THEATRE OF NOTE PRESENTS

FOREVER IN THERE
OR F*CK AROUND AND FIND OUT

 A WORLD PREMIERE PLAY

WRITTEN BY ASHLEY ROSE WELLMAN
DIRECTED BY SPENSER DAVIS

With Amberlee Clark, Henry Cruz, Scout Gutzmerson, Kathleen O’Grady, Armando Torres, and Elizabeth Trieu.

Two amateur conflict journalists who were kidnapped for ransom during an ill-advised trip to an active war zone are released after years of captivity. They struggle to adjust to “normal life” while navigating their complex feelings for each other, the enormous debts they owe their loved ones, and the weird ramifications of what happens after you f*ck around and find out.

Oopening Thursday, October 8, at 8pm.
There will be one preview performance on Wednesday, October 7, at 8pm

Playing Friday and Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 7pm, and Monday at 8pm

Ashley Rose Wellman is a playwright/screenwriter based in Los Angeles. Her 2023 Theatre of NOTE production of Kill Shelter won five LADCC Awards, and the Ted Schmitt Award for World Premiere of an Outstanding New Play, co-sponsored by The Black List. It was named a Distinguished Production at the Stage Raw Awards, won 10 StageSceneLA ‘Scenie’ Awards, and three LATheatreBites Awards. She was awarded the Humanitas PLAY LA Award, was commissioned with a grant from the Humanitas Foundation, is a two-time finalist and six-time semi-finalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and was highlighted on the 2020 Kilroys List. Her work has been developed and/or produced at Pasadena Playhouse, The Blank Theatre, Antaeus Theatre Company, IAMA Theatre Company, The Echo Theater Company, Midnight Summit Ensemble, The University of Southern California, and the Valdez Theatre Conference.

Spenser Davis is a director/playwright/filmmaker who made his LA directing debut with Philip Dawkins’ Le Switch, netting six StageSceneLA honors including Best Director. In Chicago, he received the Michael Maggio Directing Fellowship at the Goodman Theatre. Productions include premieres of Beth Steel’s Labyrinth and Jessica Swale’s Blue Stockings, Shannon O’Neill’s May the Road Rise Up and The Kelly Girls, and Michael Perlman’s At the Table, making Best of Year lists in the Chicago Tribune and Time Out Magazine, and named “One of the Best Shows of the Decade” by renowned critic Kris Vire. He developed new work at the Colorado New Play Festival, Steppenwolf 1700, American Blues Theater, and Broken Nose Theatre. Directorial include the Jeff Award (Chicago), B. Iden Payne Award (Austin), and the M. Elizabeth Osborn New Play Award from the ATCA.

Founded in 1981, Theatre of NOTE is a democratic ensemble of LA theatre artists dedicated to creating high-caliber, original work that challenges both its ensemble and audiences. NOTE is a non-profit company that stagedives the arena of theatre arts. The ensemble-based organization provides a creative environment in which to collaborate and develop maverick theater.

Come From Away soars on joy, hope and
the kindness of strangers at A Noise Within 

Seven thousand people arrived in a small Newfoundland town as strangers. Three days later they were friends. By the fifth day, they were family. A Noise Within presents Come From Away, the award-winning Broadway musical based on the extraordinary true story of how the people of Gander, Newfoundland, welcomed thousands of air travelers stranded in the aftermath of 9/11. Directed by Julia Rodriguez–Elliott, with music direction by Rod Bagheri,.

On September 11, 2001, 38 planes were diverted to Gander, a town of roughly 9,000 people. Suddenly, its residents were caring for some 7,000 unexpected visitors from around the world. They opened their homes, shared their food and transformed five days of fear and uncertainty into a singular demonstration of generosity.

“It’s a remarkable story about people coming together during the most horrific moment in our history to choose love over all,” says Rodriguez-Elliott. “They didn’t even think about it, it’s just what they did. They didn’t have any time to prepare. They simply saw people who needed help and said, ‘Come in.’”

With its infectious, folk-influenced score, kinetic storytelling and deeply human characters, Come From Away is a testament to the best aspects of human nature. A Noise Within’s 12-member ensemble, backed by a seven-piece live band headed up by Bagheri, creates an entire community onstage, moving fluidly between the people of Newfoundland and the “come from aways” who suddenly find themselves far from home. In A Noise Within’s 324-seat theater, audiences experience this exceptional story of generosity and connection at unusually close range.

“This musical means a lot to me personally,” notes Bagheri. “My father is an Iranian immigrant, and after 9/11 I was quickly made aware of the ugly thoughts that some people keep barely hidden underneath a polite facade. Over the last 25 years I’ve been taught some unfortunate lessons in prejudice, but I’ve learned so many more lessons in the value and beauty of community and altruism. Every single time I’ve seen this show it’s been a wonderfully cathartic experience for me, and I hope when people see our production they, too, are reminded that we’re all at our best when we help one another.”

The company includes Geoff Elliott, Lesley Fera, Amber Liekhus, Kasey Mahaffy, Ed F. Martin, Trisha Miller, Nathan Mohebbi, Cassandra Marie Murphy, David Nevell, Desmond Newson, Julianna Picasso, Hannah Sedlacek and Juliana Sloan As part of the creative process, several members had the opportunity to meet their real-life counterparts.

“The generosity of spirit of the people whose story this is based on has been overwhelming,” Rodriguez-Elliott says. “This year marks the 25th anniversary, so they’re being pulled in every direction, plus every theater doing a production tries to contact them. Yet, when they talk to us, it’s as if they’re sharing their stories for the first time. The thing about meeting these people is the realization that the musical is truly authentic to the essence of who they are — there doesn’t seem to be a false note. It’s a beautiful story about our better angels, and now it’s become a joyous and uplifting theatrical experience.”

The creative team includes scenic designer Frederica Nascimento; lighting designer Ken Booth; sound designer Jeff Gardner; costume designer Gary Lennon; projections designer Nick Santiago; wig and makeup designer Tony Valdés; properties designer Stephen Taylor; dialect coach Andrea Odinov; choreographer Indira Tyler; and dramaturg Dr. Miranda Johnson–Haddad. The production stage manager is Angela Sonner, with Hope Matthews assisting. Come From Away is licensed by Music Theatre International.

Performances of Come From Away take place Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays 7:30 p.m., with 2 p.m. matinees every Saturday and Sunday (no matinee on Saturday, Oct. 10; no evening performance on Saturday, Oct. 31). Sundays at 7 p.m.: Nov. 1 and Nov. 8 (added performances)

Four preview performances take place at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 4, and at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 7; Thursday, Oct. 8; and Friday, Oct. 9.

