JOAN O’DWYER received her MPhil in Creative Writing from Trinity College Dublin at the turn of the century, living in Blackrock with her then-14-year-old daughter. They whiled away many pleasant hours going to classes and the theatre, traveling, learning how to bang on the bodhran, and watching each other’s naturally curly hair pouff and spoing in the unnatural Irish humidity.
When Joan returned to Tucson, she temporarily forewent (foregoed?) writing to become the artistic director and brawn behind Wilde Playhouse, a theatre/gourmet fast food/espresso wine bar at 135 E. Congress.
People always asked her: Why theatre? Why now? What the heck? Wha’s happenin, dude? Wazzup? Wherefore art thou? Well, Joan should have answered those questions, because she came to find that the little theatre was out of step with the times, even though everything about it was terrific - and actually life-changing for her. She returned to writing and acting. Elliott’s, a sweet little bar with cool owners, is at that location now. In 2015 Whitney Morton Woodcock, Esther Almazán and she founded Something Something Theatre to present modern plays from the canon and re-imagined classics with a goal of better-than-parity for women playwrights.
See you at the theatre!
ESTHER ALMAZÁNhas her Bachelor’s in Theatre Arts and her Master’s in Scriptwriting.
She has had the opportunity to work with a variety of theatres including Borderlands Theater, The Rogue Theatre, sheworXX, British American Theatre Institute, Something Something Theatre, Discovery Children’s Theatre, a.k.a. Theatre, TADA, Old Pueblo Playwrights, Homoneurotic Theatre, Beowulf Alley Theatre, Greer Garson Theatre, and The Tucson Fringe Festival. Her original plays have been performed at the Pandora Festival, WriteNow! and The Apron Strings Project. She was honored to direct Anna in the Tropics for Something Something Theatre for the '15 - 16 season and The Taming of the Shrew for its '16 -'17 season.
WHITNEY MORTON WOODCOCK as been involved in theatre for more than half her life. Additionally, if you name any kind of visual or performing art, she has probably at least tried it once. From her early days at the sadly now defunct Arizona Youth Theatre to her current involvement with Something Something Theatre, Whitney is just glad to be on any stage, acting or directing in shows that move people and make them think. Tucson audiences may have seen her with Something Something onstage as Valerie in The Weir, Conchita in Anna in the Tropics, and Phyllis in Body Awareness.
In addition to acting and directing, Whitney also brings many years of marketing, arts administration, and graphic design expertise to Something Something. Her art and design portfolio can be found at her website, www.WhitneyMorton.com. She has also appointed herself Chief Officer of Do We Really Need to Spend That Much?—so you know any donations made will be in her capable stewardship!
OUR BOARD
MIKE SAXON is a native Tucsonan and a U of A graduate, majoring in Theatre Education. Over the past few years, he’s dabbled in acting and stage management at Live Theatre Workshop, Borderlands Theater and Something Something Theatre Co. He was recently seen as Bracegirdle in Commander Hastings at The Comedy Playhouse. He wishes to thank his family and closest friends for their unconditional love and support.
KATHLEEN WOODCOCK was born in the Presidio of San Francisco, the youngest child of an Army sergeant. At age 21 she joined the Air Force as a computer operator, where she met Roger, her husband of now-45 years. They have a son, Brian. Before Woody retired with 20 years in the USAF in 1988, they were stationed for four years in Germany, where Kathleen received her B. A. in Business Management from the University of Maryland, before they all returned to the U.S. to live in Tucson.
Now Something Something’s Treasurer, she brings over 25 years’ experience as a full-charge bookkeeper and office manager.
And, although her only experience treading the boards was as a member of the nun’s chorus in her high school’s production of Sound of Music, she evidently imparted a love of theatre to son Brian, who met his wife Whitney when they both acted in Mame at Red Barn Theatre.
