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 

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

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.

Ripley is an all-female improv collective that creates stories about real women who save the day, save the world, and save each other.

ENCOUNTER is a fully-improvised, hour-long play that explores the stories of first contact between one woman and the completely unknown.

Inspired by Ripley’s namesake film Alien, along with Arrival, and the book Annihilation, ENCOUNTER blends sci-fi, horror, and “the new weird,” unpacking the emotional and psychological impact of a meeting with benevolent extraterrestrials, malevolent predators, and entirely unexplained forces.

Ripley has no script. No set dialogue. Not even an outline. Each performance of ENCOUNTER offers a brand new story based on a single audience suggestion.

ENCOUNTER is suitable for ages 12 and up. The show will be tailored to each audience each night.

LIMITED RUN: Fridays @ 9:15 PM in October & November 2019 (& Dec. 6th), only at Impro Studio.

Directed by Madi Goff & Sara Mountjoy-Pepka

Ripley is…
Madi Goff
Laurie Jones
Kelly Lohman
Sara Mountjoy-Pepka
Aliza Pearl
Amanda Troop
Jessica Lynn Verdi
Special guests: Lissette Jean-Marie, Ryan Smith, & Justin Lawrence Barnes

Technical improvisers, improvising lights, music cues, sound effects, and live-score…
Alex Caan
Arlo Sanders
Cory Wyszynski
Raishel Wasserman

Special thanks to Paul Hungerford & Impro Theatre!

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.

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@SouthCoastRep

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

The Victory Theatre Center is proud to present the west coast premiere of Elijah by Judith Leora, directed by Maria Gobetti.

Elijah is a very human dramedy by the critically acclaimed writer of The Victory Theatre Center’s Showpony, telling the story of a brave young woman who wants to reconcile with her past so she can free her future.

Hurricane Elijah has closed down all the roads in a small town in Texas. A disparate group of people take refuge in a TGIFridays restaurant, while, weather permitting, a high-profile execution is scheduled in a nearby prison. The restaurant is low on staff, low on food, but loaded with revelatory exchanges between both intimates and strangers who are impacted by the hurricane, the execution, and the difficulty of reconciling mercy and violence in this little corner of the world.

Starring Alexandra Wright, Jordan Wall, Holger Moncada Jr., Elle Vernee, Kathleen Bailey & Mackenzie Rickaby
Produced by Tom Ormeny, Maria Gobetti, Gabriel Ormeny

Previews: Oct 25, 26, and 27, 2019
Opening November 1, 2, and 3, 2019
Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 4 p.m.

Info  www.thevictorytheatrecenter.org
Visit us on Facebook:@victorytheatrecenter
Follow us on Twitter: @Victory_Theatre
Follow us on Instagram: @victorytheatrecenter

“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
• Join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AntaeusTheater
• Follow us on Twitter: @AntaeusTheatre

United Stages and Skylight Theatre Company presents Grin & Tonic Theatre’s American Premiere of “The 7 Stages of Grieving”

Written by Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman / Directed by Jason Klarwein

As the first professional Aboriginal production in Los Angeles, “The 7 Stages of Grieving” holds a mirror up to America by sharing Australia’s Aboriginal people’s fight for equality and recognition. With the hope of reconciliation, “The 7 Stages of Grieving” gives a comprehensive account of the Aboriginal people and their struggle to survive. These poignant stories reflect similar travails of Native Americans. Politically relevant and culturally profound in the season we celebrate Columbus Day (Indigenous People Day), the play recounts Aboriginal history through true, humorous, and stunning personal tales that open a dialogue on the issues which separate and unite Indigenous and non-Indigenous people: discrimination, inequality, oppression, segregation, and colonization. Their story is your story.

Director Jason Klarwein works nationally and internationally with Australia’s leading theatre companies. 2019 marks his tenth year as Artistic Director of Grin & Tonic Theatre.

Performer Chenoa Deemal is from the Thitharr Warra clan that is part of the Gugu Yimithirr tribe who reside in and around Hopevale, north of Cooktown in the Cape York Peninsula of Australia. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) and has been working professionally as an actor since 2009.  She has performed in the national tour of “The 7 Stages Of Grieving (Queensland Theatre Company / Grin & Tonic) to critical acclaim and recently appeared in London at Origins: Festival Of First Nations.

