Sacred Fools presents
A World Premiere Musical
Deadly
Written by Vanessa Stewart and Directed by Jamie Robledo

They were intelligent, ambitious, independent women. It just wouldn’t do. 1893. A time of hope and optimism as the World’s Fair turns the globe’s eyes toward Chicago. But within this cultural explosion of art and technology, a demon lurks beneath. Taking advantage of the modern woman’s adventuresome spirit, H.H. Holmes builds a hotel – a murder castle – to entrap and kill unsuspecting ladies new to the big city.

From the team behind the critical and box-office hit Stoneface, playwright Vanessa Claire Stewart (Louis & Keely: Live at the Sahara), composer Ryan Thomas Johnson (Watson), and director Jaime Robledo (Mr. Burns, a post-electric play), Deadly examines one of the most famous true crime cases in history, through the unlikely lens of the victims’ experience.

Deadly features French Stewart, Cj Merriman, Keith Allan, Erica Hanrahan-Ball, Ashley Diane, Kristyn Evelyn, Rebecca Larsen, Brittney S. Wheeler, Samantha Barrios, and Eric Curtis Johnson.

Playing Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm, Sunday September 15 at 7:00pm, Monday, October 21 at 8:00pm.

Playwright Vanessa Claire Stewart is a veteran playwright and performer whose awards include an LA Weekly Award for Leading Female performance as Alex in Ark Theatre Company’s production of A Clockwork Orange. She has also won Ovation, Garland and LA Weekly Awards for Louis and Keely: Live at the Sahara, which premiered at Sacred Fools and continues to have a long life with runs at the Geffen Playhouse, the Matrix Theatre and in Chicago at the Royal George Theatre. Stewart also wrote Stoneface, The Rise and Fall of Buster Keaton (as a gift to her now-husband, actor French Stewart who also appears in Deadly). Premiering at Sacred Fools where its critical and box office success took it to a second run at the Pasadena Playhouse, Stoneface racked up a slew of Ovation, LA Drama Critics Circle and LA Weekly nominations and awards.

The design team is featured with Set Design by Stephen Gifford, Lighting Design by Andrew Schmedake, Sound Design by Cricket S. Myers, Projection Design by Corwin Evans, Prop Design by Brandon Clark, Hair and Makeup by Kat Bardotand, Costume Design by Linda Muggeridge. The show’s Choreographer is Brin Hamblin and Fight Choreography is by Jo Ann Mendelson. Photography is by Jessica Sherman Photography. Deadly is produced for Sacred Fools by Brian W. Wallis, with Associate Producers K.J. Middlebrooks and French Stewart.

The live band for the show features Brenda Varda (Piano), Zachary Bernstein (Drums), Lisa Davis(Violin) and Katt Newlon (Cello).

More info: www.sacredfools.org

FB: facebook.com/sacredfoolsla/ 

TW & Instagram: @SacredFoolsLA

Rogue Machine presents the West Coast Premiere of
Miss Lilly Gets Boned
Written by Bekah Brunstetter / Directed by Robin Larsen

Sex, faith, and violence are all part of this intricate package of connections in Miss Lilly Gets Boned. Bekah Brunstetter imaginatively explores the tenuous and permeable boundaries that separate our civilized side from our more animalistic one, and the ways that faith can limit or uplift humanity. While a captive elephant grows ever more anxious in chains, a virginal Sunday school teacher takes a big chance, by opening her heart to the dangers of love.

Bekah Brunstetter is a Los Angeles based playwright. Her plays include: The Cake (Echo Theater Company, Manhattan Theater Club, Spring 2019), Going to a Place where you Already Are (South Coast Repertory), The Oregon Trail (Portland Center Stage, Flying V), Cutie and Bear, A Long and Happy Life, Be A Good Little Widow (Ars Nova), and Oohrah! (The Atlantic Theater, Steppenwolf Garage, the Finborough Theater / London). Bekah is currently working on a musical adaptation of The Notebook with music and lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson. She wrote for the first three seasons of NBC’s This is Us. Bekah is an alumna of the CTG Writers Group, Primary Stages Writers Group, Ars Nova Play Group, The Playwright’s Realm, and the Women’s Project Lab.

Director Robin Larsen returns to Rogue Machine where she is a founding member, having directed two of the company’s early hits, the West Coast premiere of Joel Drake Johnson’s Four Places (Ovation, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, and Backstage Garland awards for Best Production), and the Los Angeles premiere of Blackbird (LA Times Best of the Decade).

Award-winning cast includes Tasha Ames, Brady Amaya, Kavi Ladnier, Larisa Oleynik, Reza Safai, Justice Quinn, Rachel Caselli and Amir Levi.

Production/Creative team includes Stephanie Kerley Schwartz (Scenic Designer), Mark Royston and Sean Cawelti (Puppet Design), Martha Carter, (Lighting Design), Christopher Moscatiello (Sound Design), Jocelyn Hublau Parker (Costume Design), Hollace Starr (Dialect Coach), Julia Garcia Combs (Puppet Coach), Kis Knekt (Scenic Artist), Joshua Chamberlain and Taylor Kass (Assistant Directors), Christopher Breyer (Dramaturge), Victoria Hoffman (Casting Director), Amanda Bierbauer (Production Manager), Michelle Hanzelova (Media Producer).

Opening Saturday, 9/14

Playing Fridays 9/27, 10/4, 10/11, 10/19, 10/25 at 8pm
Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 3pm, Mondays at 8pm
(Saturday 9/28 performances will be a 2pm matinee; no performance on Sunday, 9/29)

Info: www.roguemachinetheatre.com

Twitter @RogueMachineLA, Instagram @RogueMachineTheatre and FB: RogueMachineTheatre #RMT12, #misslillygetsboned

“Papa Dozes, Mama Blows Her Noses.” That’s just one of the delightfully quirky musical numbers from this Obie award-winning musical romp adapted by composer Al Carmines from A Circular Play by Gertrude Stein. Presented as part of Odyssey Theatre Ensemble’s 50th Anniversary “Circa ’69” Season of significant and adventurous plays that premiered around the time of the Odyssey’s 1969 inception, In Circles sets Stein’s nonlinear prose, based solely on her pleasure at the way certain words sounded together, to a splendid musical score featuring ragtime, tango, waltz, opera, barbershop quartet, jazz and other musical styles. “A madly meaningful tea party which composer Al Carmines has turned into a gemlike operetta.” — Jack Kroll, Newsweek. Sept. 14 – Nov. 10: Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. with 3 additional weeknight performances on Thursday, Sept. 26; Wednesday, Oct. 16; and Wednesday, Oct. 23, all at 8 p.m. Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles, 90025; For reservations and information, call (310) 477-2055 or go to OdysseyTheatre.com.

THE ROAD THEATRE COMPANY and Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director together with Sam Anderson, Artistic Director, The Other Side of the Hill Productions Inc. in association with Spark Theatrical present the first show of the Road’s 2019-2020 season:

the world premiere of
THE SPANISH PRAYER BOOK
by Angela J. Davis

directed by Lee Sankowich

Moral dilemma, historical mystery, and matters of the heart converge when a committed atheist inherits a collection of rare and hauntingly beautiful illustrated Hebrew manuscripts, including a prayer book from fourteenth-century Spain, and discovers that the books, which bear witness to overlapping Jewish and Islamic traditions, were stolen some six-hundred years after their creation from a library in 1940s Berlin.

