By Katie Land, news editor
All the world’s a stage for Oakland University’s Kitty Dubin, Audra Lord, Jacquelyn Floyd and Linda Curatolo. The special lecturer and three alumnae have written plays set to be performed at BoxFest Detroit 2010.
As an instructor in the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance, Dubin teaches courses in playwriting and advanced playwriting. Both Curatolo and Lord have taken her courses, and both have since had their original plays performed by local and professional theaters.
An annual celebration of theatre, BoxFest Detroit showcases the work of women writers and directors over three weekends in August. “I think women bring a certain perspective to things and it's a cool idea to have all women directors,” Dubin said.
Her plays have been performed in Michigan and at other venues across the country including Chicago, New York City, Austin, Louisville and Boca Raton.
Dubin’s play for BoxFest, “The Other Side,” centers on a skeptical but grief stricken young woman who consults a medium in a desperate attempt to make contact with her recently deceased mother.
“It is satisfying to me that since I began teaching playwriting at Oakland just 14 years ago, more than 70 student written plays have gone on to receive productions or staged readings,” Dubin said. “I am very proud of that.”
Lord graduated from Oakland with a French degree in 1993. As a local and community theater actress, Lord was discouraged by the lack of good material for women in their thirties and began to write herself. Lord’s plays have since been staged in Michigan theaters and in New York. She also had a play in BoxFest Detroit 2009.
For the festival this year, Lord presents “Boys, Meet Girl,” a 20-minute comedy about a girl and her stalkers that hits upon the desire for human connection in an increasingly digital age.
Floyd earned an Oakland degree in Performing Arts in 1998 and has continued to work as an actor and playwright. Three of her original plays were performed in last year’s BoxFest, and she currently has four plays for this year’s event. Her theater work has been staged across the country and she has completed two professional film projects as well.
Floyd’s works “The Reckless Romantic,” “There Will Come Soft Rains,” “Birthday Beer,” and “The Meek Shall Inherit” will all be performed this summer. From budding romances to end of the world scenarios, Floyd’s plays offer a versatile addition to the festival.
After graduating in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in English, Curatolo worked as a publicist and grant writer before creating her own publishing company, where she writes biographies for private clients.
Curatolo’s play, “SunTrust” focuses on a middle aged couple deciding whether to lend their son money for a house. The argument brings years of financial and emotional distress to the surface and takes their marriage to the breaking point.
The festival will run Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons and evenings, August 6 through August 21, with a celebratory opening event to precede it on Thursday, August 5.
BoxFest Detroit 2010 will be held at The Furniture Factory in Detroit. Admission is payable by cash only at the door with day passes for $10 and festival passes for $30.
For more information about Oakland’s MTD programs,
view the website.