Grin & Tonic Theatre Troupe developed this production with Queensland Theatre in 2015 and toured Australia in 2016 and 2017. Internationally, the production has appeared at the International Performing Arts for Youth conference in Montreal in 2016 and Origins: Festival of First Nations in London 2017.

Opening: 8:30pm Friday November 1, 2019

Playing 8:00pm on Thursdays, 8:30pm Friday and Saturdays, 3:00pm Sundays

JOIN US on Thursday, November 7 for LAFPI Night at United Stages – use the code LAFPI for $15 tix. Meet fellow playwrights at 7:30 for pre-show convo, and following the hour-long performance, plan to stay for a short talkback with the performer and director, moderated by Sam Cook, a female Indigenous Australian arts leader now based in LA.

Facebook: unitedstagesla Twitter: @unitedstages Instagram: @unitedstages
Facebook: SkylightTheatre Twitter: @SkylightThtr Instagram: @SkylightTheatre

Website: www.unitedstages.org and www.skylighttheatre.org

Lagralane and Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble present

“Safe Harbor” by Tira Palmquist, directed by Anita Dashiell-Sparks

What Sasha Jones wants more than anything else is to have her mother back – or maybe just to go to the mall. Mikayla Reese wants, someday, to go to space – or maybe find a home to call her own. They may never get what they want – not now, not ever – yet they cling to the impossible. Now, they find themselves in increasingly dangerous circumstances, making increasingly desperate choices, facing increasingly treacherous consequences. All they want is a safe harbor – but this dream isn’t as easy – or as safe – as it seems.

“Safe Harbor” tackles the hard truth behind sex trafficking – commercial sexual exploitation of minors – and how easily young women can disappear.

November 9th through December 15th, 2019, with previews on November 6th, 7th, and 8th, 2019. Performing 8:00 pm on Saturdays, 3:00 pm on Sundays, and 8:00 pm on Mondays; select performances at 7:00 pm on Sundays on November 24th, December 1st, and December 8th, 2019.

“Safe Harbor” stars Yumarie Morales, Cymya Wynne, Yvonne Huff Lee, Scott Victor Nelson, Sydney A. Mason and Jason Delane Lee.

Palmquist’s plays include Overburden, Two Degrees (Denver Center), Ten Mile Lake (Serenbe Playhouse), Age of Bees (MadLab Theater, Tesseract), And Then They Fell (Brimmer Street, New York Film Academy), among others.

This is the first production of Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble’s “Cycle of Violence” Commission Series. The series began in 2017 and is focused on provocative, heart-breaking, and illuminating stories that drive social change. In addition to “Safe Harbor” which tackles the theme of sex trafficking, other commission series plays will explore the intricacies of honor killings (by playwright T. Tara Turk-Haynes), convict reintegration, and immigration.

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https://lower-depth.com/

This summer, the acclaimed SkyPilot Theatre Company sought submissions for its annual One-Act Festival.  After receiving a record number of plays, six outstanding works were chosen and will be presented over three weekends this November (7th-24th, three plays each night) at Oh My Ribs! Theatre, 6468 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles.  The productions, categorized as Series A and Series B, are open to the public with tickets for $15 per night or $20 for a festival pass.

The theme for this year’s festival is “Future Shock,” inspired by the 1970 book of the same name written by futurists Alvin and Heidi Toffler.  The authors define the term as a certain psychological state of individuals and entire societies under the perception of “too much change in too short a period of time,” predicting that our post-industrial society will be marked by a transient culture where everything ranging from goods to human relationships will be temporary while losing familiarity that traditional institutions (family, national identity, religion, professions) once provided.  Not to mention the fear of climate change, over-population, a rise of nationalism, and more.

Series A (Thursdays and Fridays at 8pm) includes:

Mondegreen, written by Stephen Olson and directed by Morry Schorr.

Free Space, written by Isaac Rathbone and directed by Stephen Juhl.

The Old Rogue, written by James Menges and directed by James Carey.

Series B (Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 5pm) includes:

Book of Life, written by Judy Klass and directed by Arden Haywood Smalls.

