THIS EVENT HAS BEEN MOVED FROM FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25 TO WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23

A collaboration of professional theatre artists, faculty members, current students, and CSU alumni, the ON THE BRINK Company explores works representing a variety of underrepresented voices and perspectives. Join directors Saffron Henke and Javier Hurtado and special guests for unique productions throughout the year. Readings are followed by a facilitated post-show reflective discussion to process and discuss the work and issues raised by the play.

Writer and director Zach Helm is known for Stranger Than Fiction (2006), Deep Water (2022), and Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (2007).

To kick off the season, acclaimed screenwriter and playwright Zach Helm joins the company for a developmental residency, October 17-23. Students will do a reading from Helm’s new project, the Fun Times Cycle. The cycle’s five new plays are “drawn in reflection of our current era: darkly comedic, provocative and emotional,” focusing on themes including cyber hacking, the dark web, and gaming culture.

From the cycle, the OBTC board selected Gamerz, or; For Sad Dudes Who’ve Considered the Internet When a Shadow is Enough.

Brash and darkly comic, the story is an increasingly tightening drama in which a moment of online smack-talk conflates into the targeted harassment of a young queer couple, one of whom is about to go on tour with her heavy metal band. As the threats become more real, the ethos of hardcore music versus the aggression of ‘sad dudes’ only bellows the danger, and when the police and FBI both reveal their respectively limited ability to help, it is up to a rogue FBI contractor and the couple to protect themselves. (thefuntimescycle.com)

“We are one of the first universities in the country to produce a play from Zach Helm’s new cycle,” exclaimed Henke, who will direct the staged reading. “We’ll have the opportunity to develop it further with Zach during his residency. The Fun Time Cycle team is big in the industry, so it’s a great networking opportunity for our students to be involved in the premier and work with a professional playwright.”

Gamerz or For Sad Dudes Who’ve Considered the Internet When a Shadow is Enough
A reading from The Fun Times Cycle by Zach Helm
Directed by Saffron Henke
Wednesday, October 23, 7 p.m., Large Acting Lab, Rm. 242 at the UCA