March 28, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
Lara Hoyt, Coordinator for Public Relations and Alumni Affairs
Rutgers Theater Company presents Dano Madden's 'In the Sawtooths' New Brunswick, NJ – Graduate student playwright Dano Madden’s “In the Sawtooths” will premiere in New Jersey and Washington, D.C. within one weekend.
The play opens April 20 at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, where Madden will receive his master of fine arts in playwriting this May. On April 21 and 22, it also will be produced at The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Washington, D.C., as the 2007 recipient of the prestigious National Student Playwriting Award.
“In the Sawtooths” was first produced in September 2006 at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. It tells the story of Oby, Nellie and Darin, who have been friends since high school. Now in their thirties, they have become busier in their lives, but one thing remains constant: their shared love of backpacking in the mountains of Idaho. As their annual trip nears, their bond is unexpectedly tested by tragedy. What will become of their friendship as they navigate through an immense and unexpected wilderness?
At its heart, the play deals with how friendship changes with age. The distinctive quality of “In the Sawtooths,” says the playwright, is the depth of its male characters.
“It’s not a play about three men that people are used to seeing,” Madden says. “I think there’s a lot more emotional depth to male relationships than most people realize. This play really delves into that dynamic.”
Rutgers Theater Company performances are at Philip J. Levin Theater on April 20, 25, 26, 27 and 28 at 8 p.m. and April 21 and 22 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 for the general public, $20 for Rutgers alumni and employees and seniors and $15 for students with valid ID. Philip J. Levin Theater is in the Mason Gross Performing Arts Center, 85 George Street (between Route 18 and Ryders Lane), on the Douglass Campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
For more information on any Mason Gross event, visit www.masongross.rutgers.edu or call the Mason Gross Performing Arts Center ticket office at 732-932-7511.
About Rutgers Theater Company
Chris O’Connor (Guest Director) earned his MFA in Directing at Mason Gross in 2005. His graduate thesis was Dario Fo’s We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!. While at Mason Gross, he directed Dano Madden’s one-act Ella. Over a long acting career, Chris has been associated with A Contemporary Theatre, The Culture Project, Soho Rep, the 78th Street Theatre Lab, Target Margin, Gloucester Stage, Book-It Repertory, City Theatre in Pittsburgh, The Ahmanson, Provisional Theatre of Los Angeles, The Bathhouse, Seattle Children's Theatre, and Theatre Express. His plays for young people have been produced at The Seattle Children's Theatre. He has taught at Colgate University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Chris is founder and artistic director of Mile Square Theatre in Hoboken, New Jersey. He conceived and produces the annual 10-minute play festival 7th Inning Stretch. His Mile Square Theatre directing credits include St. Columba and the River, The Souls of Black Folk, John Redding Goes to the Sea, Striking Out the Babe, Warren Leight's The Love of the Game, Jenny Levison’s Homefield Advantage, Cyrano, and The Scams of Scapin. He holds a BFA in acting from Carnegie-Mellon.
Dano Madden (Playwright – MFA III) is from Boise, Idaho. His play In the Sawtooths was recently announced as the winner of the 2007 Kennedy Center National Student Playwriting Award. In the Sawtooths has received readings at the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, The Northwest Playwright’s Alliance, the Midtown International Theatre Festival and Boise Contemporary Theater. His play Beautiful American Soldier was awarded first place in the 2007 New Works of Merit Playwriting Contest. He developed his play The Wealthy Life of Sam Tyler at the Stanford University Playwright’s Workshop in the summer of 2006. His writing credits include The Save (Mile Square Theatre, Hoboken, New Jersey), Beautiful American Soldier, Ella, Billy’s Suitcase, Caravaggio Called (Rutgers Theatre Company); Yo-yo (State Theater, Olympia, Washington), The Raccoon (Idaho Theatre for Youth, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference), Forecast (Honorable Mention at University of Idaho’s annual DNA one-page play festival), The New (Actors Theatre of Louisville), The Soft Sand (1996 Idaho Governor’s Award), and Drop. Drop was published by Samuel French, Inc., and won the 1997 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival’s National Short-Play Award as well as the first Anchorage Press Theatre for Youth Award. Madden was a directing intern at Actors Theatre of Louisville. His directing credits there include Back Story (Humana Festival) and An Evening Crossword (Actors Theatre of Louisville Ten-Minute Play Festival). He also appeared as a groom in Big Love (Humana Festival). He was the recipient of the 2001 Idaho Commission on the Arts Fellowship in playwriting. He has a BA in Theater Arts from Boise State University and is currently pursuing an MFA in playwriting at Rutgers University.
