MASTER OF FINE ARTS PLAYWRITING CLASS OF 2012
playwrights
The Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting is a three-year program that trains and nurtures dramatists whose purpose is to transform the way we see and understand the world. In the first year, playwrights complete two short plays and a full length play. In the second year, playwrights complete a second full length play, a One Person play, and an additional writing project such as an adaptation for the stage or a screenplay. The third year typically includes an internship with a professional theater or film studio, or comparable environment. Typically, student written plays are selected for further development through a process that may include one or more of the following: classroom discussion, staged readings, an intensive dramaturgical process, a script development workshop with directors, actors and designers culminating in studio workshop productions, or full production. When scheduled, student plays may be selected for inclusion in the Department’s “Francis Ford Coppola One Act Marathon” or “New Play Festival.”
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PLAYWRIGHTS
KATE SULLIVAN GIBBENS
JOE MARCINIAK
(917) 912-5505 ksgibbens@gmail.com
Bruin862@ucla.edu
Kate Sullivan Gibbens recently received her MFA in playwriting from UCLA, culminating in her thesis play, “Click.” In Fall 2011, “8” (Kate’s collaborative work with Dustin Lance Black dramatizing the California Proposition 8 trial) premiered as a staged reading on Broadway. It was followed by a star-studded reading in Los Angeles. After graduating with a BA in Acting and Directing from Boston’s Emerson College, Kate moved to Los Angeles to pursue playwriting. As an actor, Kate’s favorite roles include Debbie Benton in “Debbie Does Dallas – The Musical,” Meredith in “Batboy,”, Lynch in “Into You,” by Lee Blessing and Eve in “The Vagina Monologues.” As a singer, Kate has performed at Boston’s Encore Lounge and Los Angeles’ Royal/ T Cafe. Kate’s play “Mio Cuore – My Heart” was performed as part of the 2010 Source Festival in Washington DC. “The Great Buford Fire Funnel” was performed at UCLA as part of the 2010 “Francis Ford Coppola One-Act Marathon” as well as a part of the Dramatist Guild’s “Friday Night Footlights” series. Kate is directing the upcoming “Spring Awakening” for GloryStruck Productions, benefiting the Love Is Louder campaign. This Fall, Kate is excited to produce and direct the capitol production of “8” in Sacramento.
Joe Marciniak was born and raised in Indiana. He received a BA in English from Earlham College, where he was the recipient of the Ruby Davis Award. After graduating, he founded the production company Beer Jockey Films and wrote and directed several film shorts. He received an MFA in Playwriting from UCLA in 2012, where his play “Mud People” won the Tim Robbins Award. His play “These Walls Can Talk” premiered at Stone Soup Theater as part of their annual New-Play Festival (Seattle, 2010). “Two Weeds” was presented as part of the “Francis Ford Coppola One-Act Marathon” (Los Angeles, 2010), “Gun Show” received staged readings at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (2012) and “Grandmaster” was produced, courtesy of Theater Masters, in Aspen, CO and NYC (2012).