THE DISSERTATION DEFENDERS

The Lulubird Project and Cinema Sound Theatre Present

THE DISSERTATION DEFENDERS

A fictitious online university struggling to remain relevant, PhD candidates desperate to secure full-time teaching positions at adjunct wages, and academic-sounding topics make for a fraught (and odd) series of online debates written by local playwrights.

CREATIVE TEAM

Concept, backstory, and graphics by Lisa Wagner Erickson

Written by Sean Michael Cummings, Rebecca Gorman O'Neill, and Lisa Wagner Erickson

Directed by Veronica Straight-Lingo

Featuring Sean Michael Cummings and Sadie Gracelynn Trigg

The fictitious university . . .
Anoitos University enrolls PhD students who have been rejected by multiple doctoral programs. Prior to March 2020, every student was guaranteed a full-time online teaching job at adjunct wages upon graduation. But since COVID 19 hit, the number of positions have been cut in half. The result: Graduating students compete for full-time employment in the Dissertation Defense Debates.

How it all came together in virtual work environments . . .
FIRST: The playwrights were given character descriptions, the characters’ underlying conflict, and the debate topic and five days to write a 3-5 minute monologue/ dissertation defense.
NEXT: The director and actors rehearsed and recorded the episode online.
FINALLY: Episode One will debut July 9th!

GIVING BACK: Viewers are be invited to support the local arts community by donating to the Denver Actors Fund Emergency Relief Fund for Colorado theatre artists and the Denver Metro Area Artist COVID-19 Relief Fund

The Lulubird Project is a collective dedicated to questioning norms, rules, and conventions via thought-provoking theatrical art that is imaginative, inventive, and (like life) often absurd.

Cinema Sound Theatre is based in Denver and works with a core group of playwrights, actors, sound designers and foley artists to produce compelling audio stories that enrich your world.