Truthiness, written by Maximillian Gill and directed by Kristina Lloyd.

Final Assignment, written by Jean Koppen and directed by Alysha Brady

For more information, visit www.skypilottheatre.com or email us at skypilottheatre@gmail.com. 

The lines between myth and reality become increasingly blurred in Defenders. When Iceland was threatened with invasion by Germany in WW2, the allies decide to step in. Defenders follows three American G.I.s who are shipwrecked on the remote island of Hrisey off Iceland’s northern coast. The stranded G.I.s find themselves with missing weapons, few supplies, and a broken radio. They realize they must rely on the locals for survival but, like current-day warfare, the locals fear the loss of their culture, their women and their safety with the presence of foreigners on their land. Defenders opens on November 9, with performances continuing through December 8 at The Broadwater Black Box in Hollywood. One lower-priced preview takes place on November 8.

Iceland has endured and survived waves of invaders, occupiers and pirates that have come and gone but the descendants of its original settlers are still there. It’s a land of myth where spirituality connects the population to its often harsh and unrelenting nature. In Defenders, as the mysterious history of Hrisey’s long-ago battle with pirate invaders comes slowly to light the past and the present mix and the soldiers, Icelanders, and the land itself are forced to ask just who is defending whom.

or

​The lines between myth and reality become increasingly blurred in Defenders. When Iceland was threatened with invasion by Germany in WW2, the allies decide to step in. The world premiere from Pandelia’s Canary Yellow Company by Cailin Maureen Harrison, and directed by Reena Dutt, follows three American G.I.s who are shipwrecked on the remote island of Hrisey off Iceland’s northern coast. The stranded G.I.s find themselves with missing weapons, few supplies, and a broken radio. They realize they must rely on the locals for survival but, like current-day warfare, the locals fear the loss of their culture, their women and their safety with the presence of foreigners on their land. Defenders opens on November 9, with performances continuing through December 8 at The Broadwater Black Box in Hollywood. One lower-priced preview takes place on November 8.

Iceland has endured and survived waves of invaders, occupiers and pirates that have come and gone but the descendants of its original settlers are still there. It’s a land of myth where spirituality connects the population to its often harsh and unrelenting nature. In Defenders, as the mysterious history of Hrisey’s long-ago battle with pirate invaders comes slowly to light the past and the present mix and the soldiers, Icelanders, and the land itself are forced to ask just who is defending whom.

John P. Connolly (on Broadway in Pap, Big River; in LA: Only a Kingdom, Lakeboat, Ruby M, Golem, Dead Souls) portrays Geir Stirdson; Tavis Doucette (A Tale of Two Cities, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Arcadia) stars as Sergeant Frank McKinley; Una Eggerts (a native of Reykjavik Iceland, Marilyn! The New Musical! films: Gilded, Expiration Date) plays Vigdis Geirdottir; Spencer Martin (Lily and the Patty Melt Paradox, Carrie, Bonnie & Clyde) plays Private Fred LaFleur; and Bryan Porter (Clybourne Park, Cabaret, on TV: Dear White People, Real Husbands of Hollywood) plays Lieutenant Marcus Jansen.

“I am excited to explore the idea of ownership – From owning one another in times of war, to owning up to our personal histories when forced to face them head first,” exclaims Dutt. “In Defenders Mother Earth acknowledges that history, and responds in mysterious ways.”

Playwright Cailin Harrison, an American and Irish citizen, is a graduate of the USC MFA screenwriting program. Her Some of her plays that have hit the stage include “Waitless” (full length drama) which was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2015, and won the Hollywood Fringe Festival Producer’s Choice Award in 2014; It was also produced by No Strings Company in New Mexico 2018. “China Smoke” had a showcase workshop at Neo Ensemble and East West Players in 2017; “Last Swallows” held a public workshop at Fierce Backbone in 2018; “Whole Foods” and “Talk in Ten” (short plays) at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2012; “Oh Christmas Tree – Why Me?” at the MonoSlam series at Secret Rose, Hollywood in 2011; “Binding Ties” (full length drama) at Network Theatre/Man on the Moon Productions, London in 2010; “Connections” (one act) at Cheeky Maggot Theatre as a staged workshop in 2009; “Connections” (ten minute version) was part of the Short and Sweet International Festival including Manila and Hollywood, and “Time Out” was performed at the New York Fringe Festival in 2001. Defenders was originally part of a public workshop weekend production with Drive Theatre/Fierce Backbone at Son of Semele in 2016. The world premiere of Harrison’s Last Swallows is finishing up its run at The Other Space @The Actors Company.