A one-hour INsiders Discussion Group will take place prior to the matinee on Sunday, Oct. 11 beginning at 12:30 p.m. Post–performance conversations with the artists will take place on Fridays, Oct. 16; Oct. 23; and Oct. 30; and Sundays, Oct. 18 and Oct. 25. GalaPro closed captioning is available at the 2 p.m. matinees on Saturday, Oct. 31 and Sunday, Nov. 1, courtesy of the Perenchio Foundation. Saturday, Oct. 17 is “Pride & Community Night,” a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community and allies; a free social mixer begins at 6:30 p.m. with tables hosted by ANW’s Pride partners. Saturday, Oct. 24 is “Teen Night,” offering special events and free snacks before the show for patrons ages 13-19. Student matinees are scheduled on select weekdays at 10:30 a.m.; interested educators should email education@anoisewithin.org.

Tickets to Come From Away start at $41.75 (including fees). Student tickets start at $20. Tickets to the previews on Wednesday, Oct. 7 and Thursday, Oct. 8 will be Pay What You Choose starting at $10 (available online beginning at noon the Monday prior, and at the box office beginning at 2 p.m. on the day of the performance). Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more.

A Noise Within is located at 3352 E Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107. For more information and to purchase tickets, call (626) 356–3121 or go to anoisewithin.org.

Caroline Aaron stars in West Coast premiere
of The Best Medicine by Robin Gerber

Caroline Aaron (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) dives headfirst into the whiplash experience of what it is to live, love and lament in Odyssey Theatre Ensemble’s West Coast premiere of The Best Medicine, written by playwright and bestselling author Robin Gerber and directed by Jane E. Unger. Performances run October 10 through November 15 at the Odyssey Theatre in West Los Angeles. Three discounted previews take place on October 7, 8 and 9.

Aaron stars as Rachel in a laugh-out-loud, open-hearted solo show about caregiving, marriage, resilience and unexpected joy. A free spirit who has long prized her independence, Rachel has finally found a relationship worthy of commitment. Then the universe decides to test her. That “in sickness and in health” vow becomes a distant memory when Rachel’s husband is diagnosed with a progressive, incurable disease, and she’s thrust into the job she’s least suited for: self-sacrificing caregiver. A stand-up comedy class becomes her salvation and a portal to a transformative truth about life and connection. More than a romantic comedy, The Best Medicine is a hilarious, poignant and unexpected exploration of love, purpose and meaning.

The Best Medicine was inspired by Gerber’s experience caring for her husband, who has Parkinson’s disease. It premiered at Great Barrington Public Theater in August 2025, with Metroland Now praising it for “empathy, comedy, and a whole lot of depth.” The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble production is presented in partnership with Parkinson’s Community Los Angeles.

Gerber is a bestselling author whose books include Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way (Penguin), Katharine Graham (Penguin), Barbie and Ruth, about the founder of Mattel (HarperCollins), and the novel Eleanor vs. Ike (HarperCollins). Her first play, The Shot, was selected for the 2017 Ojai Playwrights Conference, and is currently being produced around the country starring Sharon Lawrence. She is also a professional speaker, motivating audiences with stories from the lives of great women leaders. She has appeared on the Biography and History channels, and on CNN’s documentary series First Ladies. Prior to becoming an author and playwright, Robin worked in the labor movement and on Capitol Hill. She served as committee staff in the House of Representatives and as a lobbyist and political director for two major international unions.

Aaron, perhaps best known for her role as Shirley Maisel in the Emmy Award-winning Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and for her recurring role as Pete’s wife, Carol, in Ghosts, is an acclaimed theater actor. She recently starred off-Broadway in The Reservoir, garnering Drama Desk, Drama League and Dorian Award nominations as well as the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress. Other recent theater credits include Conversations with Mother at NYC’s Theatre 555, for which she earned an Outer Critics Circle nomination for Outstanding Lead in a Play; Madwomen of the West in London, L.A. and NYC; and Bye Bye Birdie at the Kennedy Center, for which she was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award. Broadway credits include Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean; The Iceman Cometh; Social Security; I Hate Hamlet; The Ritz; and Relatively Speaking. Caroline has over 100 feature film credits including the recent indie hit Theatre Camp, Between The Temples, 31 Candles and the upcoming, Bookends opposite F. Murray Abraham.

Director Jane Unger is the founding artistic director of Profile Theatre Project in Portland, Oregon, where she has featured and directed work by Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Constance Congdon, Romulus Linney, Harold Pinter, Edward Albee, Terrence McNally, Lanford Wilson, Wendy Wasserstein, John Guare, Neil Simon, Horton Foote, Lee Blessing and Athol Fugard, working directly with many of these writers on new play development.  Among the awards Jane has received, she is especially proud of Portland’s Drammy Award for Best Director for Wings and the Drammy Lifetime Achievement Award for Profile Theatre.

The creative team for The Best Medicine includes scenic designer Robert Mark Morgan and lighting designer Leigh Allen. The stage manager is Jennifer Palumbo. The Best Medicine is produced by Beth Hogan for Odyssey Theatre Ensemble.

Founded in 1969 by Ron Sossi, a pioneer in the intimate theater movement who remained at the company’s helm for 56 years until his death in 2025, Odyssey Theatre Ensemble is one of Los Angeles’ most adventurous theater companies, offering world-class live theater experiences in its three-theater complex.

Performances of The Best Medicine take place on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. from October 10 through November 15. Prior to opening, there will be three previews on Wednesday, Oct. 7; Thursday, Oct. 8; and Friday, Oct. 9, each at 8 p.m. Ticket prices range from $15 to $45. A $3 fee will be added to each ticket purchased with a credit card.

The Odyssey Theatre is located at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025. For more information and to purchase tickets, call (310) 477-2055 or go to OdysseyTheatre.com.

Rogue Machine at the Matrix Theatre, 7657 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046 

Los Angeles, CA (October 1, 2026) – Winner of a 2026 Los Angeles New Play Project award, Joy Gregory’s provocative new work, Saint Megan, explores belonging and the price of challenging the world we live in. Joy participated in Rogue Machine’s second annual Playwright’s Roundtable where the script emerged, and became an Ojai Playwrights Conference finalist this year. It marks the first Playwright’s Roundtable script to be given a full production.

Saint Megan is inspired by the story of Megan Phelps-Roper, granddaughter of the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church, a hyper-Calvinist sect notorious for its outrageous picketing of military funerals. As the play’s Megan defends her faith online, her curious mind and honest conversations threaten her ties to her family and the only community she has ever known.
Part family drama, part spiritual reckoning, part Twitter conversation—with music video parodies and Shaker dances—Saint Megan explores the long history of American Christian zealotry, our longing for salvation, and the moral courage it takes to face uncertainty. This play is a fictionalized dramatization inspired by real events and public figures. Certain scenes, timelines, and dialogue have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes.

“This production of Saint Megan continues and expands on our seasonal theme of Perception; Saint Megan challenges us to test the limits of our own compassion – of our willingness to try and understand our fellow humans. Even if those humans say and do things that we find reprehensible,” says Artistic Director Guillermo Cienfuegos. “Joy shared with me that had she not been invited to join the Rogue Machine Playwright’s Roundtable; she probably would not have written this play. I feel fortunate and proud that we made space for her to create this beautiful and important work – and that this story of great ersonal courage and the cost of sacrifice exists.”

