Tag Archives: Cincinnati Fringe Festival

WRITTEN BY MAC ROGERS
DIRECTED BY JORDANA WILLIAMS 

JUNE 3rd – JUNE 9th @ MEMORIAL HALL STUDIO

Gideon Productions, the company behind the Cincy Fringe hits God Of Obsidian (winner of last year’s Linda Bowen Full Frontal Pick) and Ligature Marks (a CityBeat Critic’s Pick), will present the World Premiere of playwright Mac Rogers’ (The Honeycomb Trilogy; the global hit podcasts The Message and Steal The Stars) poly-amorous drama MUSICAL CHAIRS, running from June 3rd to June 9th at the Memo Studio at Memorial Hall as part of the Cincinnati Fringe Festival. The production will be directed by Jordana Williams (Steal the Stars; The Honeycomb Trilogy) and will feature Rebecca Comtois (Viral; Steal the Stars), Mac Rogers (NYIT Outstanding Lead Actor Nominee for The Adventures of Nervous-Boy with Nosedive Productions), and Kristen Vaughan (Frankenstein Upstairs, The Honeycomb Trilogy, NYIT Outstanding Lead Actress Winner for Benefactors).

A three-person relationship wouldn’t be most people’s cup of tea, but for Jess, Owen, and Ruth, it seems to work. So they decide to make it official: Ruth moves in. They figure out how to make it legal. It’s only then that the three spouses learn that marriage – especially in a scarily changing world – isn’t any easier with three.

Musical Chairs will run June 3 at 4pm, June 4 at 7:45pm, June 6 at 8:30pm, June 8 at 6:30pm and June 9 at 8:30pm, as part of the Cincinnati Fringe Festival at the Memorial Hall Studio (1225 Elm Street, Cincinnati, OH, 45202). Tickets ($15) may be purchased online at www.cincyfringe.com. The show will run 60 minutes with no intermission.

MAC ROGERS (Playwright and Owen) is an award-winning playwright and audio dramatist. His sci-fi thriller podcasts The Message, Steal the Stars, and LifeAfter were downloaded over 7 million times.  His plays include The Honeycomb Trilogy (New York Times and Backstage Critic’s Picks and winner of the NYIT Award for Best Premiere Production), Viral (winner of Outstanding Play at FringeNYC 2009), and Universal Robots (nominated for four New York Innovative Theatre awards). Mac’s plays have earned acclaim from The New York Times, The Guardian, Time Out New York, The New York Post, and many others. 

JORDANA WILLIAMS (Director) directed Mac Rogers’ hit audio drama Steal the Stars, as well as many of his plays, including God of Obsidian (Full Frontal Pick), Ligature Marks (CityBeat Critic’s Pick), The Honeycomb Trilogy (NY Times and Time Out NY Critics’ Picks), Universal Robots and Viral. Other favorite directing work includes Kill Shakespeare at NY Comic Con and The Particulars with The Bridge Theater Company, FringeNYC.

REBECCA COMTOIS (Jess) previously appeared at the Cincy Fringe in God of Obsidian (Full Frontal Pick) and Ligature Marks (CityBeat Critic’s Pick). She also work with Mac Rogers and Jordana Williams on the hit podcast Steal The Stars as well as on the plays Viral (Winner of FringeNYC’s Outstanding Production of a Play) and The Honeycomb Trilogy (NY Times and Time Out NY Critics’ Picks).  Other notable roles include Jenny in James Comtios’ Infectious Opportunity (Nosedive Productions) and Mag in Taylor Mac’s The Hot Month with Carol Kane (Boomerang’s Legacy Reading Series).

KRISTEN VAUGHAN (Ruth) is a three-time NYIT Awards nominee for Lead Actress, winning for Jane in Benefactors (Retro Productions).  Among Kristen’s other roles; Amelia Cooke in The Honeycomb Trilogy and Victoria Frankenstein in Frankenstein Upstairs (Gideon Productions), and Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire (Bleecker Company).  www.kristenvaughan.com

Critical acclaim for Gideon Productions:

“Television is where you find complicated storytelling. Film is the home of epic sci-fi trilogies. Giant aliens are expensive. Mac Rogers’s “Honeycomb Trilogy,” a titanic story about humanity in crisis wedged into a small theater in Queens, laid waste to these truisms, and provided giddy, cerebral fun along the way.” The New York Times 

“Mac Rogers—genre playwright extraordinaire—can rant like Sorkin, plot like Mamet, banter like Whedon and sting like a bee.”  Time Out New York

“This is full-on, unapologetic science fiction with a galactic-scale backdrop involving interstellar trips and an insectoid race.” New York Post

“One of the most intelligent and complex theatrical events of the year.” Flavorpill

GIDEON PRODUCTIONS crafts gripping plays that explore what’s strange about being human and what’s human about being strange, using familiar genres and cultural touchstones as a springboard to something wholly unexpected.

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www.gideonth.com

www.cincyfringe.com