Inspired by true events and a late twentieth-century court case, and using projected images of the books themselves, the play explores the allure of sacred objects, the ethical issues generated by cultural treasures displaced during wartime, and the power of art to forge human connections.

The cast of THE SPANISH PRAYER BOOK will feature (in alphabetical order): Allison Blaize, Laura Gardner, Carlos Lacamara, Richard-John Seikaly, Amy Tolsky, Allan Wasserman and Tiffany Wolff.

The Design Team for THE SPANISH PRAYER BOOK is as follows: Scenic and Projection Design by Yuki Izumihara; Lighting Design by Derrick McDaniel; Sound Design by David B. Marling; Costume Design by Kate Bergh; Properties Design by Heath Harper; The Production Stage Manager is Maurie Gonzalez. THE SPANISH PRAYER BOOK is produced by Laurie Bernhard/SPARK Theatrical and Zeljka Gortinski.

THE SPANISH PRAYER BOOK will preview on Tuesday, September 17; Wednesday, September 18 & Thursday, September 19 at 8pm; will open on Friday, September 20.

Performances are Fridays at 8pm; Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm.

More info: roadtheatre.org

@roadtheatre 

Outlandish Cat Productions presents
Treya’s Last Dance

Award-winning Actress/Playwright Shyam Bhatt
returns with her critically acclaimed play directed by Poonam Basu

Bolshy, whip-smart and with backchat to spare, Treya’s living it up in London! Turns out itn takes more than words to heal some wounds. Funny, messy, beautiful . . . it’s life as we know it, on stage. Raucously funny and heartbreakingly tender, Treya’s Last Dance is a modern-day exploration of grief, fractured pasts and hopeful futures. At heart, it’s a bittersweet story about the universal themes of grief, identity and sexuality, taken on with humor and poignancy.

Treya’s Last Dance runs Wednesdays at 8 p.m

Treya’s clumsy quest to find a ‘life-partner’ takes the audience on a journey through the universal struggle to preserve cultural identity within the midst of change. Addressing hard-hitting, current issues: grief, brown girl female sexuality, cultural struggles and discrimination head-on, Treya’s Last Dance is a unique take on modern life.

The creative team for Treya’s Last Dance includes music composed by Archita Kumar, lighting and sound by Steve Pope, voiceovers/vocals by Arun Kamath, and the production assistant is Jana Dimitrievska.

Treya’s Last Dance garnered fantastic reviews in Los Angeles, New York and London, including a 100% Critics LemonMeter rating on Better Lemons, and she won a Pick of the Fringe award in Los Angeles. In addition, Shyam gained a coveted place in the Kali Writers’ Conservatory, where she was able to hone her second play, Wisdom Teeth, slated for production next year.

Critics call Treya’s Last Dance “superb comedy, as well as complex grief” (NY Theatre Guide); “… a moving journey of emotional introspection…” (Asian Voice); “… the kind of character complexity you hope for in a feature film” (A Younger Theatre); and “plenty of substance and humor… whip-smart, authentic” (Stage Raw).

Boston Court Pasadena presents the World Premiere of

How The Light Gets In

By E.M. Lewis

Directed by Emilie Pascale Beck

A travel writer who never travels. A Japanese architect who can’t figure out how to build a simple tea house. A gifted tattoo artist who resists the power of his talents. And a homeless girl who lives under a weeping willow tree in the Japanese Garden. Four lonely people, their stories written on paper, earth, and skin, find each other when one of them falls apart. Together they realize the heart is as strong as it is fragile, and that the safety of home might be found in the most fearsome explorations.  A beautiful, haunting, and richly human world premiere from the author of The Gun Show and Song of Extinction.

LaHow The Light Gets In features Amy Sloan as Grace, Ryun Yu as Haruki, Chelsea Kurtz as Kat and Dieterich Gray as Tommy Z.

Last year, How the Light Gets In was one of the four plays workshopped at Boston Court Pasadena’s New Play Reading Festival. Director Emilie Pascale Beck, who directed both the Boston Court Pasadena workshop as well as a recent workshop at Chautauqua Theatre Company said, “E.M. Lewis and I have been looking to partner on a project for years. This script has personal resonance for both of us. Ellen sent it to me when it wasn’t even a fully formed play yet, and it’s been exhilarating to collaborate with her as story, characters, and theme have  deepened and found their surprising connections. I’m eager to get in the room with our wonderful actors and give it all the dimension it deserves.”

Previews: September 19 – 27
Opening: Saturday, September 28 at 8:00pm
Playing Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm; Sundays at 2:00pm; Community Matinee: Saturday, October 5 at 2:00pm (all tickets $5)

BostonCourtPasadena.org

@bostoncourt

WINNER Producers’ Encore Award & NOMINEE Best Solo Performance at 2019 Hollywood Fringe Festival

Written & Performed by Heather Dowling

Developed & Directed by Jessica Lynn Johnson

Fertile: A Conversation About the Expectation of Procreation.

Jenny has a plan. A plan to get pregnant. Everyone keeps telling her that time is running out, she just turned 35, after all. So, when those pesky urine tests keep coming back negative, Jenny decides to take action and fix the problem. That’s when she runs into real problems and real questions about fertility and motherhood. As Jenny faces the world of “mom options” – egg freezing, in-vitro, adoption, and more – the conversation about the expectation of procreation really begins. Taking into account a whirlwind of outside opinions from her mom, her friends, doctors, a beloved neighbor – and even God – Jenny must ultimately look within to discover what motherhood means to her, what it means to be FERTILE.

Performances Fridays, Sept. 20 – Oct. 4 – Oct. 18 at 8:00 pm

Plan ahead for parking at Whitefire Theatre, neighborhood restrictions. Valet available just across the street at Augustine Wine Bar.

Tickets and information at FertileConversation.com

Use code ‘LAFPI’ for discounted tickets!

Skylight Theatre Company Launches a Second World Premiere this Season:

“Never Is Now”

Never is Now was adapted from Survivors by Wendy Kout, commissioned, developed and produced by the CenterStage Theatre at the Louis S. Wolk Jewish Community Center of Greater Rochester, Ralph Meranto, Artistic Director.

“I am ever inspired by our capacity to change… our world, our country, and ourselves. ‘Never is Now’ explores the perilous past through the prism of our perilous present as a warning for our future,” says Wendy Kout

Wendy Kout is an award-wining writer/producer. Stage credits include We Are the Levinsons, which made its world premiere at Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company, and won BroadwayWorld Regional awards for BEST PLAY and BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE IN A PLAY. Film credits include Dorfman in Love, produced by Leonard Hill Films and starring Elliott Gould, Sara Rue and Haaz Sleiman. Television credits include Creator and Co-Executive Producer of the hit ABC series, Anything But Love, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Richard Lewis. Wendy is also a proud member of the Alliance for Jewish Theatre and on the Honorary Board for the Boston Jewish Film Festival.

Skylight continues their popular ‘Beyond Conversation’ series for audiences that want more from their theatergoing experience. The weekly post-Sunday matinee guest panel discussions allow audiences to gain deeper insights into the contemporary themes of the play and chat informally community leaders. Schedule will be posted on Skylight’s website: (www.skylighttheatre.org. Guests and discussion topics may be subject to change.