Harrison’s past work in film and TV includes time with companies including CBS, FOX, USA, New Line, Columbia Pictures and Viacom Networks and ISSA-UK. She is currently a member of Fierce Backbone, Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights, the Dramatist Guild, American A Community T and several USC women’s film organizations.

Reena Dutt’s theatre work has been seen in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco. She has directed at A Noise Within in conjunction with East West Players (staged reading of Snow in Midsummer by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig), the Road Theatre (staged reading of Kissing Che by Augusto Federico Amador), and Sacred Fools (staged reading of Monkey Love by Madhuri Shekar). Prior to that she Assistant Directed for Jo Bonney at The Geffen Playhouse on Jose Rivera’s world premiere of The Untranslatable Secrets of Nikki Corona, and Dramaleague’s Jennifer Chang on the Fountain Theatre’s Los Angeles premier of Hannah and the Dread Gazebo. Dutt also directs for film and television and has an extensive producing history. Dutt is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors’ Lab (New York City), Directors Lab West (Los Angeles), and a Semi Finalist for Dramaleague’s Hangar Directing Fellowship. She is a graduate of the Media Arts program at the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the acting program at William Esper Studio, New York. Most important, Dutt is a city girl with a country soul who creates with a conscience, on and off screen.

The creative team for Defenders includes scenic designer David Goldstein, sound designer Jesse Mandapat and costume designer Shon LeBlanc. The production stage manager is Seira Murakami, and Racquel Lehrman, Theatre Planners produces.

​​Defenders opens on Saturday, November 9 at 8:00 p.m., with performances continuing on Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m., and Mondays at 8:00 p.m. through December 8. There is one preview performance on Friday, November 8 at 8 p.m. General admission is $20 for the preview and $30 for performances.

The Broadwater Black Box is located at 6322 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038.

For more information and to purchase tickets, call (323) 960-5770 or go to www.Onstage411.com/defenders.

Holly (Aunt) and Joslyn (Niece), second-degree relatives, share their intergenerational journeys of healing as SECOND DEGREE. This unique and one-of-a-kind duo invite you into their inner circle of healing, sharing intimate stories that are intense and painful telling of adversity, struggle, transformation and joy, but balanced with stunning music, heart-opening meditation and some great conversation at Studio C – 6448 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038 on November 9th and December 15th, 2019.

Unforeseen circumstances united Joslyn and Holly as they found themselves living together, temporarily, last year. During that time they often sat at the dining room table. Holly, while writing her memoir on re-occurring Life-lessons, framed around the alienation she experienced from her children and the alienation of her father in her youth, was blown away when Joslyn, her beautiful and talented niece, started talking about those same type of re-occurring lessons.

Two women at different points on their journey but connected by blood, Holly and Joslyn are willing to be vulnerable here. This is real life: raw, candid and unapologetic.

Holly’s stories tell of the subtle if not invisible struggle of a woman, through #metoo events or other adversity, who was unaware of her lost inner-connection, and went around blindly trying to mend her wounds and create a life from the pieces of her fractured soul. Sound familiar? So often there isn’t the high profile violence or newsworthy drama in our lives, yet we suffer just the same.

Joslyn’s music speaks to the early discoveries of re-connection. She writes and performs her original songs to help herself and others learn compassion, joy and self-love.

We are unlimited creators of our lives whether we know it or not. Come hear about the magical endowments of life we all share. Our minds are so freaking powerful and we choose whether they hold us back or send us flying.

Presented by: Theatre Asylum

Starring: Holly McNeill and Joslyn Sarshad

Where: Studio C – 6448 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038

PERFORMANCE DATES:

Saturday, November 9th, doors open at 7:00 pm and

Sunday, December 15th, doors open at 2:00 pm

Runtime: 2 ½ hours (with intermission) including time beforehand to enjoy refreshments and light bites.

