School Notes: David Geffen School of Drama
September/October 2014

Connecticut Critics honor Yale Rep

The spring world premiere of These Paper Bullets!, adapted by Rolin Jones ’04MFA from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, claimed five awards from the Connecticut Critics Circle on June 23: Outstanding Production of a Play; Outstanding Director of a Play (Jackson Gay ’03MFA);  Outstanding Scenic Design (Michael Yeargan ’73MFA, cochair of the design department at Yale School of Drama); Outstanding Costume Design (Jessica Ford ’04MFA); and a special award to Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong, who wrote the show’s original songs. 

Other Yale Rep productions and YSD alumni were honored with nominations. Marcus Gardley’s (’04MFA) The House that will not Stand garnered nominations for best production of a play, best direction (Patricia McGregor ’09MFA), outstanding featured actress, and best scenic design. Accidental Death of an Anarchist was nominated for its leading actor, as was These Paper Bullets! for leading actor and actress (Jeanine Serralles ’02MFA). Kate Noll ’14MFA was recognized for scenic design in Accidental Death of an Anarchist; KJ Kim ’14MFA for her costumes in The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls; Bradley King and Paul Whitaker ’02MFA for lighting design in Russian Girls and These Paper Bullets!, respectively; and sound designers Charles Coes ’09MFA and Nathan Roberts ’10MFA for Anarchist, Chad Raines ’11MFA for Russian Girls, and Broken Chord, led by Daniel Baker ’04MFA, for These Paper Bullets!.

A new season at Yale Rep

A new production of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia, directed by Drama School dean and Yale Rep artistic director James Bundy ’95MFA, kicks off the Yale Repertory Theatre’s 2014–15 season with a run from October 3 to October 25. Following Arcadia the Rep will stage three new plays supported by Yale’s Binger Center for New Theatre: War, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz ’12MFA; Familiar, directed by Rebecca Taichman ’01MFA; and Elevada, directed by Jackson Gay ’03MFA. Wrapping up the season in the spring will be Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle, directed by Liz Diamond, resident director at the Rep and chair of the YSD directing department.