Never Is Now opens at 8:30pm on Saturday, September 21, and runs at 8:30pm Fridays, 4:00pm and 8:30pm Saturdays, and 2:00pm Sundays

Facebook: SkylightTheatre Twitter: @SkylightThtr
Instagram: SkylightTheatre

“Charlotte Stay Close” by Christine Hamilton-Schmidt

Charlotte is just days away from dying of cancer and wants her older sister Kathryn to go on to live the happiest life possible. Unfortunately, there’s a giant obstacle standing in the way of that possibility: Kathryn. Charlotte Stay Close is a brutal, funny, moving play about young people navigating loss, love, and the bond between sisters.

Directed by Jonathan Muñoz-Proulx
Produced by Kay Foster
Set Design Amanda Knehans
Light Design Ken Booth
Sound Design Stevo George
Costume Design Melanie Fairchild
Production Stage Manager Priscilla Miranda
Art Photography Peter Carrier
Graphic Design Liz Ross

with

Cast A: Alana Dietze, Andy Shephard, Jenny Soo
Cast B: Jacqueline Emerson, Tarah Pollock, Christopher Reiling

Click here for performer schedule

Previews September 20, 21, 22
Opens Friday, September 27 and runs through October 27. Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm.

Tickets @ dime.io/events/charlotte-stay-close

www.estlosangeles.org

The West Coast Premiere of Wendy MacLeod’s Slow Food

Slow Food reveals the tenderness, the thistles and trust-driven relationship between a husband and wife as they encounter a Palm Springs waiter in a Greek Restaurant and the promise of a delicious anniversary dinner that may or may not be served and enjoyed.   Life lessons, base instincts and witty power-plays will make you giggle, gasp and belly-laugh.

Directed by Jeff Seymour

Starring Michael Dempsey, Stephanie Michels and Butch Klein

Wendy MacLeod (House of Yes, Women in Jeopardy!) is a graduate of Yale school
Drama and the James E. Michael Playwright-in-Residence at Kenyon College.

Playing Friday and Saturday at 8pm
Sunday performances on September 29, October 6th, and October 27th at 7pm

“’Slow Food’ delivers sweet succulent satisfaction for those of us with an appetite for
excellence.” @Nohoartsdistrict.com Theatre Reviews

Info call 800.346.3536 or email slowfoodnoho@gmail.com

DO US PART OPENS OCTOBER 3 AT THE ZEPHYR THEATRE

WHAT: Do Us Part. A new play.
WHO: Written, directed and produced by Karen Lukesh. Starring Karen Lukesh and Scott
Speiser.
WHERE: The Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046.
WHEN: October 3- October 24, 2019. Thursdays at 8:00 p.m.
ADMISSION: $10.
RESERVATIONS: (800) 838-3006.
ONLINE TICKETING: https://douspart.brownpapertickets.com
ESTIMATED RUNNING TIME: 60 minutes.
SPECIAL OFFER: Veterans, firefighters, law enforcement personnel, EMTs and their guests can get free tickets by entering the code THANKYOU when ordering tickets online.
* * * * * *
Dee and Nick are an acrimoniously divorcing couple. They run into each other at their
former home while packing up their respective belongings, the day before their divorce is to become final. Sniping begins. Claws are out. Fangs are bared. Then, they make an odd
discovery: Despite the anger, despite the bitterness, despite the various emotional cruelties, they still love each other.

Is there hope for them?

Scott Speiser portrays Nick. A series regular on Amazon Prime’s The Tick, he has
performed all over the world as a member of Blue Man Group. Locally, he has performed with The Groundlings Sunday Company. He is a graduate of Northwestern University.

Karen Lukesh plays Dee, and is also the playwright and director. An extensive
background in sketch comedy enabled her to write, direct and perform for the all-female sketch series on You Tube Channel Pink AF Sketch Comedy. As an actor, she’s appeared in productions of The House of Bernarda Alba; The Dining Room; ‘Night, Mother; Miss Julie; Three Tall Women and more. She is a graduate of Kutztown (Pa.) University.
Do Us Part previously had a festival run, winning Best Script in the She LA Arts
Summer Theater Festival; and Special Marquee Award in the American Movie Awards, stage
play division. Its current run at the Zephyr marks its premiere regular theatre engagement.

Do Us Part will resonate with anyone who has had to deal with the challenges of
coupling and uncoupling.

Antaeus Theatre Company presents the West Coast premiere of Stephanie Alison Walker’s striking new play, The Abuelas. Andi Chapman directs.

“If you have doubts about your identity, contact Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo.” So read billboards across Argentina, where thousands of people were “disappeared” between 1976 and 1983 under a brutal military dictatorship.

The Abuelas explores the repercussions of Argentina’s “Dirty War” on one family.

In March of 1976, a military junta seized control of Argentina. Those opposed to the new government were told “to make themselves invisible, or they would be made to vanish.” By September of that year, the regime was already responsible for an average of 30 abductions each day. From these abductions, a new word came into common usage: desaparecidos, the “disappeareds.” Among those detained and tortured were young pregnant women who rarely survived, and whose babies were then stolen and illegally adopted out to “politically acceptable” parents. Despite the atmosphere of fear promoted by the junta regime, two groups of women — representing the mothers and grandmothers of the disappeared — began protesting the disappearances of their relatives and striving for the reunification of their families. “The Madres” embarked on a crusade to obtain information about their missing children, demanding both the return of their children and punishment for their captors; “The Abuelas” have a sharper focus: to find the living. They call them los desaparecidos con vida (“the living disappeared”), referring to the babies who had been taken from their murdered daughters and sons.

Argentine actress Luisina Quarleri stars as Gabriela, an Argentine concert cellist living in Chicago whose ordinary life is upended when she discovers a devastating secret from the past. The cast also features Argentine actors Irene De Bari and Carolina Montenegro, along with Denise Blasor, David DeSantos and Seamus Dever.

This is the first time the company will offer a full production of a play developed in its Playwrights Lab. The company’s production of The Abuelas will be immediately followed by a second new, Lab-developed play: Eight Nights by Jennifer Maisel will open Nov. 8. A rotating performance schedule is set for the weeks during which the two productions overlap.

Previews: Oct. 3 – Oct. 10
Performances begin Oct. 11
• Fridays at 8 p.m.(dark Nov. 1, Nov. 8, Nov. 22)
• Saturdays at 8 p.m. (dark Nov. 2, Nov. 9, Nov. 23)
• Sundays at 2 p.m. (dark Nov. 3, Nov. 17)
• Mondays at 8 p.m. (dark Oct. 14, Nov. 4, Nov.18)

PARKING:
First 90 minutes free, then $2 per hour in Glendale Marketplace garage located at 120 S. Artsakh Ave. (between Broadway and Harvard)

INFO:
(818) 506-1983 or www.Antaeus.org
• Join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AntaeusTheater
• Follow us on Twitter: @AntaeusTheatre

Loft Ensemble in North Hollywood has announced the second production of its eighth season, Art is Useless When You’re Being Mauled by a Bear by Alisa Tangredi.
Directed by JJ Mayes and Bree Pavey

In the play, a woman must see the truth and find acceptance in a fantastical adventure through grief and loss, fairy tales, and realities. And, yes … there’s a bear.

