The Department of Performing and Media Arts (PMA)
presents

Heermans-McCalmon Dramatic Writing Awards 2022

SB10 - Class of '56 Dance Studio Theatre
Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts
430 College Avenue
March 28, 2022 5:00 p.m.

WINNERS:

Solo Performance
1st Place: A Letter from a Runaway Lover by Adam Fofana

Play
1st Place: Old Man and Boy by Andrew Vincenzo Lorenzen
2nd Place: Waiting for The Dog by Emily Park

Screenplay
1st Place: (Don’t) Tell Danny by Jack Muench
2nd Place: Smile by Phoebe Irene McKinley

CAST:
A Letter from a Runaway Lover written and performed by Adam Fofana

Old Man and Boy by Andrew Vincenzo Lorenzen
Old Man: Joshua Akinwumi
Reading stage directions: Audrey Teasley

(Don’t) Tell Danny by Jack Muench
Richard: Jack Muench
Cheryl: Taylor Bazos
Danny: Noah Leety
Reading action lines: Andrew Lorenzen

The vision of the Department of Performing and Media Arts is to nurture and mentor artists, performers, writers, and thinkers through the process of event programming. We recognize that all people should see their stories represented, and envision their stories as valuable.

We commit ourselves to creating spaces that actively seek to break down systems of oppression based on race, gender, sexuality, class, ability, and place of origin and empower all to be involved. We seek to stimulate thoughtful discussion and enact social change within our productions and our audiences. It is our goal to make our events accessible to the wider Cornell and Ithaca community, to strengthen bonds and engage inquiry, dialogue, and impact around social and cultural change.
 
In the 2021-2022 academic year we will help realize a wide range of students’ creative projects, from original plays, to solo performances, to readings, to choreographies, to acting, directorial, and curatorial projects. We are particularly happy that in addition to supporting live performances, we are now also supporting the production of several student thesis films. Enjoy the shows!
 

Old Man and Boy by Andrew Vincenzo Lorenzen
Inspired by my longstanding admiration for the work of Samuel Beckett, particularly Waiting for Godot and Krapp’s Last Tape, this play is a character study in the isolation and desperation of an old man whose sole remaining task in life is to die. In keeping with the tradition of absurdist theatre, it’s a piece that lends itself to contrasting interpretations and a dour, almost otherworldly tone. Its themes of family, memory, and generativity have featured centrally throughout my body of writing work at Cornell. The presentation of it in the Heermans-McCalmon program, aided enormously by the brilliant performances of my talented friends Josh Akinwumi and Audrey Teasley, represents something of a capstone to my theatrical work on campus as a graduating senior. I look forward to what the future holds and someday staging this play as a full production.

(Don’t) Tell Danny by Jack Muench
I’ve always had a particular fascination with flawed characters, struggling relationships, and irreconcilable differences in the face of difficult circumstances. This screenplay desires to capture a scene in which a couple’s painfully repressed feelings of contempt explode to the surface at the most inexcusable time, in this case, a married couple celebrating their eight-year-old son’s birthday. It’s a piece that does not necessarily intend one to choose sides regarding who’s good and who’s bad, but rather allows the audience to understand the pain motivating each character’s actions. I’m grateful to the Heermans-McCalmon Competition for allowing me to not only develop (Don’t) Tell Danny with my wonderful actors, Taylor Bazos and Noah Leety, but to also play an active role in the presentation of the piece!

A Letter from a Runaway Lover by Adam Fofana
A Letter from A Runaway Lover is a historical fiction piece that tries to probe into the psyche of an enslaved man who dared to seek freedom. Throughout my time in AMST Underground Railroad Seminar where this piece was written, I came to recognize that when we are taught the history of American slavery, we are told about the physical brutality and inhumane treatments but never about the emotional heartache of broken kinships. While enslaved people tried to maintain connection and linkage to humanity by forming kinships, their abusers sought to break them. It was the idea that because they are slaves, they should not be allowed human connections. But yet enslaved people sought to form friendships and kinships as a way of resisting the cruel system.

Adam Fofana (writer, A Letter from a Runaway Lover) is a fourth-year engineering student studying Electrical and computer engineering. The solo performance, A Letter from a Runaway Lover is a speculatively imagined piece about the life of a runaway slave traveling through real hideaway places in search of freedom. It was written in response to a writing prompt given in AMST 3434: Underground Railroad Seminar taught by Professor Gerard Aching. Regarding his artistic goals, Adam hopes to one day direct films focused on telling Black stories.

Andrew V. Lorenzen ‘22 (playwright, Old Man and Boy) is a senior studying Government and Performing and Media Arts, with a minor in English. He has previously workshopped his writing at Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and Shadows of 2020, where he first wrote Old Man and Boy. He is a previous winner of PMA’s Marvin Carlson Award for his essay Waiting for Covid. Andrew will matriculate to an MFA program next fall in the next step of his development as a writer.