Joy Gregory (Playwright) is a Peabody Award winner and three-time Humanitas nominee. She is a founding ensemble member of the Lookingglass Theatre Company, where she wrote and produced plays like All Souls Day and dreaming lucia. Her musical The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World was later produced at Playwrights Horizons, where it was nominated for a 2011 Drama Critics’ Circle Award and a Lucille Lortel Award. She co-adapted Studs Terkel’s Race: How Blacks and Whites Think & Feel About the American Obsession, with Ensemble Member David Schwimmer, for Lookingglass. Her play The Lonely Ape is coming soon to a midsize, struggling American theater near you. Gregory has been a writer and producer on Madam Secretary, The Resident, Switched at Birth, Scoundrels, Jericho, Devil in Ohio, Monarch, The Nine, Felicity, Joan of Arcadia, Windfall, Swingtown, and Trust Me. A feature film, Bury the Lede, about White House press correspondent Connie Lawn is in development with director Anna Shapiro and Hyde Park Pictures.

Director Lina Patel is drawn to plays that hold “irreconcilable things simultaneously – comedy and horror, love and cruelty, conviction and doubt. A central question for me with this play has been: what do we lose when our beliefs harden, and what might we find if they soften? How do we understand a loving, educated, often hilarious and sweet family and the cruel and destructive value system they live by? How did they come to believe what they do? At its heart, this is a mother-daughter tragedy, and a particularly American story – in the tradition of plays that ask what it costs a person to change their mind, like Tony Kushner’s Angels in America and Itamar Moses’ The Ally.”

Lina Patel (Director) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles whose work explores disability, non-traditional relationships, and power in an unstable world. Selected theatre: Bonobos (Flint Repertory; dir. Bernardo Cubría); Traces of Desire, commissioned by UCLA/Playwrights’ Arena and published by Bloomsbury UK (Jane Chambers Prize Honorable Mention), Sick Girl or Don’t Hate Me Cuz I’m Pretty (New Harmony Project, PlayFest Indy); Sankalpan, a Three Sisters adaptation (RADA Play Festival, London), The Ragged Claws (Cherry Lane Mentor Project, nominated by David Henry Hwang). Lina’s work has been commissioned and developed at Yale Repertory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The New Group, Center Theatre Group, The Lark Playwrights’ Workshop at 2nd Stage, New Harmony Project, Chalk Repertory, Ammunition Theatre (Company Member), Artists at Play, and the Sewanee Writers’ Conference (Walter E. Dakin Fellow). She received an NEA grant for her romp, Half-Breed Spy or, How I Learned to Love Imperialists (Circle X Theater). Lina is the Director of Rogue Machine’s Playwrights’ Roundtable. Last year, she was invited by Artistic Director Lily Tung Crystal to co-direct Stages of Our Stories: 60 Years of Asian American Theater, a commemorative event co-presented by East West Players and the Japanese American National Museum. On television, Lina has worked as Co-Producer on Ava DuVernay’s Cherish the Day, Executive Story Editor on Krypton (Warner Bros./DC), and Staff Writer on The 100 and Frequency. She is currently writing her first graphic novel with collaborator Aaron Simpson and illustrator E.J. Su.

CAST: Shannon Lee Clair (Amy/Theresa/Shaker Woman); Meg Cain (Grace Phelps); Rachel Sorsa (Shirley Phelps); Cordelia Leigh (Bekah Phelps); Caitlin Zambito (Megan Phelps); Zack Rocklin-Waltch (Chad).

PRODUCTION TEAM: Amanda Knehans (Scenic Design), Azra King-Abadi (Lighting Design), Christopher Moscatiello (Sound Design), Christine Cover Ferro (Costume Design), Grant Gerrard (Technical Director), Emmy Frevele (Movement Director and Choreographer), Victoria Hoffman (Casting), Justin Okin and Betsy Zajko (Producers), Emily Jerez (Associate Producer), Kila Kitu (Conversation Series Producer),

CONVERSATION SERIES: “We Could Still Be Happy…”

Following select Sunday performances, Rogue Machine will host four approximately 30-minute moderated conversations connecting Saint Megan to real-world questions, with subject-matter experts and audience discussion: Oct 18, 2026 — Know Thyself; Oct 25, 2026 — Somatic Practices; Nov 1, 2026 — Transitional Aged Youth Homelessness; and Nov 8, 2026 — Creating Boundaries. The series is included with admission; audience members may attend additional Conversation Series events at no additional expense.

Rogue Machine (founded in 2008) has become a pillar of Los Angeles’ vibrant theater scene through its commitment to producing new and significant contemporary plays. The company has earned critical acclaim for its bold programming and has been recognized with numerous awards. Notably, Rogue Machine has earned more than 30 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle awards including the unique distinction of being the only theater company to receive the Polly Warfield Award for Best Season by a Small to Midsized Theater four times—in 2011, 2016, 2023, and most recently for their 2025 season.

Additionally, Rogue Machine received three Ovation Awards for Outstanding Production of the Year and in 2017 they took home the Ovation Award for Best Season, standing out amongst major institutions like the Geffen Playhouse, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and Center Theatre Group. The company has produced more than 30 world premieres and 35 West Coast premieres, many of which have gone on to have a wider reach, including Kemp Powers’ One Night in Miami … (Academy Award nominee), John Pollono’s Razorback (now the film Riff Raff), Small Engine Repair, and Neil McGowan’s Lone-Anon (Loners), all of which were adapted into films. It is Rogue Machine’s mission to support local artists and playwrights and to offer new, thought-provoking theatre that deals with contemporary issues across all generations.

Saint Megan opens at 8pm on Saturday, October 10^th and runs 8pm Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays; 2pm Sundays through November 22, 2026 (no performance on Monday, October 12 or Saturday, October 31). Rogue Machine at the Matrix Theatre, is located at 7657 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046. Tickets are $45 for general seating on Fridays, Sundays and Mondays; $35 for Seniors; $60 on Saturdays; $45 for Seniors; Students: $25 at the box office on a first come, first served basis during the hour before the show. Show4Less on Fridays Oct 16 ($15+), Oct 23 ($20+), Oct 30 ($20), Nov 6 ($25). Reservations: https://roguemachine.ludus.com/show_page.php?show_id=200531238 or for more information (213) 282-8185. 

Fountain Theatre presents SoCal premiere of funny,
provocative Confederates by Dominique Morisseau

Two Black women. Two eras.
One fight to claim their own power.

Musta’ been all that freedom talk. Fountain Theatre artistic director Raymond O. Caldwell directs the Southern California premiere of Confederates, a smart, funny and moving comedy-drama by Tony Award-nominated playwright and MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Dominique Morisseau. Performances run October 30 through December 13 at the Fountain Theatre, with two previews on October 28 and 29. Tickets are on sale now at FountainTheatre.com.