The cast of this world premiere production will feature (in alphabetical order) Ben Anderson, Bridget Avildsen, Anna-Katharina Benz, Ela Castillo, Jennifer Christina DeRosa, Victoria Anne Greenwood, Emma Latimer, Mark Leclerc, Ignacio Navarro, Bree Pavey, Scottie Smith, and Madylin Sweeten.

Playing Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 7pm

https://www.facebook.com/loftensemble/

Good Fishermen Know A Lot About Sex by Alexa Karas

To try to heal from a tragic event that occurred in the previous year, a recovering family spring for a therapeutic Hawaiian vacation. For Ally, the trip is an opportunity to foster a more “normal” relationship with her family again. Of course what family is actually ever normal, especially when trapped on a fishing boat together for several hours? On the boat, the family learns about fishing, sex, love, and how to cope with a “new normal” now that one of the members is openly struggling with addiction.

About the Team
Writer and Producer Alexa Karas hails from Chicago and has recently transferred to the Los Angeles area. An alumni of Northwestern University, she most recently produced the immersive show The Limbo Lounge in New York City and Los Angeles. Inspired by personal family circumstances, she has become very passionate about opioid abuse prevention – both driving awareness and raising donations to support the cause. Premiering Good Fishermen Know A Lot About Sex during the month of October (National Opioid Abuse Prevention Month) is especially important to Karas. “It is a vital time to be talking about drug addiction and the impact it has on a family”.

Konner Scott is the talented composer behind the music in Good Fishermen Know A Lot About Sex. Konner, an Atlanta-based freelance songwriter, composer, and instrumentalist, draws influences from all varieties of music styles, which primarily include rock, classical, folk, blues, hip-hop, pop, and R&B. He boasts a prolific songwriting portfolio containing 300+ original tunes, the bulk of which cover a wide variety of genres and styles. Konner is a versatile multi-instrumentalist, specializing primarily in guitar and piano. In addition to his writing and performing background, he has a profound passion for music production and engineering, and during his free time, he dabbles in rap and poetry.

The cast includes Kelley Pierre, Ryan Lee Hughes, Peter Miller, Dorothy Blue, Earl Baylon, Kit Nolan, Konner Scott, and Jimmy Clabots.

Playing Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm, Sundays at 3:00pm.

IG @goodfishermen

All profits from Good Fishermen Know A Lot About Sex will go towards opioid abuse prevention efforts. The production is raising money for a donation towards healthy, artistic after school programs with local Inner City Arts. They will also be donating to SocialWorks in Chicago. The ride sharing company Lyft is sponsoring reduced fare rides to and from the performances to promote safe substance use and driving. The Good Fishermen team is also looking for the right documentary partners in upcoming months to help capture even more truth behind the dangers of opioids.

A month of FREE shows. Reservations required. Call 310-974-9779 ext.1 or e-mail theatre@santamonicaplayhouse.com

http://santamonicaplayhouse.org

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Palligator

2:30pm on the Main Stage

A Family Theatre musical for all ages – written by and starring Shelley Fisher.

Chemo Barbie: My Lady Bits’ Journey Through Breast Cancer

7:00pm on the Main Stage

In 2016, Heather Keller, a healthy young vegan runner, was diagnosed with breast cancer and her life changed forever. This is her heartbreaking, inspiring and ultimately uplifting story. Winner- 2017 Hollywood Fringe Encore Award. Rated: 13

(IM)PERFEKT

9:30pm on the Main Stage

Sometimes you need to (literally) lose a part of yourself in order to discover who you truly are. Actress Jannica Olin was the stereotypical blonde blue eyed Swede. Her long hair had always been a big part of her identity. Until suddenly, she lost it all. In (IM)PERFEKT, Jannica takes us on a journey of exploring and uncovering that which we think we are, have to be and maybe, ultimately aren’t. Rated: 14

Sunday, October 13

superfecunda

7:30pm on the Main Stage

Double trouble. Two spokesmodels (writer/performer Ashley Denise Robinson and performer Alexis Santiago) are hired to work for the travel agency they are the face of. Who authorized this? This two-woman romp is Two Broke Girls meets Waiting for Godot. Rated: 16 for language.

Friday, October 18

My Name Is Mommy

9:30pm on the Main Stage

A celebration of the exhilaration of motherhood, a dynamic and often hilarious journey as April Wish looks for the bits and pieces of herself she left behind when she stepped into her role as Mother. A love letter to her daughter, Clementine, as well as to the little girl she used to be herself. Developed with/Directed by Jessica Lynn Johnson. Rated: 16

Saturday, October 19

ForkPlay®

7:30pm on the Main Stage

Shelley Fisher’s award-winning food-musical – real food cooked on stage during the show. Celebrity guest chefs TBA. Rated: 18

Sunday, October 20

tHis Is Very IMPORTANT

7:00pm on the Main Stage

Three different women. Three different stories. One common denominator… HIV positive. This one woman show sheds a light on the lives of these women, the people in their lives, public perception and what we think we know about HIV.  HIV doesn’t discriminate. People do. Created, written and performed by Rahvaunia. Directed by Jessica Lynn Johnson. Rated: 16

Tuesday, October 22

A brand new play by award-winning theatre artist Wendy Hammers

I Am SO Breaking Up with Cancer

8:00pm on the Main Stage

Part stand-up, part informational, all inspirational,—an empowerment event focusing on the power of laughter and positivity as life-saving tools for all people by Wendy Hammers (Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Sopranos, Oprah-Vegas), three plus years pancreatic cancer survivor.

Friday, October 25

The Book That Won’t Close – Confessions of a Love Addict

7:30pm on the Main Stage

Best known for her real life role as herself in the award winning documentary, “See What I’m Saying: The Deaf Entertainers Documentary,” TL Forsberg is an international performer, actor and diversity advocate. Follow a bi-culturally fluid Deaf woman through a series of bad relationships, until she meets a Transgender Orgasmic coach who walks her through a self-contained rehab for LOVE ADDICTION to confront her unhealed trauma and shame around the parts of her that are both hearing and Deaf. Through her unique relationship with TREVA, a Trans person who embraces both masculine and feminine, the protagonist learns to claim her place as a brilliant Hybrid on the path of healing and integration. The show is a dark comedy that includes music, dance, video projection and is not only inspirational but is “Edu-taining.” Directed and developed by award winning director Jessica Lynn Johnson and is inclusive and accessible to both hearing and Deaf audiences through the use of American Sign Language & spoken voice. Rated: 18

An Ocean in My Soul – a world premiere

8:00pm in the Artists’ Entrance Studio Upstairs

Santa Monica based scriptwriter and songwriter Charise Sowells shares the story of a biracial man torn between two worlds as an employee of his plantation owning father and a son to his enslaved mother, exploring the complicated existence of interracial overseers during slavery and how their unique position in society ripples throughout a family unit. It parallels the realities of the social construct of race in today’s times. The context is different, but the issues remain the same. Nothing is truly black and white in this country or the world beyond. There is a universalism in the oversimplified matters of life, a reminder we all need in today’s political environment. The evening will also feature songs and a sound bath with crystal singing bowls. All ages.