TICKET PRICE: $20.00 –  https://www.seconddegree.art

Admission age: 16+

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

HOLLY MCNEILL (Writer/Producer) Up until recently, Holly’s bio read much differently. Following in her father’s footsteps, she was an associate principal in a top-ranking architectural firm. But she changed all that with intention. Holly’s goal now is to shout out about the power we all have to create our lives with purpose. She hopes to crystallize how, by taking responsibility for our thoughts and actions, we can see our magic, understand the wisdom that comes with reconnecting to our core and manifest happiness in our lives and the world around us.

JOSLYN SARSHAD (Singer/Songwriter) For the past 10 years, Joslyn has been performing as a classical vocalist in the Los Angeles/Orange County area. Poetry and music have been a tool for self-understanding and growth for Joslyn since she was a child. Joslyn’s music has always been therapeutic for herself as well as for those around her. Now in 2019, with her classical knowledge and experience, Joslyn is turning her focus back to songwriting. She writes to share messages of self-care, patience, and compassion, to promote finding and living one’s purpose. Joslyn loves to use her voice to encourage others to step into their power, shine their light, and, in doing so, make this existence we all share a little brighter.

Comps available for members of the press upon request. Please contact Holly McNeill at info@seconddegree.art

FOR MORE INFORMATION got to https://www.seconddegree.art

PLEASE FOLLOW US AT on Instagram @second_degree_

EST/LA’s Launchpad is a 2-Week Staged Reading Series spotlighting new works being considered for full main stage production. Seven full length plays and seven one-acts are offered as staged readings from EST/LA Playwrights Unit, New West Playwrights, and member playwrights. These new works are presented by professional actors and directors, with minimal lighting and sound design.

Launchpad runs November 14-17 & November 21-24; showtimes are Thursdays – Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 6pm.

Plays by women are:

Week One

Friday 11/15 at 8:00 pm | AMERICAN DINER by Jude Lutz, directed by Stephen Burleigh
The lives of a teenager, her overbearing mother, and a Haitian immigrant collide in a NJ diner.

Sunday 11/17 at 6:00 pm | ONE ACT PROGRAM including

WRITERS IN THE WRITERS GROUP MUST WRITE by Elizabeth Logun, directed by Robert Burgos
Five women start a writing group which gets off to a rocky start.

Week Two
Thursday 11/21 at 8:00 pm | FOOTPRINT by Jennie Webb, directed by Laura Stribling
A play about loss, mystery and leaving one’s mark.

Sunday 11/24 at 6:00 pm | ONE ACT PROGRAM including

SPIN GHAR by Leilani Squire, directed by Brad Bentz
Trapped at their outpost in Afghanistan two soldiers face the moral injury of war.

See full schedule here:  https://www.estlosangeles.org/launchpad

2019 Launchpad Playwrights: Stephen Dierkes, Jude Lutz, Keith Szarabajka, Michael Kaplan, Elizabeth Logun, David Meyers , Tony Foster, Jennie Webb, Stephen Burleigh, Troy Loftin, Tony Pasqualini , Leilani Squire, Ken Levine

Visit Facebook.com/EnsembleStudioTheatreLA

FB Event: www.facebook.com/events/462987124329304

Connect @EST_LA & Instagram estlosangeles

The Blank Theatre in Hollywood has announced a Living Room Series Plus presentation of Hot Tragic Dead Thing by Ashley Rose Wellman, directed by Christopher James Raymond.

Bekah, a teenage social outcast recovering from a failed suicide attempt, and Miles, a golden boy with a hidden thirst for violence, are thrust into the same house when their parents try to blend their families after disastrous marriages. Bekah and Miles express their budding attraction and increasing obsession with leaving a mark on the world by plotting a mass shooting at their high school.

The performance schedule is Thursday–Saturday at 8pm.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Max Banta, Brea Bee, Nikki DeParis, Max Pescherine, Sebastian Siegel, and Sisi Turcotte. Lighting and sound design are by Tor Brown and the stage manager is Britt Crisp.Shelagh McFadden serves as dramaturg. Bree Pavey is producer for The Blank and the associate producer is Madison Kirkpatrick.