Fiercely funny and fearless, Confederates is a provocative examination of American institutions and Black womanhood. In The 15 most intriguing theater offerings hitting SoCal stages this fall, Los Angeles Times theater critic Charles McNulty calls the play “[a] sharp-eyed satire examining an unbroken thread of racial and gender bias in American history.”

Nedra Ryan Taylor (The First Deep Breath at the Geffen, Clyde’s at CTG) stars as Sara, an enslaved woman who becomes a Union spy during the Civil War, opposite Sarah Scott Davis (previously seen at the Fountain in Last Summer at Bluefish Cove) as Sandra, a tenured political science professor at a prestigious university in the year 2026. Their lives might be separated by more than 150 years, but the forces they navigate around race, gender, power and institutional betrayal prove disturbingly similar.

Moving between past and present with biting humor and theatrical ingenuity, Morisseau connects these two women across generations as each must decide whom she can trust, what she is willing to risk, and how to take control of her own story.

“I love this play, just as I love Morisseau’s entire canon, because it asks audiences to engage in complex conversations and to navigate the true cost of freedom,” says Caldwell. “It’s sometimes easy to assume that slavery was a Southern problem, not a West Coast problem. What Confederates makes clear is that Southern plantations were simply the springboard for the institutionalization of Black oppression as a core American value. It begs the question: how do we move on?”

Also in the cast are Sufe Bradshaw (VEEP) last seen at the Fountain in Roe, and Mara Klein (The Pitt), who starred in the Fountain production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ An Octoroon. Daks McClettie II, whose credits include Destination Procrastination: Break the Bullies, makes his Fountain Theatre debut.

The distinguished creative team includes scenic designer Matt McCarren; lighting designer Alison Brummer; sound designer Andrea “Slim” Allmond; and costume designer Wendell C. Carmichael. The assistant director is RheAnn Mennefield and the production stage manager is Lanae Wilks. The Fountain Theatre’s Community Partner for this production is Black Women for Wellness.

Confederates opens Friday, Oct. 30, at 8 p.m., with performances on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through Dec. 13. (No performances on Thursday, Nov. 26 or Friday, Nov. 27). There will be three additional performances on Monday evenings at 8 p.m. on November 16, 23 and 30. Preview performances take place at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28 and Thursday, Oct. 29.

Community Conversations, unique opportunities for audiences to explore themes from the play, will take place after Friday evening performances. Friday, Nov. 13, is “Black Out Affinity Night,” an opportunity for an audience self-identifying as Black to experience the performance together. (Non-Black-identifying patrons are encouraged to select a different performance.) A day-long Black Wellness Summit featuring Black wellness leaders and organizations will take place on Saturday, Nov. 14.

Ticket prices range from $5 to $75. The Fountain Theatre is located at 5060 Fountain Avenue (at Normandie) in Los Angeles. Patrons are invited to relax before and after the show in the Fountain Theatre Café, which will feature wines from Brown Estate, a Black-owned Napa Valley winery, throughout the run.

For reservations and information, call (323) 663–1525 or go to FountainTheatre.com.

The Roy and Edna Disney CalARTS Theater (REDCAT) presents the 23rd annual New Original Works (NOW) festival, a celebration of innovative new work by Los Angeles artists.

REDCAT’s NOW festival has served as a catalyst for experimentation and new work in dance, theater, music, and performance since its inaugural edition in 2004. NOW has presented the work of over 200 artists who continue to be seen on stages throughout the US and abroad. NOW 2026 features nine new original works in dance, theater, music, and performance presented over three weeks from November 5-21.

Each of the three weeks of NOW features three artists in a shared evening on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 PM, with Saturday performances livestreamed. Artists are selected through an open application process. All artistic teams are provided rehearsal space, production support, technical support, artist fees, and professional development.

NOW Festival 2026 is curated by Katy Dammers, Deputy Director and Chief Curator.

The NOW Festival features the following works created by femme and nonbinary artists:

Week One: Nov. 5-7, 2026

Scottie Harvey: Hole Gazers

Hole Gazers is a comedic satire about fantasy, surveillance, and life online. Wearing a Halloween muscle costume, Scottie Harvey plays the role of MAN—a gay porn star—who feels violated when he finds his likeness is being used in workplace accident prevention videos. Alone in his claustrophobic apartment, MAN begins messaging the anonymous animator, who has crafted his online avatar, and imagines an escape from his life through the chat box of their relationship. Combining humor, animation, and performance, this piece probes the absurdity and possibility of safety and connection in our slippery virtual world.

Jeonghyeon Joo: how to bathe properly

how to bathe properly is a solo work for haegeum, a two-string instrument, performed in a staged Korean sauna. The piece extends the gesture and sound of bowing an instrument to the repetitive, vigorous body scrubbing offered in a jjimjilbang, or Korean spa. As water flows onstage, Jeonghyeon Joo (Musical Arts PhD 2023) turns the private ritual of bathing into a public performance. Proposing that the labor of being spotless is an endless cycle of erasure, Joo asks what is left behind when we attempt to scrub away the history of our own skin.

Thursday, Nov. 5 at 8:00 p.m. (in-person)
Friday, Nov. 6 at 8:00 p.m. (in-person)
Saturday, Nov. 7 at 8:00 p.m. (in-person and online)

Week Two: Nov. 12-14, 2026

Brenda Barrios: Muñequita Muy Muy

Drawing inspiration from her experience as a first-generation Mexican American, Brenda Barrios ‘ Muñequita Muy Muy blends cultural symbolism, queerness, and disability into a celebration of healing and visibility. Barrios uses sculpture, dance, song, and storytelling to bring life-size replica dolls and a motorized truck onstage alongside live musicians and performers. Barrios composes and performs original music combining pop music and Mexican operatic vocal traditions with ranchera and rock en español, alongside extended vocal techniques including el grito mexicano. Her detailed, hyperrealistic sculptures transform familiar objects into milagritos—Mexican charms to meditate on how bodies hold histories of care, struggle, and evolution.

SUUVI: REGENESIS

REGENESIS is a multidisciplinary work exploring the intertwined cycles of life, death, transformation, and renewal. Drawing connections between regenerating ecosystems and the continual processes of decay and emergence that shape the natural world, the work weaves SUUVI’s personal experience of grief and loss into a broader meditation on the processes of dissolution and renewal through which living systems continually transform. Composed, directed, and performed by multidisciplinary artist SUUVI, the work brings together original music for cello and electronics, live dancers and choreography by Megan Paradowski, cinematic projections and lighting design by Matt Brown, and painted elements by Reed Gibson, creating an immersive work that considers endings as part of an ongoing process through which new forms, memories, and possibilities emerge.