Chrissy Meth – a Dance with the Devil and the Journey Back to Self

9:30pm in the Artists’ Entrance Studio Upstairs

A motherless child grows up in the western suburbs of Chicago, facing the racially oppressive construct of her world, stumbling from one abusive relationship to the next, sinking into deep drug addiction. From the depths, she finds hope and begins to put the pieces back together. Song, multimedia and humor take the audience on Crystal Bush’s journey as she questions and challenges beliefs and social mores surrounding race and sex identity and discovers that it’s never too late to come back and find one’s self-worth.  Directed and developed by Jessica Lynn Johnson. Rated: 18

Saturday, October 26

Fauntleroy

2:30pm on the Main Stage

Kathleen Fitzpatrick and Eric Jacobson’s stage adaptation of Frances H. Burnett’s Little Lord Fauntleroy. The story takes place at the turn of the Century (1899) in New York and England and explores the exciting, poignant and humorous adventures of a young boy meeting his reclusive, bitter Grandfather as he is groomed to assume an English title and become heir to a formidable Castle. All ages.

Hung Like a Seahorse

8:00pm on the Main Stage

Debra Ehrhardt, creator of the acclaimed one-woman show Jamaica, Farewell, brings this must-see production to the beloved Santa Monica Playhouse, written and performed by Quinn Fontaine and directed by Susan Mele. Based on his true-life story of being born in the wrong body, writer/performer Quinn Fontaine’s insightful, heartwarming, hilarious show is a celebration of healing. Healing the little boy inside who couldn’t wear the clothes he wanted to because he was born a girl. Being a prisoner in his own body for decades. Sneaking clever ways to feed his soul like the rolled-up sock in “tighty whities” worn under girl’s clothes. Healing the trauma of denying his authentic self and then healing through the transition to becoming the man he can finally be as an adult. A world premiere. Rated: 16

Sunday, October 27

Zumba Zelebration

Mandy Picks a Husband

6:30pm in the Artists’ Entrance Studio Upstairs

Almost 40 and totally single, Mandy takes us on a hilarious and raw 60-minute rollercoaster ride as she unearths the magic elixir for her unmarried soul. Spinning from boyfriend to boyfriend, from Bumble date to OKCupid catastrophe, Mandy relives her odyssey to find the perfect life partner while simultaneously searching to find herself. What does Brittney Spears got to do with it? More than you know. Amanda Broomell’s newest autobiographical solo dramedy about self-discovery and lifelong commitment

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Self-Hate Crime – The Trial, An Angst Ridden Comedy

7:00pm on the Main Stage

A new play written and performed by award-winning theatre artist Terrie Silverman. Rated: 14

Mulatto Love Child

7:00pm in The Other Space

Imagine Maggie Smith getting together with Shaft – you get Bellina Logan. A hilarious, touching and inappropriate overshare of a co-dependent.bastard child’s life with her acerbic English mother and the deep bond they forged. Performer/playwright Bellina Logan is winner of the United Solo 2018 Award for Best Actress. Directed by Maggie Soboil. Rated: 18

BFF ENCORE PERFORMANCES!

Tuesday, October 29

Under the Jello Mold

8:00pm in The Other Space

In this award-winning comic play, Jennie Fahn revisits her very colorful character of a mother during what turned out to be the final act of her mother’s life. Jennie’s mother was a force to be reckoned with — a former dancer never content to merely rehash her past, there was always a story to be embellished, always a name to drop, and always a lesson to teach. Jennie learns that not only were her post-mortem instructions hid in a specific place… Her mother was also hiding a long-held secret. Rated: 16 .

Saturday, November 2

Fertile

1:30pm on the Main Stage

Jenny has a plan. A plan to get pregnant. Everyone keeps telling her time is running out, SO , when those pesky urine tests keep coming back negative, Jenny decides to take action and fix the problem. That’s when she runs into real problems and real questions about fertility and motherhood. With a whirlwind of outside opinions from her mom, her friends, doctors, a beloved neighbor – and even God – Jenny must ultimately look within to discover what motherhood means to her, what it means to be Fertile. Written and performed by Heather Dowling. Rated: 14

Too Young To Be a Widow – U.S. Premiere

3:30pm on the Main Stage

When Susana Hornos asked Mr. Luppi for an autograph, she never dreamed she would end up marrying him. Not because he was a famous movie star, but because he was 40 years older than she. In fact, he was much older than her own father. The unlikely union turned out to be passionate, glamorous and sweet for fifteen blissful years until he became ill and passed away. She went from being a loving wife and best friend to a devoted nurse, then widow. She had learned the most important thing from her out-of-the-ordinary love story: a passion for living. Premiered in Buenas Aires (Picadero Theatre) and Madrid as a tribute to Federico Luppi.

Sunday, November 3

Love in Bloom

3:30pm in The Other Space

The 10^th anniversary production of the Rudie-DeCarlo “Critic’s Pick of the Year” (American Radio Network) feel-good bawdy musical comedy, a tribute to the wenches and rogues of the Bard. The 8-member cast, in the renowned Actors’ Repertory Theatre commedia-carnival style, creates a host of over thirty characters, bringing to the stage all the stuff that dreams (and musicals) are made on.

Hollywouldn’t

4:30pm on the Main Stage

Lisa Verlo’s journey across Hollywood’s unsettling sexual landscape, directed by and developed with Jessica Lynn Johnson, is a musical memoir told with candor and insight into the life of an actress before women dared to speak up. With original songs co-written with Frank Simes, Musical Director for The Who, Lisa Verlo brings humor and a light heart to a heavy subject. Creative visuals and video projections add to the multimedia recounting of her experiences on the casting couches of LA. Rated: 17

Wake Up Lil Susy

7:00pm on the Main Stage

Follow Susy, a bright and bubbly blond on the outside, through five dramatic decades of self-discovery as she takes on taboo topics such as sexual trauma, fundamentalist Christianity, depression, and dysfunctional family dynamics. Journey with Susy Porter, as she shares her story through music, puppets, multimedia, and a cast of colorful characters all played by Susy herself! This vulnerable and creative performance speaks to the #metoo and #timesup movements, bringing her darkest secrets into the light. Its time to wake up, little Susy. Rated: 17

Beast of the City

7:30pm in The Other Space

A young girl grows up surrounded by movie-stars – Natalie Wood, Clark Gable, Yvonne De Carlo and Ann Margaret – becomes a Hollywood Starlet, then stops playing by the rules. From singer song-writer @WB Music to life-time member at the Actors Studio. The fame, the fall, but rising again and again. Playwright/performer Kristin Andersen-Groh says, “If one girl coming to Hollywood can be helped or one man informed, this work and my life will have been worth it.” 15

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Saturday, November 9

Dear Yoko

1:00pm on the Main Stage

Asian-American Anzu Lawson learns the lesson of a life as she learns to portray the most famously hated Asian Woman in the world, Yoko Ono. Written and performed by Anzu Lawson, directed and developed by Jessica Lynn Johnson. Rated: 12

Leaving Prince Charming

3:30pm on the Main Stage

21-year-old Lara is looking for love. One day she stumbles (or rather, swipes) upon a handsome young man who treats her like royalty. But one day, he doesn’t. The magic fades. Will this beauty stay with the beast? Or can she break the spell by midnight? Follow an unorthodox fairy godmother as she travels down the rabbit hole of intimate partner abuse, manipulation, and trauma bonding. This is a love story, but not the kind you’re expecting. Written & performed by Lara Repko. Developed and directed by Jessica Lynn Johnson. Rated: 14

Sunday, November 10

Mamaisms: Old-Fashioned Wisdom for a New Generation

2:30pm on the Main Stage

“What we’ve learned from Mama, we’ll carry with us for a while and then some. Criticism or praise, hostility or peace, even if we’re Mamas, we were all born children and we’ll be children all our lives. Come, be reminded, laugh and cry at the Mamaisms we grew up with and maybe learn a new one or two!” Written and performed by Sonia Jackson, developed and directed by Jessica Lynn Johnson. Rated: 12

The Long Goodbye – A Mother Who Can’t Remember, A Daughter Who Can’t Forget

4:00pm on the Main Stage

A story about how a devastating disease – Alzheimer’s – was the catalyst for forgiveness and healing between an angry, resentful daughter and her demanding and abusive mother. The show spans continents (America, Asia, Europe and Africa) and cultures. Written and performed by Mattilyn Rochester. All ages. First developed at Beyond Baroque under the guidance of Terrie Silverman.