Ashley Rose Wellman is a Los Angeles playwright with an MFA in Dramatic Writing from the University of Southern California’s School of Dramatic Arts. Her plays have been read and/or produced at Pasadena Playhouse, Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST/LA), The Blank Theatre, Rogue Machine Theatre, TossPot Productions, Midnight Summit Ensemble, Red Cup Theatre Company, the Last Frontier Theatre Conference PlayLab and Mainstage, and the University of Alaska, Anchorage. Her play You Are the Blood was a finalist for the 2017 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and the Blue Ink Playwriting Award, and a semi-finalist for the 2017 Princess Grace/New Dramatists Award. Hot Tragic Dead Thing was a finalist for the 2018 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, and That Long Damn Dark was a semi-finalist for the 2016 O’Neill NPC. She is a member of the New West Writers Group at EST/LA and a founding member of the Barelight Writers Project.

The Blank is committed to developing new plays and new artists. This presentation of Hot Tragic Dead Thing is the culmination of its new play development program. This play was first presented in The Blank’s Living Room Series, a staged reading series of new plays. In the Living Room Series Plus, the process has taken the play further into development with more rehearsal time and performances in front of an audience.

Twitter & Instagram:  @TheBlankTheatre  theblanktheatre  #TheBlank

Collaborative Artists Ensemble is proud to present the West Coast Premiere of Unraveled by acclaimed playwright Jennifer Blackmer.

Directed by Steve Jarrard.

In Unraveled, Joy is a professor of physics and philosophy, who has spent her life exploring theories of space and time. None of that has prepared her for the reality of watching cancer unravel her mother’s mind and body. As the hard work of care-taking begins to take its toll, she hires Anna, a hospice nurse, to help her mother. But when the rules of space and time no longer provide Joy the answers she needs, can Anna’s simple lessons of how to care for another person help Joy knit the pieces of her life together again?

Playing Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 7 p.m.

Starring Carolyn Crotty, Drew Lee Davis-Wheeler,  Kathy Bell Denton, Jake Jensen, Heidi Shon and Meg Wallace.

Jennifer Blackmer serves as Professor of Theatre and Executive Director of the Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry at Ball State University. Her plays have been produced off-Broadway and across the country to critical acclaim. She has won multiple awards, including being named the 2015 PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theatre Award winner for Emerging American Playwright, and most recently, a finalist in the 18th Annual National Showcase for New Plays.

Unraveled rounds out a successful 12th season for Collaborative Artists Ensemble. The company’s mission statement reads: Collaborative Artists Ensemble was founded in 2007 to create the opportunity for passionate theater artists to come together to create works that challenge and provoke both the artists as well as the audience.

Wild at Hart – A Tale of Trauma and Triumph by Kamakshi Hart. Honored at the Hollywood Fringe with an Encore Producer’s Award and the Award for Musical Excellence, this healing and transformative #MeToo story deeply engages the audience while striking a timely, powerful chord for all ages and genders. A sexual trauma survivor’s sojourn from suffering to sovereignty, this is a story of triumph over the ravages of childhood trauma, teen rape, depression, violence, and abusive relationships. Moving and miraculous, Kamakshi’s wide range of talent is showcased through her performance of over 20 characters and the songs that masterfully tell her personal tale of transformation.

Written and performed by Kamakshi Hart. Directed by and developed with Jessica Lynn Johnson.

Saturday, November 16, 2019 @ 8pm

https://www.santamonicaplayhouse.com/wildathart.html

ÉLAN Ensemble presents

Seven
A New Adaptation of the Documentary Play
Directed by Natsuko Ohama
Movement Direction by Stephanie Shroyer

Seven acclaimed playwrights (Paula Cizmar, Catherine Filloux, Gail Kriegel, Carol K. Mack, Ruth Margraff, Anna Deavere Smith, and Susan Yankowitz) collaborated to create this compelling tapestry of stories, weaving together the words of seven remarkable women who faced life-threatening obstacles to bring about major improvements in the lives of women and girls in their home countries. ÉLAN Ensemble, using its signature physical theatre techniques, brings these unforgettable stories to life.

Playing Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 3pm. There will be added performances on Monday 11/25 and Monday 12/16 at 8pm. No performances Thanksgiving weekend.