Thursday, Nov. 12 at 8:00 p.m. (in-person)
Friday, Nov. 13 at 8:00 p.m. (in-person)
Saturday, Nov. 14 at 8:00 p.m. (in-person and online)

Week Three: Nov. 19-21, 2026

Chica Barbosa: Marilyn Times

Chica Barbosa’s Marilyn Times revisits the legend of Marilyn Monroe through a Latin American lens to question what might be possible when an icon is liberated. The performance stages a dream-state encounter between three characters: Norma Jeane (the woman), Marilyn Monroe (the myth), and Bia Borinn (the performer). Inspired by Brazilian playwright Sergio Roveri’s play imagining Monroe’s final moments, director and filmmaker Chica Barbosa expands that text in a multidimensional piece layering film projection and solo performance. Created in Marilyn Monroe’s centenary year, Marilyn Times frames Monroe’s life as a site of rupture exceeding the illusions of Hollywood projected onto her.

Tarren Johnson: High Earners Not Rich Yet

In this dance theater piece, Tarren Johnson (Dance and Choreography BFA 2013) reflects on the physical and economic tensions of Los Angeles in a portrait of precarity. Collaging fragments of text, voice, movement, recorded piano, and image, High Earners Not Rich Yet references individuals who earn substantial incomes yet accumulate little net wealth despite outward signs of affluence. This duet follows a guard as she repeatedly assumes and relinquishes her post amid discarded tires and debris, tracing her inner monologue of observation and memory. Searching for the divine in disorientation, Johnson considers how care is negotiated and sustained through the rituals and contradictions of everyday life.

Thursday, Nov. 19 at 8:00 p.m. (in-person)
Friday, Nov. 20 at 8:00 p.m. (in-person)
Saturday, Nov. 21 at 8:00 p.m. (in-person and online)

REDCAT’s 23rd Annual New Original Works (NOW) Festival also features works by:

• Alfonso Abraham Cervera and Irvin Manuel Gonzalez: las cosas que enter(r)amos 
• Cody Perkins / Algorythm.Code: Motherboard
• Friidom: THE TETHER 

November 6 and 7 at 8pm

What happens to a spirit that is not ready to leave the living world? Hurt, angry, and unable to rest, she searches for a passage into the next realm. Material Conversations | A Sculptural Investigation Meets a Performing Body is a love letter to Kpelle storytelling and Japanese Kaidan stories, and to the spirits of those who never made the violent crossing of the Atlantic, whose stories and departures remain unresolved. Is this why we are ‘weathering’ at higher rates?

Audience FAQ for WEATHERING

Performance Information:

The durational performance begins each day at noon and will continue until 3PM. 

Each cycle lasts approx. 45 minutes. 

To follow the woman’s journey from the beginning, arrive at noon, 1, or 2pm.

Feel free to watch multiple cycles, or just one.

Please wear comfortable footwear: the performance involves about a .5 mile walk, roundtrip, from the parking lot.

*Free parking is available in North Atwater Park, 3914 Chevy Chase Dr, near the North Atwater Park Trail. Follow the short trail to the LA River, where the performance will begin.

THE WEATHER:

It is unlikely it will rain next weekend in Los Angeles, but She will weather in all weather.

Please wear sunscreen and a hat as the audience weathers alongside the performer, mostly in the sun. 

A Gesture of Healing: In the final movement of the piece, She will invite audiences to join her in a movement practice around a gesture of healing. 

**To learn more about weathering, visit: https://arlinegeronimus.com/ 

For more about Theatre Roscius, visit: theatreroscius.weebly.com

THE HUDSON THEATRE PRESENTS

THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
PARTY TRICK                                                    

Written & Directed by Tianna Loverde

Co-Produced by Marie Bland & Maya Donato

Associate Producer Ava Capri

The Hudson Theatre presents the world premiere dark comedy PARTY TRICK written and directed by Tianna Loverde.  The production opens November 6^th – 15^th, 2026, at the Hudson Backstage Theatre.

PARTY TRICK is an evocative, dark comedy that confronts sexual assault while still maintaining the humor and absurdity that is trying to be a fully-formed person in your twenties. It’s topical, both on a personal and cultural level. It sinks its teeth into the parts of assault that are uncomfortable and often turned away from: the initial ambiguity, the reality that someone you know and love could be a perpetrator, and the moments of levity that help us process and understand what really happened.

A dark comedy set entirely in a bedroom the morning after a party that leaves you in your friends’ arms, asking: Did my ex look hotter? Did I say the wrong thing? Did my life change forever? Some hangovers pierce your soul and the only way to survive them is by pretending you’re someone else, somewhere else. Clemmie has that kind of hangover. But her friends are here. They want to help her destroy everything and piece it all back together.

PARTY TRICK is a witty, laugh-filled comedy that explores the surprising ways friendships are tested, strengthened, and sometimes turned upside down. With clever humor, plenty of levity, and a refreshingly relevant take on how friends show up for one another when it matters most, this is a smart, entertaining, and thought-provoking production that reminds us why we need each other. Come for the laughs, stay for the unexpected insights—and don’t miss PARTY TRICK!

THE CAST

Chloe Avakian – ‘CLEMMIE’

Ava Capri – ‘FRANCES’

Maya Donato – ‘LYDIA’

Buddy Keaton – ‘JUDE’

David Levi – ‘TOMMY’

THE PRODUCTION TEAM

Tianna Loverde – WRITER & DIRECTOR

Maya Donato – CO-PRODUCER

Marie Bland – CO-PRODUCER

Ava Capri – ASSOCIATE PRODUCER

Jamie Gallo – MOVEMENT DIRECTOR & ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

Bianca Rickheim – STAGE MANAGER

Devin Harris – TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Kate Schaff – SCENIC DESIGNER

Olivia Dakin – COSTUME DESIGNER

Fernando Gonzalez – LIGHTING DESIGNER

Callie Maxson – PROPERTY MANAGER

Zoelle Pierce – SOUND DESIGNER

Carol Ades – COMPOSER OF ORIGINAL MUSIC

Miss Benny – COMPOSER OF ORIGINAL MUSIC

Emilia Ray – INTIMACY DIRECTOR

SANDRA KUKER PR – PUBLICITY (Sandra Kuker-Franco)

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

The Hudson Backstage Theatre – November 6^th – 15^th, 2026.

6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. CA. 90036

Performances: Friday & Saturday 8:00pm, Saturday 11/14 at 2:00pm & 8:00pm, Sunday 2:00pm and Thursday 11/12 at 8:00pm. Running time:  75 minutes

Dates: 

November 6th at 8PM | November 7th at 8PM | November 8th at 2PM

November 12th at 8PM | November 13th at 8PM | November 14th at 2PM and 8PM

November 15th at 2PM

General admission $33.85

URL: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/party-trick-tickets-2000306984036?aff=oddtdtcreator

ICT’s West Coast premiere of The Laugh Track
takes audiences behind the scenes of I Love Lucy 

International City Theatre presents the West Coast premiere of The Laugh Track, a new comedy about the business of being funny by Wendy MacLeod. Directed by Brian Shnipper, the production opens November 6 and runs through November 22 at International City Theatre’s home in the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center. Two low-priced preview performances are scheduled for November 4 and 5.