Jeffery P. Eisenmann (Scenic Designer) received his MFA from California State University Long Beach. Recent credits: Antigone (Theater of Generations, St. Petersburg, Russia), A First Class Man (Alter Ego Productions), Holes (Wheelock College), The Collected Works of Billy the Kid and Curse of the Starving Class (The Alternate Theater). He has assisted Danila Korogodsky on The Opera Theater of Pittsburgh’s The Ring Saga, and Die Voegel at Spoleto Festival USA. His models have exhibited in Los Angeles, New York, London, St. Petersburg, and at the Quadrennial in Prague.
Benjamin Hagen (Lighting Designer – MFA III) Rutgers designs include Bernarda Alba, Our Lady of 121st Street, and As You Like It, as well as Down the Road, Dolores, and Fifth Planet for the Jameson Project. Professional credits include Tails! The Musical (45th Street Theater) and Hands Around (Center Stage) and the American Popular Song Artists (Baltimore). He is a Stockton College graduate. www.benhagen.com
Kristen Dempsey (Costume Designer – BFA IV) is in her fourth year as a BFA at Mason Gross. She has spent the past semester abroad studying at the Globe Theatre in London. In past Mason Gross productions, she has assisted costume designers Rebecca Ming on Mud and Jane Friesen on Our Lady of 121st Street.
Khahil White (Sound Designer – BFA II) is from Redmond, Washington. Mason Gross credits include: production assistant on The House of Bernarda Alba, assistant master electrician on Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train, and stage manager on the recent Jameson project production of Haiku. Becky Lynn Dawson (Stage Manager – MFA II) is originally from Lehi, Utah. She received her BFA in theater design and technology from Utah State University. Mason Gross productions include SM for Cloud Nine, Peace Prize; ASM on Audrey; LD for The Swan; ALD on Bernarda Alba. Other stage management credits include Enchanted April, Anton in Show Business, and A Little Night Music. Bjorn DuPaty (Darrin – MFA II) is from Chicago, Illinois. He received his undergraduate degree from Bradley University. Some of his Rutgers Theater Company credits have been Lucius Jenkins in Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train, William in Lobby Hero, Flip Johnson in Our Lady of 121st Street, and Chuck in Trash Bag Tourist. He is also an ensemble member of Tecumseh! Ben Jeffrey (Nellie – MFA I) hails from Kansas City, Missouri. He was recently seen as Sir Jaspar Fidget in The Country Wife at Rutgers. Other credits include: Yankee Pot Roast in … And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi (Dallas Theater Center), and Rochester in Jane Eyre (ACU Theater). He received his BFA in acting and musical theater from Abilene Christian University.
Richie Call (Oby – MFA I) is from Logan, Utah where he received his BFA in theater performance at Utah State University. His first Mason Gross School of the Arts credit was The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket. Professional credits include: Noises Off, I Love You Princess, and The Fantasticks.
The Mason Gross School of the Arts’ Department of Theater Arts combines rigorous studio class work with a demanding production schedule to provide students with in-depth training and practice in theater. The Rutgers Theater Company is the resident company of student actors, designers, directors, playwrights, stage managers and technicians whose work is guided by master teachers and accomplished professionals. These conservatory students are enrolled in the three-year Master of Fine Arts (MFA) and four-year Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) programs. The department also offers a Bachelor of Arts (BA) theater major through the undergraduate colleges of Rutgers University. About Mason Gross School of the Arts Founded in 1976, Mason Gross School of the Arts is the arts conservatory of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and is home to the departments of dance, music, theater arts, and visual arts. Its faculty and alumni rosters include arts professionals recognized nationally and internationally. The school's enrollment of 625 undergraduates across four departments and 250 graduate students across three departments, combined with a faculty of 140, assures students the opportunity to work closely with accomplished artists within their fields.
About Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey A comprehensive research institution with more than 50,000 students on three main campuses in New Brunswick, Newark and Camden, Rutgers comprises one of the major state university systems in the nation. Chartered in 1766 in New Brunswick as Queen's College, Rutgers is the eighth oldest institution of higher learning in the nation and now comprises 29 degree- granting divisions, including 16 offering graduate programs of study.
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