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

Note: For specific master of fine arts, playwriting program information on scholarships, admission requirements, 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. For a summary of recent program news highlights and history, or information on how to contact the program, see below.

Recent MFA Program News Highlights and History:

OU MFA playwrights consistently sustain a high level of achievement. A list of theatres that have recently workshopped and produced former and current OU playwriting students includes several Tony Award-winning theatres such as Victory Gardens, The Mark Taper Forum, The Goodman, Actors Theatre of Louisville and New Dramatists; other major theatres recently producing (or slated to produce) OU playwriting students include Ensemble Studio Theatre, Magic Theatre, The New Group, Pan Asian Rep, Foundry Theatre Works, Theatre J, Collaboraction, Perishable Theatre, Edge Theatre, Prop Theatre, MPAACT, Chicago Dramatists and Contemporary American Theater Festival.

MFA Playwriting Program Students 2008

OU playwrights have earned workshops at the O'Neill Center and The Playwright's Center in Minneapolis, the Alliance Theater in Atlanta, as well as awards and honors such as: New Dramatists’ Joe Callaway Award, The Gilman/New Dramatists Playwriting Fellowship, Whitfield Cook Award, Jane Chambers Playwriting Award, New York Innovative Theatre Awards, Kennedy Center‘s Fund for New American Plays’ Roger Stevens Award, Drama-Logue Awards, commissions from the Jerome Foundation and Théâtre du Soleil Levant in Switzerland, and numerous Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Awards. Works published by current and recent MFA playwriting students are available from Smith and Kraus, Dramatists Play Service, Heinemann, Northwestern University Press, Samuel French, and Playscripts, Inc. Alums in the last five years have also gone on to write for film and television, including such shows as the Emmy Award-winning 24, the Emmy Award-nominated Battlestar Galactica, Law and Order: Criminal Intent and NBC's new spy dramedy Chuck. In addition, since 2005 current Ohio University MFA playwrights have garnered more than $60,000 in grants to research and write their new plays. To see the most recent accomplishments of OU MFA playwrights, visit the news page.