The play takes audiences behind the scenes of the classic American sitcom I Love Lucy, which aired on CBS from 1951 to 1957. Inspired by the real-life experiences of Madelyn Pugh, one of Hollywood’s first female television writers (often referred to at the time as the “girl writer”), the play shines a light on the inner workings of America’s beloved sitcom and the woman who punched up the jokes, helping to open doors for women in the writers’ room.

In MacLeod’s fictional dramatization, Pugh (Alli Brown) and her writing partner, Bob Carroll Jr. (Josh Odsess-Rubin), meet at a restaurant in 1957, after their work together on I Love Lucy has come to an end. As they reminisce about their years on the show, their conversation triggers flashes of the past, revealing their experiences working with Lucille Ball (Jennifer Sorensen), Desi Arnaz (Bill Mendieta) and various studio executives (Hunter Bodine). Alyssa Corella plays the restaurant waitress, a wannabe actor with ambitions of making it in Hollywood.

Through these flashbacks, we see Maddie and Bob’s complicated relationship, which is tested by Bob’s tendency to let Maddie do the typing while taking credit for her jokes. As their personal relationship deepens, Lucy and Desi come apart, and the show’s singular success takes a toll on everyone involved. Fast-paced and full of wit, The Laugh Track brings familiar characters to life while exploring the challenges faced by women in a male-dominated entertainment industry.

MacLeod was researching the early days of television for a TV show she was developing when she came across Pugh’s obituary.

“A light bulb went off when I realized this could be a play,” she explained. “It was the perfect vessel to say what I wanted to say about comedy. I never set out to write a history or a biography, but Maddie’s story offered a lot of firsts: she was one of the first female television writers, Lucy’s pregnancy was one of the first ever seen on television, and Desi was the first immigrant leading man.”

The Laugh Track was commissioned by Seattle’s ACT and developed at the Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival. It premiered at Maine’s Portland Stage Company in May, 2026.

ICT’s creative team includes scenic designer Mark Mendelson, lighting designer Donna Ruzika, costume designer Kim DeShazo, sound designer Hunter Moody and prop designer Patty Briles. Casting is by Michael Donovan, CSA and Richie Ferris, CSA. The stage manager is John H. Freeland, Jr.

The Laugh Track runs November 6 through November 22 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Two preview performances take place on Wednesday, Nov. 4 and Thursday, Nov. 5, both at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $56 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, except opening night (Friday, Nov. 6), and $59 on opening night and at Sunday matinees. Low-priced tickets to previews are $44.

International City Theatre is located in Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center’s Beverly O’Neill Theater at 330 East Seaside Way, Long Beach, CA 90802.For more information and to purchase tickets, call (562) 436-4610 or visit InternationalCityTheatre.org.

Ruskin Group Theatre at 2800 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90405

In a sunny, progressive beach community where the lawns are manicured, the politics are enlightened, and the neighbors are very good people, something has gone terribly wrong.

Spiderman—an award-winning, free-range rabbit—is missing. The prime suspect? Nacho, the shaggy rescue dog next door who has recently developed a troubling interest in what lies beyond the fence. What begins as a neighborly conversation about pets, boundaries and one suspiciously large hole quickly spirals into accusations, shifting alliances, whiskey, cashew cheese, and the uncomfortable realization that being a good neighbor is a lot easier when nobody is testing the fence. This wickedly funny new West Coast premiere about good intentions, bad behavior, and what happens when civilized people stop being quite so civilized stars Sharon Lawrence, Dann Florek, Matthew Scott Montgomery, and Jamie Pierce. Performances are schedule opens on Saturday, November 7^th at the new Ruskin Group Theatre Arts Center in Santa Monice, CA.

“This story grew from a funny – not so funny incident in my neighborhood,” says Brooks, and the incident itself grew out of something as old as neighborhoods: the challenge of living in close proximity to people who don’t necessarily see the world the way we do. We share sidewalks, fences, and property lines, all while viewing them through wildly different lenses. But no matter how we look at it, if we zoom out far enough, we arrive at the same burning question: How the hell do we live with each other? As a dark comedy – in all seriousness – it sinks its teeth into questions of boundaries, fences, gentrification, and tolerance. The limits of good intentions. There’s even a little debate about free-range parenting.”

Michelle Kholos Brooks (Playwright) is a multi-award-winning playwright with productions staged internationally and garnering a Susan Glaspell Award, Stage Raw awards, and Best of Edinburgh Fringe for H*tler’s Tasters, currently being developed as a streaming series by Producer Brad Saunders and Peter Dinklage’s company, Estuary. Kalamazoo won the Riva Shiner Comedy Award. Room 1214 was a finalist for The Ashland New Plays Festival. Hostage was a finalist for the Woodward/Newman Drama Award, the Fratti-Newman Political Play Contest, and a Showcase Finalist for the National New Play Network. Chair received second place in the Firehouse Theatre Festival of New American Plays. War Words was recently inducted into the United States Library of Congress as a collection of the Veterans History Project. Brooks is a Resident Artist at New Light Theater Project, a former Artist in Residence at New York Rep, and a current board member of ShPIel-Performing Identity Theatre Project. She is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America, The Playwrights Center, Pacific Resident Theatre, and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.

Casey Stangl (Director) works at numerous theaters across the country including South Coast Repertory, Geffen Playhouse, American Conservatory Theater, Guthrie Theater, Everyman Theater, Arizona Theater Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Denver Center, Portland Stage and Cleveland Playhouse. Recent projects include Bobby Robotowitz at IAMA Theatre (NNPN Rolling World Premiere), The Girl on the Train at the Alley Theater, SJ Hodges’ Already Here at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (world premiere), Audrey Cefaly’s Alabaster at the Fountain Theatre (West Coast premiere) and John Ross Bowie’s Brushstroke at the Odyssey Theater (2024 Scenie Award for Best World Premiere). Casey has developed work with numerous playwrights and directed at the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Humana Festival, Pacific Playwrights Festival, In the Works-In the Woods Festival, and served as associate artistic director for Ojai Playwrights Conference. Upcoming: Jennifer Maisel’s Provenance in a world premiere co-production with Asolo Repertory Theatre and Palm Beach Dramaworks.