The cast will feature Claudia Elmore, Amaka Izuchi, Wonjung Kim, Mehrnaz Mohammadi, Yelena Podkolzina, Tarah Pollock, Elmira Rahim, and Danielle Reynolds. Scenic design is by Amanda Knehans,lighting design is by Derek Christiansen, and sound design is by Stephen George.

Director Natsuko Ohama trained under Kristin Linklater at the Working Theatre in New York and is a founding member of Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, MA. She was the Director of Training at National Arts Center of Canada and taught in Turkey, Italy, China, and at the Linklater Voice Center in Scotland. A Drama Desk Award nominee, she has portrayed roles ranging from Juliet to Lady Macbeth and Hamlet to Prospero (LA Women’s Shakespeare Company) to Winnie in Happy Days. She has worked at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Public Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Pan Asian Repertory, and Mark Taper Forum, among many others. Recipient of Playwright’s Arena Outstanding Contribution to LA Theatre Award.  She has taught and coached in various capacities, and she heads Voice for the MFA Acting Program at USC.

Movement Director Stephanie Shroyer is the former Artistic Director of Pacific Resident Theatre and Founding Artistic Director of the 24th Street Theatre, and is the current Artistic Director at USC’s School of Dramatic Arts. Additional work includes projects at Pasadena Playhouse, Disney Hall/LA Philharmonic Youth Concert Series, A Noise Within, Antaeus, Matrix Theatre, Alliance Repertory, Stages, South Coast Repertory’s New Play Reading Series, and Showtime’s Act One series. She has been a company member, actor, choreographer and/or faculty member at American Conservatory Theatre, Pacific Conservatory of Performing Arts, and the Denver Center and she has been guest faculty at Cal Arts, Cal Poly Pomona and Whitman College. She is currently an Associate Professor of Practice and Director of BFA Programs at USC’s School of Dramatic Arts. Additional choreography/movement direction has been seen at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, A Noise Within, Odyssey Theatre, Berkeley Shakespeare Festival, and Laguna Playhouse.

ÉLAN is a deeply diverse ensemble of actors rooted in the innovative physical approach to theatrical creation taught in the Master of Fine Arts in Acting program at USC. The company always begins work from a state of alive readiness (élan) and then brings itself, body-and-soul, to the collaborative process of devising theatrical works and adaptations. Rooted in Los Angeles, ÉLAN pushes the limits of naturalism and brings text to life through the human body to create a surprising and deeply felt collective experience.  The mission is to create innovative theatrical productions based in a physical approach to text in order to provide LA audiences with a deep collective experience that reflects us as a community.

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A heartwarming story about a Musical Theatre Nerd forced by her family to give up her dreams and get a real job in the real world… as a toy store elf.  Christi Pedigo’s YouTube sensation Bunny the Elf will be sharing her elfing journey LIVE! On stage! With new material and a special update on what is next for Bunny. Will she get promoted to the North Pole? Will the customers crush her spirit? What will happen to her after Christmas?

After a sold out run and winning a Producers Encore Award at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2019, Bunny the Elf LIVE! makes its Orange County Premier at STAGES Theatre in Fullerton on November 30th and returns to LA at Theatre Asylum’s Studio C, 6448 Santa Monica Blvd., on December 1st.

Bunny the Elf LIVE! was voted Double Sweet by both critics and audiences on Better-Lemons.com. The show is an uplifting coming of age comedy about finding where one’s talents, or lack thereof, fit in the world. Come enjoy this heartwarming show with a timeless “never give up” message that is sure to put you in the holiday spirit.

Written and Produced by Christi Pedigo; Directed by Rose London; Starring: Christi Pedigo

Recommended for ages 10+. Please email bunnytheelf@gmail.com with questions about content for children.

PERFORMANCE DATES:

STAGES Theatre, November 30, 2019 @ 4:30pm

STAGES Theatre, December 7, 2019 @ 4:30pm

Studio C, December 1, 2019 @ 4pm

Studio C, December 8, 2019 @ 4pm

Run Time: 60 minutes

Twitter: @christipedigo    * Instagram: @pedigoblue   * Facebook: facebook.com/pedigoblue

YouTube: youtube.com/c/christipedigo  * Website:  www.christipedigo.com