PLAYWRITING MFA at Ohio University (Master of Fine Arts Playwriting Program)

Ohio University Master of Fine Arts Playwriting Faculty News & Info

Charles Smith, Head, Ohio University MFA Playwriting Program

Charles Smith is Head of the MFA Playwriting Program at Ohio University and playwright in residence at the Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago. His plays have been produced off-Broadway and around the country by theaters such as Victory Gardens, The Acting Company, Indiana Repertory Theatre, People's Light & Theatre Company, The Goodman Theatre, Penumbra, St. Louis Black Rep, New Federal Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Berkeley Repertory Theater. His work has also been produced for the HBO New Writers Project, the International Children's Theater Festival in Seattle, and the North Carolina Black Arts Festival. His play Pudd'nhead Wilson enjoyed a twenty-two city national tour and his plays Takunda and City of Gold enjoyed tours of the west coast. His other plays include Knock Me a Kiss, Freefall, Les Trois Dumas, The Sutherland, Sister Carrie, Black Star Line, Jelly Belly, Young Richard, and Cane. A graduate of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Smith has received commissions from Victory Gardens, The Goodman, Seattle Rep, Indiana Rep, The Acting Company, and Ohio University. He is an alumnus of New Dramatists and has taught playwriting at Northwestern University. His plays can be obtained through Samuel French, Dramatic Publishing, Smith & Kraus, and Meriwether Publishing Ltd. For more information about the plays of Charles Smith, please visit http://www.csplays.com.

Erik Ramsey, Faculty, Ohio University MFA Playwriting Program

Erik Ramsey shares teaching duties with Charles Smith in the MFA Playwriting Program at Ohio University and is also head of BFA playwriting. His plays have been produced around the country, and several of his short works have been published by Samuel French and Dramatic Publishing. His recent play, Lions Lost (In Translation), has been developed, read and work-shopped at numerous regional theaters including Cleveland Public Theatre, American Stage, the Tony-award winning Victory Gardens, and Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre. Currently, he is writing a trilogy of historical dramas about the surprising turn of events that boosted Joseph Smith from life as a small time con-artist to Prophet of the Mormon Church; the first in the series, titled Smith Unearthed, was recently featured and developed at WordBRIDGE Play Lab and the International Society of Contemporary Literature and Theatre (ISCLT) Conference in Estonia in July, 2007. As a professional new play dramaturg, Erik has consulted on the development of a number of award winning plays -- including Julie Jensen's Dust Eaters, nominated by the American Theatre Critics Association for best new play produced outside New York in 2005, and one of four finalists for the PEN USA 2006 Literary Awards for Drama. His two textbooks, The Art of Theatre: Then and Now, and Experiencing the Art of Theatre were published by Thomson/Wadsworth (2006), and in 2007 he was named a Kennedy Center Faculty Fellow for his work in new play development. Erik is the Chair of the National Playwriting Program for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival's Region III, which includes administering the Kennedy Center's new play programming for the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

Note: For specific MFA playwriting program information on scholarships, admission, curriculum, degree requirements, or how to apply, visit the Ohio University School of Theater web site by clicking here. For the MFA news blog, the latest on guest artists in residence, MFA faculty news, current MFA student playwright bios, MFA playwriting festival scheduling and updates, and MFA playwriting alumni news please navigate using the links in the left column.