Cast: Dann Florek* as Xander (Broadway: The Front Page – revival, other roles have included productions at the Ruskin – Ian McRae’s The Joy Wheel, at La Jolla Playhouse and the Globe Theatre. Best known for his portrayal of Captain Donald Cragen on Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. TV: L.A. Law, Hill Street Blues, The Equalizer, and The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer. Film appearances include Angel Heart, The Flintstones, Flight of the Intruder, and Hard Rain. Trained at Juilliard, and received a 2010 PRISM Award nomination for Performance in a Drama Episode); Sharon Lawrence* as Devorah (Broadway: Cabaret, Fiddler on the Roof, Velma in Chicago. Off Bway: Pen Pals, Tongue of a Bird, Love, Loss and What I Wore, regionally in Steel Magnolias, Parents In Chains, and roles at the all the major LA theaters with 2 nominations for Ovation Awards and win from LA Drama Critics Circle. Next April, at The Wallis, Sharon stars as famed Washington Post publisher, Katharine Graham in the multi-award-winning solo play The Shot. TV work includes the multiple EMMY nominated and SAG AWARD winning run as Sylvia on NYPD Blue, as well as featured roles on Shameless, Dynasty, Desperate Housewives, Rizzoli & Isles, Grey’s Anatomy – 4th EMMY nominations – and currently in Joe Pickett on Paramount + and several of Hallmarks top rated holiday programs); Matthew Scott Montgomery* as Brad 2 (Foursome at IAMA Theatre/Celebration Theatre), Stage Kiss (The Geffen Playhouse), Del Shores’ Yellow – Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award recipient for Best Actor, Ovation Award nominee for Best Actor. Film/TV/Web: Sonny With a Chance, Austin & Ally – Disney, Del Shores’ Southern Baptist Sissies opposite Leslie Jordan, Jane the Virgin – CW, and most recently starred in a sold out presentation of his play Ghost Play at the Renberg Theatre – Los Angeles LGBT Center. His new feature, the dark comedy horror Howdy, Neighbor!, is in post-production, directed by Disney co-star Allisyn Snyder and stars himself, Debby Ryan, and Alyson Stoner); Jamie Pierce* as Brad 1 (most recently seen as twin brothers John and James Jeckyll in Terrence McNally’s Love! Valour! Compassion! at the Dezart Playhouse, for which he received a Desert Theatre League Award nomination. Selected credits include, Los Angeles: Priscilla, Queen of the Desert at Celebration Theatre; Ovation Award nomination, New York: The Music Man at the Helen Hayes Theatre, Broadway Dances with Karen Ziemba. TV/film: The Family Business – BET/Netflix, The Con – ABC, the 79th Annual Golden Globe Awards, and the title role in the award-winning independent film Bill).

Creative Team: Stephanie Kerley Schwartz (Scenic and Costume Design), Brandon Baruch (Lighting Design), Hannah Owens-Bender (Costume Design), Keith Stevenson (Sound Design), Megan Trapani (Props), Victoria Hoffman (Casting), Nicole Millar (Production Stage Manager).

John Ruskin (Artistic Director/Producer) founded the professional company in 2001. Recently, he produced Joanna Murray-Smith’s Honour, starring Marcia Cross and Matthew Letscher, for the new arts center’s inaugural show on the Kaplan Stage. Other productions include Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge (Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle nomination for BEST REVIVAL and two additional nominations for BEST ACTOR; winning 3 Stage Raw Awards). He produced Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile (extended for four months), the Los Angeles premiere of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (extended for three months), and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman which starred Rob Morrow. John helmed the critically acclaimed production of Strange Snow, and teaches a Master’s Class in acting at the RGT school. John’s years of experience include studies at the Yale School of Drama, British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England, and the University of Colorado in Boulder. In New York, Ruskin joined the acting faculty of the Neighborhood Playhouse at the request of Sanford Meisner (who he then apprenticed with) before moving to Los Angeles where he founded the RGT school of acting in addition to the professional theatre company. 

Michael Myers (Producing Artistic Director) has served as Ruskin’s Managing director since 2002. In that time, he has produced over 100 projects, along with John Ruskin, including the long running recent West Coast premiere of Samuel D. Hunter’s Grangeville and the hit musical which he directed, Paradise: A Bluegrass Musical, later revived at the Austin Playhouse for a sold-out run. Other notable projects include developing and producing the world premiere production of Rex Pickett’s Sideways the Play. Since its world premiere at the Ruskin, Sideways the Play has been produced at the La Jolla Playhouse under Des McAnuff and recently had its West End Premiere at the St. James Theatre. Mike developed and directed the world premieres of Sneaky Ole Time with music by multi-Grammy Award winner Paul Overstreet, Rainbow Bridge, and Digging up Dad. Mike is a co-creator of the Ruskin Group Theatre’s “L.A. Cafe Plays,” the monthly offering of one-acts done in 10 1/2 hours from conception to staging. The “L.A. Café Plays” have been produced over 200 times since 2004. Mike served 12 years on Santa Monica Arts Commission, ten years as chair. During his time on the commission, Mike was integral in the city’s decision to prioritize maintaining artist affordability in Santa Monica.

Ruskin Group Theatre recently concluded their over two-decade tenure, at the original building next door, with a sold-out production of The Fantasticks, known for being the world’s longest running musical. Their CAFÉ PLAYS, created at RGT, celebrates their15th anniversary.

Nacho Ate Spiderman opens at 8pm on Saturday, November 7^th and runs at 8pm Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays; 2pm Sundays through December 20, 2026 (check website for exceptions – no performance on December 12). Ruskin Group Theatre is located at 2800 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90405. Tickets $45, with discounts for students and seniors, can be purchased in advance at www.ruskingrouptheatre.com or for more information: (310) 397-3244. Free parking available on site.

Instagram: @ruskingroupthtr 

The Co-op of Pacific Resident Theatre Presents

Poor Poor Lear

A ONE-WOMAN SHOW
by Nina Sallinen and Katja Krohn
with passages by William Shakespeare

Translation and adaptation by Nina Sallinen
Directed by Katja Krohn
Performed by Nina Sallinen
Produced by Scott Jackson and Nina Sallinen

In this original dark comedy, actress Nina Sallinen portrays a 90 year-old Grande Dame (also named Nina Sallinen) of the Scandinavian Theater. The old actress has brazenly chosen Shakespeare’s King Lear as the material for her final artistic farewell performance. She has a special interest in the theme as she believes her own two daughters to be just as greedy and neglectful as King Lear’s.

The performance, which she stages in her own apartment, unintentionally highlights the artist’s own life story, as she gradually becomes cognizant of the deeper parallels between her life and that of King Lear’s. Instead of shaking up her own daughters with her performance, the old diva shakes up herself. Her priorities and past choices come into question.

Destiny of Desire
A Telenovela Play with Music
By Karen Zacarías
Directed by Marcela Lorca

A co-production with Denver Center Theatre Company

A delightfully unapologetic homage to telenovelas…

On a stormy night in Bellarica, Mexico, two baby girls are born—one into outlandish wealth, and one into a life of poverty. When the newborns are swapped by a ruthless ex-beauty queen, the stage is set for two outrageous misfortunes to grow into an extraordinary destiny. Brimming with energy, Karen Zacarías’ hilarious hit, Destiny of Desire, takes you on an emotional rollercoaster sprinkled with the melodrama and wild antics that make the telenovela the most popular form of storytelling in the world.