Cat Sh!T Crazy: From hot Mess to Hot Mama in 4 Simple Cats

7:30pm in The Other Space

Cindy D’Andrea is a hot mess. Her boyfriends are addicts, cheaters, or married, she’s got mommy issues and childhood trauma, and her fitness clients won’t listen to her. Four cats and many years later, Cindy is a happy cat owner and rescuer. For the first time in her life, she experiences unconditional love. Who needs a boyfriend when you have cats? And then, the unthinkable happens, and all is lost. Can Cindy rally and rescue the one who needs it the most? We shall see. Directed by David Harper. Rated: 15

Son of Semele Ensemble announces its upcoming production of 4:48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane, to be produced on the twentieth anniversary of the playwright’s suicide. Directed by  directed by Founding Artistic Director Matthew McCray, this production will feature the harrowing journey of a small ensemble cast through one woman’s troubled mind.

Kane is known for her poetic and intense plays which challenge traditional forms. 4.48 Psychosis was written in the autumn and winter of 1998-99 as Kane herself battled one of her recurrent bouts of depression. It is the last play she wrote before her suicide in 1999.

4.48 Psychosis appears on the page as a poem, with no prescribed characters, actions or settings. Deeply layered, this stream-of-consciousness view into a psychotic mind is both mysterious and crystalline, and explores with raw authenticity the complexities of mental illness. Son of Semele Ensemble’s production of this beautiful and haunting play is a powerful celebration of Kane’s contribution to contemporary, boundary-pushing theater, and an exploration of an often-misunderstood subject.

Son of Semele Ensemble’s production will feature performances by Melina Bielefelt, Ron Bottitta, Taylor Hawthorne, Dylan Jones, Jinny Ryann and Betsy Zajko. The production team includes David Offner (set), Matt Richter (lighting), Daniel Gower (sound) and Corwin Evans (video).

Sarah Kane was a British playwright who studied drama at Bristol University and University of Birmingham. With ferocious poetry and loving abandon, her plays starkly confront death, sex, violence and mental illness. Although she struggled with intense manic depression for many years, she continued to work, serving as writer-in-residence for both Paines Plough and the Royal Court Theatre.

Performances Fridays & Saturdays @ 8pm, Sundays @ 5pm and Tuesdays @ 7pm

More Info: www.sonofsemele.org or info@sonofsemele.org
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The Inkwell Theater LAB presents a workshop reading of

“Genesis”

A new play by Leenie Baker
Directed by Rosie Glen-Lambert

On a time-bending journey from the Garden of Eden to modern-day, we follow God, envisioned as a young woman, in her quest to discover herself. ‘Genesis’ explores issues of faith, love, and power as God develops personal relationships with her creations. ‘Genesis’ asks, what does it mean to succeed—or fail—as a creator?

Featuring:
Sutton Arabe, Nadege August, Jonathan Cho, Noah James, Hailey McAfee, Ammy Ontiveros

October 13th, 14th, 21st & 23rd @ 8pm
A guest production at VS. Theatre

FB Event https://www.facebook.com/events/535790907171402/

IG https://www.instagram.com/inkwelltheater/

TW https://twitter.com/inkwelltheater/

What’s a Kate to do about her bestest most loyal friend/soul-sucking enemy? 1 woman & 18 characters will give it her best.

Fresh from the IndyFringe Audience Pick Award win, Kate Huffman (Fresh Off the Boat, Castle) brings “one of the most commanding solo shows around today” back to LA where it all began. This shockingly hilarious, brutally honest solo show covers decades of OCD and eating disorders, but with comedic precision, it defies preconceived notions and connects performer and audience in the mutually experienced dilemma that is LIFE. 18 characters, multi-media effects, and gut-busting humorallow all people with any kind of neuroses or negative self-talk to laugh at themselves.

WINNER of the Hollywood Fringe Festival’s Encore Producer’s Award and nominee for both the Soaring Solo Award and a Valley Theatre Award, the show offers a new and honest look at body image and eating disorders. Directed by Scout Durwood and featuring footage by Kenneth Lui.

AUDIENCE REACTION:                                                                                                

“Must be seen by everyone, no matter sex, age or career.”

”A masterpiece of courage, self-assessment, and truth.”

“I don’t think I’m the same person after seeing it!”

“A moving experience and very, very, very funny.”

“One of the best pieces of theatre I have ever seen.”

“The STAR QUALITY you find in performers just having fun up there… INFECTIOUS.”

“You can’t leave without reflecting on the universal experience of being a woman in this society.”

“THIS IS HOW IDEAS SHOULD BE SHARED.”

LGBTQ Live.

Four days of short plays by LGBTQ artists and/or with LGBTQ themes. Each group of plays is named after a performing icon.

Group Garland

Friday, October 18 at 7:00 p.m.; Saturday, October 19 at 2:00 p.m.; Sunday, October 20 at 7:00 p.m.

A Case of Curiosity. Directed and written by Jumi Rayne. A cool lesbian bartender sifts through curious women in search of true love.

Group Dietrich

Saturday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m.; Sunday, October 20 at 2:00 p.m.; Monday, October 21 at 7:00 p.m.

Role Model. Directed and written by Jackie Loeb. The overwhelming expectations of a middle-aged member of the LGBTQI community and the exhaustion that goes with it.

She. Directed by Zoey Rose. Written by Maura Pierlot. Every day she fights to be heard, to dress as she wants, to be who she is….until one day the ultimatum between he and she must be called to reckoning.

Vancie That. Directed and written by Vancie Vega. Peppered with the crisp, contemptible quips of the legendary Bette Davis, this gripping musical dramedy soars above the valleys of addiction and homelessness and ultimately shines through to a delicious triumph.

LGBTQ Live! Program Director: Tye Blue. Artistic Associate: Ann James. Short Sweet Hollywood Festival Director: Nick Hardcastle.

http://Sweet-Tix.com

In Julia Cho’s Aubergine, sometimes a meal is more than just food. A man shares a bowl of berries and a young woman falls in love. A mother meticulously prepares her son’s favorite dish to keep him from leaving home. And a Korean-American son cooks soup for his ailing father to say what words cannot. The perfect bite transcends time and cultural differences in this poetic tale of love, loss and healing. Lisa Peterson directs.

