Adam Agardy and Timothy Cubbison of Horseless Cowboy Productions “We got hundreds and hundreds of submissions,” said Plays came in from as far away as Australia and London and from “Kicking Gravity” is about quadruplet former child “I wanted a comedy about death,” said Spero. Pesceone’s play is a drama about a younger woman who Each play is approximately one hour long and will run in And while Agardy said he did not have a particular type of play “If you start with poor writing, 90 percent of the time The fact that both winners are from UCLA is even more surprising Spero said there were only five students who began in his class, The program does not teach writing so much as provide a “It was good just to have a bunch of other minds to bounce Pesceone spent one year in the program and graduated in 2005 Neither Spero nor Pesceone planned on taking up playwriting as a Both entered the playwriting contest on a whim, so winning came “It was so long ago that I applied, I didn’t even This is both Pesceone’s and Spero’s first “(The play) takes on a life of its own when actors and Since beating out the competition, Pesceone and Spero have “There’s not that much money in theater; I have a
advertised their “The Hired Gun Play Competition”
playwriting contest solely on the Internet and were expecting a
moderate amount of applicants. The contest was set up in May 2005
as a way to break the ice and gain exposure for their production
company after relocating from Austin, Texas, to Los Angeles in
2004. Turns out a lot of people found the site.
Agardy. “It was a lot of reading. There are just so many
writers; people will jump at the chance to get a play
produced.”
high-profile writers who have worked on TV shows such as “The
X-Files” and “Frasier.” But through pure
coincidence, it was two recent alumni from the UCLA School of
Theater, Film and Television who snagged the top prize. Kristin
Pesceone’s drama, “Out of Gardenia,” and Jesse
James Spero’s comedy, “Kicking Gravity,” will
show at the Dorie Theater at the Complex in Hollywood, and will run
from today until Nov. 6.
actors who reconcile after their mother is trampled by an
elephant.
seduces an older man, takes him back to her place, and then holds
him hostage.
succession.
in mind at the beginning of the contest, he knew it needed to be
character-driven and well-written.
you’ll have a poor product,” said Agardy.
“Especially with theater, since it’s so intimate. If
what they’re saying doesn’t ring true, then it’s
not believable. (The audience) is right in front of you.”
given that its playwriting program is so small.
two of whom left after one year. Keeping the program small makes it
more competitive and allows each student to have the time and
resources to produce plays, according to Spero.
productive writing environment.
ideas off of and to have a community and structure to help you go
forward,” said Pesceone of her time at UCLA.
with a master’s degree in theater with an emphasis in
playwriting. Spero was at UCLA from 2000-03 and received his
master’s in playwriting as well.
full-time career after graduation; Pesceone wanted to pursue an
acting career, and Spero was burned out from theater and wanted to
expand his resume into film and television.
as quite as shock.
remember that I had,” said Pesceone. “But (winning) is
great because people get to see (my work) and that’s kind of
the whole point.”
professional production, and they are discovering that the scale of
their student productions was much smaller. When Spero finished
“Kicking Gravity” three years ago, it was produced as a
student play at UCLA for around $100.
directors get involved. You kind of have to give the play
over,” said Spero. “At UCLA, I was at probably every
rehearsal because plays were developed as production went
on.”
picked up their pens again, but neither one has plans to turn
playwriting into a full-time career just yet.
day job, definitely,” said Spero. “(But) since being
involved with this production, I have a new idea for a play, so
I’m excited for theater again.”
