The Gifted Program
Set in a Wisconsin high school in 1985, the play centers on four maligned sophomores, refugees from a defunct program for gifted and talented students and the last remaining members of the Dungeon & Dragons club. When of them is revealed as the infamous radio call-ini Lothario who has courted the school’s most popular girl, their simple pursuit of an education becomes a fight for survival.
An outstanding ensemble cast and inventive direction propelled word of mouth and critical attention, leading to sold-out audiences and publications with Dramatists Play Service. In 2005, The Gifted Program was anthologized in The Best Men’s Stage Monologues of 2005, published by Smith & Kraus.
Rubberville is a hard-knock Midwestern neighborhood circa 1982, the unlikey site of the ominous arrival of a girl prophet. As burnout teens, lonely drunks, a ragged Vietnam vet and a raging single mother battle ghosts real and imagined. Does this mysterious newcomer offer salvation, or is she the pied piper of the apocalypse? OVO’s first full-length production was a raucous theatrical feast of dance, heavy metal, projections and puppetry.
An exiled backwater spiritual leader makes his final stand in the lonely cabin where he was born, his bloodthirsty former followers at his heels. As the final moments of his life tick away, he recounts his life in rousing songs and rhyming couples that resound with wit, defiance, and sex.
One actor and one musician propel this tour-de-force of language and song that probes the boundaries of the sensual and spiritual. Showcasing a powerful performance by LoCorriere and toe-tapping brilliance by Stebbins, this two-man show proved to be a watermark OVO production crackling with an energy more often found at rock venues.
The Gospel of Cyrus According to Cyrus ws co-produced with Theater for the New City and supported with a grant from the Jerome Foundation.
“HOLD” Directed by Ian Rosenberg: A desperate man seeking aid from a mental heath hotline is instead sent intro a surreal automated phone system purgatory. This suspenseful comedy with laser-sharp performances and fast, fluid staging left audiences eager for more OVO.
“The Man Who Pulled A Gun Out of His Ass,” Directed by Chris Talbott Squirting blood, fake noses, wigs, and gunshots fly in this wild and unsetting story that introduced audiences to OVO’s brand of no-holds-barred theatricals.
Bridging the two short plays, musical guest John Gold’s underrated but shimmering rock brilliance help audiences in sway for the entirety of his tight and brooding set, icing on the cake of OVO’s inaugural production.
JJ is an asthmatic temp waging an underground fight against the corporate powers that assault his mind and body.
Tim Robert’s driving power-pop, the electrifying energy and chemistry of James Engel and Ari Vena, and Caroline Laskow's razor-sharp direction of this funny exploration of corporate culture and radical chic kept audiences rocking in their seats.
The Asthma Conspiracy was co-produced with Theater For New City and supported with a grant from the Jerome Foundation.
