all of them. And the deadline is ten days away still--

And some interesting takes on Limbo in what's come in already! Nothing dealing with Caribbean dances yet, however!

Call for Plays

2007-11-20T22:01:00.000-08:00

"Christ's Descent into Limbo," ci. 1440; Rijsmuseum, Amsterdam

Ohio State’s Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute has taken on a project to showcase short plays about “Limbo,” and invites playwrights to submit ten-minute plays. Originally started through the International Centre for Women Playwrights, whose work is archived at the Lawrence and Lee Institute, the Limbo Project will present staged readings of ten-minute plays on the subject of "Limbo" (which can be interpreted as broadly as needed, from the place the Roman Catholic Church used to say unbaptized babies spent eternity, to the Caribbean dance, to whatever writers can come up with) for staged readings to be held at Ohio State University. The deadline for submission is December 12, 2007. Scripts should be submitted in Word or RTF format electronically to woods.1@osu.edu

Selected plays will be read on Friday, January 25, 2008, in the New Works Lab at the Drake Performance and Event Center on Ohio State University’s Columbus campus. That's the feast day of St. Gregory of Nazianzus, who in the fourth century of the common era first articulated the notion of Limbo. Decisions about scripts accepted for readings will be announced by the end of December, 2007.