The story centers on the relationship between Ray, a Korean-American man, and his father. Theirs is a complicated and thorny relationship—with the sharpest thorn stemming from the fact that Ray is a chef, a profession his father finds unworthy. Added to that is their fundamental disagreement about food. To Ray, cooking is an art form. His father prefers a package of ramen. They just don’t speak the same language, figuratively and literally.  When Ray finds out that his father is dying, their relationship journey changes.

The cast includes Bruce Baek, Joy DeMichelle, Jinn S. Kim, Jully Lee, Irungu Mutu, Luzma Ortiz and Sab Shimono.

Cho has had numerous works produced and commissioned by South Coast Repertory; among her plays are The Language Archive and Office Hour. Her other plays include The Piano Teacher, Durango, The Winchester House, BFE, The Architecture of Loss and 99 Histories. She has been a resident playwright at New Dramatists since 2004. Her work has been produced at the Vineyard Theatre, The Public, South Coast Repertory, Long Wharf Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, New York Theatre Workshop, East West Players, Boston Court Pasadena and Silk Road Theatre Project, among others. Honors include the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Barrie Stavis Award, the Claire Tow Award for Emerging Artists, and the L. Arnold Weissberger Award. She is an alumna of the Juilliard School and New York University’s Graduate Dramatic Writing Program.

Previews run Oct. 19-24:  Saturday, Oct. 19, at 8 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 22-24, at 7:30 p.m.

Regular performances:
Evening Performances:Sundays at 7 p.m.
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, at 7:30 p.m.
Fridays, Saturdays, at 8 p.m.

Matinees:   Saturdays at 2:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m.

ASL-interpreted: Saturday, Nov. 9, at 2:30 p.m.

Post-Show Discussions: Wednesday, Oct. 30, and Tuesday, Nov. 5. Discuss the play with cast members of Aubergine during free post-show discussions led by South Coast Repertory’s literary team. Segerstrom Stage.

Inside the Season: Saturday, Nov. 2, from, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Led by members of SCR’s literary staff, this lively two-hour session includes in-depth interviews with cast members and artists from the production staff, revealing secrets and offering insights into SCR’s production of Aubergine. Segerstrom Stage. Tickets are $12 and may be purchased in advance or at the door.

Artistic Director Conversation: Thursday, Nov. 7. In this post-show chat, Artistic Director David Ivers joins the audience for a lively, all topics welcome, conversation.

American Sign Language-Interpreted: Saturday, Nov. 9, at 2:30 p.m.

For complete information, visit: www.scr.org.

www.facebook.com/pg/SouthCoastRepertory

@SouthCoastRep

“Silent Sky” by Lauren Gunderson.

The next selection of the Off the Page Series of monthly staged readings will be Silent Sky.

            When Henrietta Leavitt begins work at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s, she isn’t allowed to touch a telescope or express an original idea. Instead, she joins a group of women “computers,” charting the stars for a renowned astronomer who calculates projects in “girl hours” and has no time for the women’s probing theories. As Henrietta, in her free time, attempts to measure the light and distance of stars, she must also take measure of her life on Earth, trying to balance her dedication to science with family obligations and the possibility of love. The true story of 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt explores a woman’s place in society during a time of immense scientific discoveries. 

Directed by Miranda Stewart.

TEEN DAD

Written by Adrienne Dawes

Directed by Julianna Ojeda

 “Teen Dad” subverts the popular regional theatre “kitchen-sink beach house play” to share a heartfelt, comedic exploration of generational trauma and recovery in a mixed race Black and Latinx family.

Writer Bio

Adrienne Dawes’ plays include Denim Doves, Am I White, You Are Pretty, Jesus Loves Good Christians, and Heritage, Her-i-tage, and Hair-i-tage. Her work has been produced by Salvage Vanguard Theater, American Repertory Theatre of London, Live Girls! Theatre, Little Fish Theatre Company, New England Academy of Theater, New Jersey Repertory Company, Hyde Park Theater, St Idiot Collective and American Theater Company (Chicago, IL). Her plays have been published by Playscripts, Inc, Smith & Kraus, Heuer Publishing, Heartland Plays and Vintage Books. Adrienne is the recipient of the Stanley and Evelyn Lipkin Prize for Playwriting. Her play Am I White was a finalist for the 2012 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and a semifinalist for the 2012 Princess Grace Award. Am I White won the David Mark Cohen New Play Award (2015 Austin Critics Table Awards), an award for Outstanding Original Script (2015 B. Iden Payne Awards) and was honorably mentioned by The List (The Kilroys) of recommended new plays by female and trans authors. Adrienne is a member of the Dramatists Guild, ScriptWorks, and a company member of Salvage Vanguard Theater in Austin, TX. She is currently based in Tulsa, OK as part of the first writing cohort of the Tulsa Artist Fellowship, supported by the George Kaiser Family Foundation. For more information, please visit: www.adriennedawes.com

Twitter & Instagram:  @TheBlankTheatre  theblanktheatre  #BlankLRS #TheBlank

The Word @ The Road reading of Gay Walch’s A History of Stone.

Playwright: Gay Walch

Director: Susan Diol

Featuring: Julia Manis, Kris Frost, Leon Russom, Janet Chamberlain, and Dor Gvirtsman.

It’s Memorial weekend and 37-year old Melissa arrives at her family’s ancestral home to celebrate the holiday.  She shows up with good news only to discover a web of entrenched conflict awaiting her.  A History of Stone is a family drama which wrestles with the bargains and barters that family members make in the name of love and loyalty but which contain elements of self-sabotage.  The play asks, “Even well into adulthood is it ever possible to escape the God-like hold of a parent?”

THE WORD AT THE ROAD
As part of the Company’s mission to foster the development of new plays, The Road hosts readings on Mondays at 8pm that are open to the public and tickets are pay what you can. Readings are followed by a talkback with the playwright (if available).

More info: roadtheatre.org

@roadtheatre 

The Thanksgiving Play, written by Larissa FastHorse (What Would Crazy Horse Do?, Landless) and directed by Michael John Garcés (Urban Rez, The Royale).

How does one celebrate Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Month at the same time? In Larissa FastHorse’s biting satire, this is the question facing three “woke” white thespians tasked with devising an elementary school pageant about the first Thanksgiving while avoiding any culturally appropriative missteps. A roast of the politics of entertainment and well-meaning political correctness alike, The Thanksgiving Play puts the American origin story itself in the comedy-crosshairs.

The cast features Noah Bean (The Whirligig, Marjorie Prime) as Jaxton, Alexandra Henrikson (Fish in the Dark, The Snow Geese) as Alicia, Tony Sandrew (Million Dollar Quartet, The Foreigner) as Caden and Samantha Sloyan (Ellis Island: The Dream of America, Munched) as Logan.

Playwrights Horizons, Inc., New York City, produced the world premiere of The Thanksgiving Play in 2018.

Previews: Tuesday, October 22 – Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Opening Night: Thursday, October 31, 2019

Playing Tuesdays – Fridays at 8:00 p.m.; Saturdays at 3:00 and 8:00 p.m.; Sundays at 2:00 and 7:00 p.m.

More info www.geffenplayhouse.org

@geffenplayhouse 

The multi-award-winning team that brought you When Jazz Had the Blues returns with Playwright Carole Eglash-Kosoff’s new original play, The Double V at the Matrix Theatre.

Directed by Michael Arabian.

