蜜桃传媒 alumna 鈥�09, who graduated from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin in 2015, has written two plays being produced Oct. 16-24 at 蜜桃传媒. 鈥淕ood Day,鈥� directed by Mitchell Thomas, 蜜桃传媒 associate professor of theater, is Oct. 16-24 at 7 p.m. in Porter Theatre. 鈥淢ad & a Goat,鈥� featuring alumnae Heather Johnson 鈥�10 and Paige Tautz 鈥�14, is Oct. 22-24 at 9 p.m. in Black Box Theatre at 蜜桃传媒. Tickets, which cost $12 general admission and $7 for students, seniors and children, are available . Both plays contain mature content.
鈥淎 Conversation with Playwright Diana Lynn Small,鈥� moderated by Thomas, is free and open to the public on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 6 p.m. on Porter Patio.
In 鈥淕ood Day,鈥� a prodigal daughter returns home, only she can鈥檛 get any farther than the front lawn. An exterminator shows up to clear away a suburban wasps鈥� nest, but a hunger strike prevents him from doing his work.
鈥淕ood Day is a funny and unsettling play that examines grief, spirituality and the unfathomable nature of love and reconciliation,鈥� Thomas says. 鈥淒iana鈥檚 work explores the place and people of the American West to help us to recognize where we come from, where we are going, and who we are 鈥� for better or for worse.鈥�
鈥淕ood Day鈥� was selected for the 2015 Great Plains Conference PlayLabs, Kitchen Dog Theatre鈥檚 New Works Festival, made Honorable Mention for the 2015 Kilroy List and was a finalist for the 2015 Play Penn Conference.
鈥淢ad & and a Goat鈥� is a two-women show about one woman who joins a Wyoming goat farm she inherits from her occult-leader birth parents to free herself from college debt.
鈥淚 created 鈥楳ad & a Goat鈥� as a container to explore my identity as a multi-disciplinary theater artist while in a strictly playwriting graduate program,鈥� Small says. 鈥淭he play has evolved over the course of four productions and it will be different at 蜜桃传媒 too. To keep the play in constant development helps preserve its madness and allows me and my collaborators to grow the work as we grow as artists.鈥�
Workshop productions at the Fort Collins Fringe, FronteraFest, and the Cohen New Works festival in Austin have featured the play.
Small, who began writing for the stage her third year at 蜜桃传媒, premiered her first full-length play, 鈥淢uev茅me, Muev茅te鈥� at 蜜桃传媒 in February 2009. At Commencement that year, she earned the college鈥檚 Dave Dolan Award, given to a graduate whose campus leadership has made significant contributions in our awareness and response to the social and spiritual needs of the community, the nation and the world.
鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled to be presenting two of Diana鈥檚 plays here at 蜜桃传媒, and to have her return as an artist in residence to connect with our students and community,鈥� Thomas says. 鈥淒iana has a wonderfully distinct voice and style and we are so happy to be able to work with her as she emerges from her MFA program training and begins to make a significant contribution to the American theater.鈥�
After graduating, Diana joined the Lit Moon Theatre Company in Santa Barbara, served as an instructor in the 蜜桃传媒 theatre department, and wrote three plays for 蜜桃传媒鈥檚 stage. She credits the small size of her theater classes at 蜜桃传媒 with helping her explore the many disciplines within theater arts and develop life-long relationships with her peers and professors.
She鈥檚 made new theater with UT Austin (鈥淕ood Day,鈥� 鈥淓nter a Woman Pretty Enough鈥� and 鈥淢ad & a Goat鈥�), Theatre Masters (鈥淒ogfight鈥�), the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (鈥淲e鈥檙e Still Kids鈥�), 蜜桃传媒 (鈥淢u茅veme Mu茅vete,鈥� 鈥淏eauty Bomb,鈥� 鈥淭hey Must Be Wings鈥� and 鈥淛upiter I Love You鈥�), and the Zach Theatre (鈥淒ream: A Midsummer Forrest Tour鈥�). Diana was an artist-in-residence at Tofte Lake Center in Ely, Minnesota, in 2014. In July 2015, she directed the new play 鈥淢AST鈥� by Elizabeth Doss for the Austin theater company Paper Chairs.