Phoebe McKinley (screenwriter, Smile) is a Senior at Cornell studying psychology. Although she has been a movie and theater lover her whole life, her introduction into the world of narrative writing started in college when she was accepted to a sketch comedy group. She loved to watch the words she wrote be played out in front of her. It was through members of her comedy group that she was introduced to DKA, the cinematic fraternity on campus. From there she was able to explore her passion for film on the production side (specifically the writing side). The original short film she submitted for this competition was actually the first she had ever written. She now plans to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, hoping to worm her way into a writers' room!

Jack Muench (screenwriter, (Don’t) tell Danny) is a senior majoring in Performing and Media Arts and minoring in Business. This is Jack’s second time placing in the Heermans McCalmon Competition, with his previous screenplay Two Red Lines earning him 1st Place in 2021. On campus, Jack is a member of Cornell’s Professional Cinematic Society and has played for Cornell Football as a defensive lineman for the past 4 years. Jack plans to pursue a career in screenwriting after he graduates and is ecstatic to workshop this material!

Emily Park (playwright, Waiting for the Dog), is a junior at Cornell University with a double-major in English and Philosophy. Words bring her great joy, especially when they cooperate. Waiting for the Dog was written deep in quarantine, a time when words were just about the only thing that would cooperate. When not writing, Emily can be found hiking, lifting, or continuing a longtime love affair with the works of D.H. Lawrence.

Joshua Akinwumi (Old Man, Old Man and Boy) is a senior in Performing Arts and Information Science. From a young age, he has been interested in filmmaking and storytelling. He enjoys writing, directing, and acting. In his spare time, he likes to watch movies, play soccer, and play music.

Taylor Bazos (Cheryl, (Don’t) tell Danny) is a Performing and Media Arts and Spanish double major with a minor in education at Cornell University. On campus, she is a part of Cornell’s Professional Cinematic Society, Delta Kappa Alpha, as well as a cappella group Less Than Three. She has performed in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, Off-Broadway in NYC, and Madrid, Spain, along with various other productions. She is excited to be a part of this unique project!

Noah Leety (Danny, (Don’t) tell Danny) is a sophomore in the school of Industrial Labor and Relations, born and raised from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Along with majoring in ILR, Noah has the intention of minoring in film. Noah is new to acting, but has recent experience being a part of Cornell’s sketch comedy group, HumorUs as both an actor and a writer. Noah enjoys film, and hopes to pursue writing in the future.

Audrey Teasley (Stage directions, Old Man and Boy)

Ellie Foumbi is an actor/writer/director from Cameroon whose work is centered on stories about identity and moral ambiguity within the African diaspora. She holds an MFA from Columbia University’s School of the Arts in Directing. Her films have screened at Venice, HollyShorts, Santa Barbara International Film Festival and on the Netflix Film Club. Ellie made her TV directorial debut on BET’s hip-hop anthology, Tales. In addition to participating in Berlinale Talents and New York Film Festival’s Artist Academy, her projects have been supported by SFFILM’s Rainin Grant, The Gotham's Project Market, Film Independent, and the Tribeca Film Institute.

Christopher Livingston is an actor, currently in the Broadway production Birthday Candles. He was recently seen in The Great Society on Broadway and playing Wayne Williams on the Netflix series Mindhunter. At Roundabout Underground he was seen in Something Clean. Other New York credits include On the Grounds of Belonging, Party People, and The Urban Retreat at The Public Theater. He was also seen in Wilder Gone in Clubbed Thumb’s Summer Works, Julius Caesar at the Delacorte, Peerless at Cherry Lane and The Architecture of Becoming with Women's Project. Select regional theaters include The Williamstown Theatre Festival, Long Wharf, The McCarter, A.C.T., Yale Rep., Berkeley Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Portland Center Stage and The Virginia Stage Company. Christopher received his BFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.

BUILDING/HOUSE MANAGERS
Sofia Aguirre, Mackenzie Closson, Naomi Daniel, Samantha Granja, Deepak Ilango, Anastasia Kreisel, Jack McManus, Maxwell Ringer, Matthew Saylor, Ariel Shaked, Sarah Zaragoza-Smith

PMA PRODUCTION STAFF
Director of Productions & Events: Pamela Lillard
Technical Director: Fritz Bernstein
Stage Manager: Howard Klein
Assistant Technical Director: Savannah Relos
Props Coordinator: Tim Ostrander
Master Electrician: Steven Blasberg
Costume Shop Supervisor: Lisa Boquist
Computer Support: Chris Christensen
Media Assistant: Randy Hendrickson
Communications & Events Coordinator: Youngsun Palmer
Communications Manager: Gary Gabisan
Box Office Manager: Julie Tibbits
Department Manager: Christopher Riley