The Double V is about activism, a dramatization of true events. How a simple letter to a newspaper initiated a series of changes that gave black Americans their first taste of equality in a society that had always denigrated them. The Double V campaign, early in the years of World War II, campaigned for both Victory in the war and Victory in the battles for racial equality in the United States.

ENSEMBLE CAST INCLUDES
Nic Few – Ira Lewis
Brie Eley – Marjorie “Madge” Evans
Preston Butler III – James “Jimmy Thompson
Terra Strong Lyons – Annie Culver
Cary Thompson – Frank Bolden, Clem Thompson
Joe Coffey – Charlie Simpson, J. Edgar Hoover
Jamal Henderson – Joe Bibb Chris Thompson
John Apicella – William “Biff” Trent

Scenic Design by John Iacovelli
Produced by Leigh Fortier
Lighting Design by Jared A. Sayeg
Costume Design by Dana Rebecca Woods
Music Preparation / Sound Design by Christopher Moscatiello
Projection Design by David Murakami

Performances are on Friday and Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 3pm.

CAROLE EGLASH-KOSOFF – (Playwright) lives and writes in Valley Village, California. The Double V is the historic follow up to her multi-award-winning production of When Jazz Had the Blues. She has also published five books and wrote and directed an award-winning short documentary, The Life & Art of David Labkovski. In 2006, following the deaths of her husband, mother, and brother in a single month, she traveled to South Africa to teach in the black townships and pen her first book, The Human Spirit – Apartheid’s Unheralded Heroes which was later produced as a play at the Odyssey Theatre garnering favorable reviews. Her second novel, When Stars Align, a historical fiction novel, dealt with the love of a mixed-race boy and a white girl in the turbulent era after the Civil War became her second play. Winds of Change, her third novel, continued that saga. Sex, Drugs, & Fashion, her next book, fictionalized the decades she spent working in the apparel industry. Her fifth book, By One Vote, is dramatized non-fiction, telling twelve true stories of events in American history, shaped by a single vote. Carole graduated from UCLA, has visited nearly seventy countries and oversees the A Better Way Scholarship Program that grants scholarships to graduating high school seniors.

More Info www.OnStage411.com/doublev

 An Ocean In My Soul by Charise Sowells

A multiracial teen is torn between worlds spanning time and space, united by the waves of the Black Atlantic.

Written and Produced by Charise Sowells, Directed by Mary Schaugh, Choreographed by Sakina Ibrahim, Starring: Gilbert Roy, Disraeli Ellison, Shawn Richardz, Janelle Poirier, Jeremiah Benjamin, Vincent Isaac, Joslyn Beard, Janine Alicia Montag, and Salwa.

Showtime: Friday, October 25th, 2019 at 8pm.

https://www.charisesowells.com/scriptwriter

#AnOceanInMySoul #AOIMS #LakeLady #UNABASHT #BFF2019

“The Art of Dining” by Tina Howe.

Juicy. Delicious. Salivate your way through The Art of Dining, a hilarious exploration of tantalizing appetites and desires. Then eat with the cast. Gourmet meals at every show (for V.I.P. ticket holders).

The play takes place in the late 70s in upscale New Jersey at the shore. Ellen and Cal have opened a restaurant, The Golden Carrousel, and after four weeks, the place is taking off with the dinner crowd. Ellen is the passionate gourmet chef, and Cal is the passionate Maitre’D, host, waiter and bartender. They have been married for eight years and this restaurant is their baby. Tonight, we join them and their very eccentric guests as Cal worries about paying off their $75,000 business loan, impressing the diners for future reservations, and Ellen lovingly and sensually creates gourmet meals.  Tonight’s guests are the married people who are gourmands and cannot control any of their appetites; the women who show up to eat and diet at the same time; the shy, neurotic, romantic female writer hoping for everything who is meeting the charming, debonair publisher who has an appetite for life. Everyone craves and eats and laughs, and the audience will smell the food, join in the laughter, and feel the passion, and eat.

Directed by Gloria Gifford. Presented by Jamaica Moon Productions.

The Art of Dining is double-cast. The company includes Joey Marie Urbina, Kelly Musslewhite, Billy Budinich, Chris Jones, Chad Doreck, Danny Siegel, Lucy Walsh, Keturah Hamilton, Kasia Pilewicz, Sabrina Won, Haile D’Alan, Dan White, Leana Chavez, Jade Ramirez Warner, Irini Gerakas, Abigail Kochunas, Gloria Alvizar, Rosa Frausto, Christian Maltez, Justine Estrada, Nancy Vivar, Cynthia San Luis, Samiyah Swann, Amber Dancy, Benito Paje, Joe Filippone, Joshua Farmer, Keith Walker, Raven Bowens and Sam Mansour.

Stage managers: Keith Walker, Michael Barker. Set design: Gloria Gifford, Keturah Hamilton, Lucy Walsh. Lighting technician: Teagan Wilson. Properties: Michael Barker. Hair/Make-up: Kasia Pilewicz. Costume design: Gloria Gifford, Lucy Walsh.

Show times: Saturday at 8:00, Sunday at 7:30.

https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4404222

Antaeus Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Eight Nights, a story developed in the Antaeus Playwrights Lab that honors the global refugee experience. Written by Jennifer Maisel and directed by Emily Chase

Set during eight different nights of Chanukah over the course of eight decades, Eight Nights tells the story of Holocaust survivor Rebecca Blum, who arrives in America at age 19 to forge a new life. As Rebecca moves through time, the play explores the lives that come and go in her New York apartment, where ghosts of the past both haunt and guide her. Maisel lyrically weaves together heart-aching moments with life-affirming humor to call out the trauma experienced not only by concentration camp survivors, but by African American descendants of slavery, by interned Japanese Americans, and by current victims of war in Africa and the Middle East.

The role of Rebecca is shared by Zoe Yale (young Rebecca, 1949-1978) and Tessa Auberjonois (older Rebecca, 1988-2016). Also in the cast are Arye Gross as Rebecca’s father, Josh Zuckerman as Rebecca’s American husband; Devin Kawaoka as the Japanese-American boyfriend of Rebecca’s daughter, whose parents were interned during World War II; Christopher Watson as the African American soldier who liberated Rebecca from Dachau; and Karen Malina White as Rebecca’s business partner. Most of the actors also play several additional roles.

Although Antaeus has presented new work in the past, this is only the second full production of a play developed in the company’s Playwrights Lab; the first, the company’s production of the Lab-developed The Abuelas by Stephanie Alison Walker, opens three weeks earlier, on Oct. 11, and will run through Nov. 25. A rotating performance schedule is set for the weeks during which the two productions overlap. The two plays share similar themes: questions of family, identity, and of the repercussions of a political dictatorship on personal lives.

Previews: Oct. 31 – Nov. 7
Performances begin Nov. 8
• Fridays at 8 p.m. (dark Nov. 15)
• Saturdays at 8 p.m. (dark Nov. 16)
• Sundays at 2 p.m. (dark Nov, 10, Nov. 24)
• Mondays at 8 p.m. (dark Nov. 11, Nov. 25)

PARKING:
First 90 minutes free, then $2 per hour in Glendale Marketplace garage located at 120 S. Artsakh Ave. (between Broadway and Harvard)

INFO:
(818) 506-1983 or www.Antaeus.org
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