Noche de Teatro en Español
Tuesday, December 8, 2026 at 7:30 PM
This performance will feature Spanish translation with open captions.
Use code SPANISHCAP for Spanish open-captioned seats and special pricing.
Post-show talkback immediately following the performance

Stage Talks
Stage Talks offer an opportunity for theatregoers to come together after select performances for engaging conversations with cast members and/or the creative team.

Tuesday, December 1, 2026 at 7:30PM
Tuesday, December 8, 2026 at 7:30PM
Sunday, December 13, 2026 at 1PM

“The Heiress” by Ruth Goetz and Augustus Goetz.

The Heiress is the story of Catherine Sloper, the plain-Jane daughter of a tyrannical rich man who dominates her life and subjects her to constant comparison to her vibrant mother, who died when Catherine was young. When she becomes involved with a young man who wants to marry her, Catherine’s father suspects him of being a fortune hunter. A meeting he has with the man’s sister strengthens that belief. Catherine’s father threatens to disinherit her if she continues the relationship, and she must make the difficult choice between wealth and a love that may or may not be reciprocated.

Directed by Ann Hearn Tobolowsky.

Rosa
by Sophie Goldstein
Directed by Armando Molina
Co-produced by Playwrights’ Arena and Company of Angels

What if you could create the perfect past? Rosa is certainly trying. Filled with emotional depth, humor, and a dash of chaos, Rosa confronts the boundaries of family, identity, memory, and the moments that shaped her life.

CAST:

Rose Portillo – Rosa
Oscar Emmanuel Fabela – Jorge/Carlos
Julianna Stephanie Ojeda – Lucy/Sophia
Jonathan Medina – Enrique

Producers:

Tamadhur Al-Aqeel (Company of Angels)
Elmira Rahim (Playwrights’ Arena)

Dramaturg: Evangeline Ordaz

Additional Dramaturgy: Melanie Qeuponds

Preview on Friday, November 13 at 8pm

Playing Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 4pm, Mondays at 8pm 

Join LAFPI Instigators on Sunday, November 22 for another LAFPI Night at Company of Angels – Connect with other artists before the show begins. Tix are $15 which includes a beverage of your choice! Go Here for Info

THE (UN)OFFICIAL WITCH OF LOS ANGELES

How far would you go to conceive? For Alice, it was doctor visits, hormone shots, and multiple trips to Colorado. She shares her own trials through infertility, facing disappointment after disappointment, until she gets her miracle baby. But can miracles really come true?

Inconceivable is a story of infertility, pregnancy, and the life altering decision she is forced to make. Both comedic and heart wrenching, this story is timely, putting a spotlight on the importance of reproductive choice in a post-Roe era. This show touches not only on the roller coaster emotions of infertility, but also the necessity of access to maternal health care.

Directed by Vincent Giovanni

Content warning: This performance touches on topics of pregnancy loss and abortion.

“Moving beyond words, empowering, meaningful, and profoundly funny, Inconceivable is a gift of a show.” Samantha Simmonds-Ronceros, NoHo Arts

THE COLONY THEATRE
SCRIPTS & SIPS
PLAYREADING SERIES
PRESENTS
THE ROMEO AND JULIET SENIOR CITIZENS PROJECT—A COMEDY
BY JAMI BRANDLI
Story by Jami Brandli, Ann Hearn Tobolowsky, and Nina Sallinen
(and William Shakespeare, too)
DIRECTED BY MICHAEL DONOVAN

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, AT 3PM

The Colony Theatre in Burbank has announced the third installment of its Scripts & Sips playreading series, The Romeo and Juliet Senior Citizens Project — A Comedy by Jami Brandli, Story by Jami Brandli, Ann Hearn Tobolowsky, and Nina Sallinen (and William Shakespeare, too), directed by 10-time Artios Award-winner Michael Donovan, who also directed the 2024 and 2025 Scripts & Sips readings and The Colony’s smash hit musicals The Wedding Singer and Catch Me If You Can (currently running through October 18). Scripts & Sips is a casual, fun, immersive afternoon, giving audience members a taste of the creative process of bringing new work to life. Enjoy themed cocktails and mocktails, complimentary light bites, and a post-show panel discussion with the writer, director, and cast.

The play: Lucas, a recent Yale MFA graduate, is hired to direct an abridged production of Romeo and Juliet for a local senior citizens retirement facility. Hilarious complications arise among the elder actors during rehearsals as an unexpected romance re-blossoms between Rich and Rose, the two star-crossed lovers/residents at the facility. As this comedy about second chances unfolds, we watch both Lucas and his cast of headstrong seniors wrestle with Shakespeare and real-life drama. Will they be able to come together as a team and pull off opening night? The odds are against them, but the play must go on … no matter what. Casting is by Michael Donovan, CSA, and Richie Ferris, CSA.

Colony Theatre Producing Artistic Director Heather Provost said, “This play immediately stood out to me because it gives older actors the opportunity to be at the center of the story—to be funny, complicated, romantic, messy, and completely dynamic. There simply aren’t enough great roles written for actors in this age bracket, and on top of that, this play is genuinely hilarious. Scripts & Sips, as well as our TCT Writers Lab, are about giving writers a home to develop new work and hear it come to life. Scripts & Sips, specifically, gives audiences the unique experience of discovering a new play and being part of its journey from the very beginning. At The Colony, we strive each day to create a joyful environment where artists and audiences come together—and where exciting new stories can grow.”

Jami Brandli is the winner of the Jane Chambers Award and Stanley Drama Award. Her plays include The Magician’s Sister, O: A Rhapsody in Divorce, The Caregiver’s Guide, Visiting Hours, and BLISS (or Emily Post is Dead!) — named on The Kilroys List and a LA Times Critics’ Choice. Her work has been produced/developed at New Dramatists, New York Theatre Workshop, Kitchen Dog Theater, Center Theatre Group, and Moxie Theatre, among others. Additional awards include 2022 Center Theatre Group Writers Group, John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Award, Humanitas Prize PLAY LA. She was a finalist for the PEN Literary Award for Drama, the O’Neill and Ojai Playwrights Conference. Short works published with TCG, Dramatic Publishing Company, Applause Books, and Smith & Kraus.  She is a member of The Playwrights Union, The Dramatists Guild, TCT Writers Lab, and The Independent Writers’ Caucus where she is also developing film and TV projects.

Said Brandli, “I am thrilled and honored to join The Colony’s Writers Lab and to be the 2026 Scripts & Sips winner. It’s a true gift to develop work in a safe, supportive environment alongside so many talented playwrights and actors. I also can’t wait to work with The Colony on The Romeo and Juliet Senior Citizens Project—A Comedy. My goal with this play is simply to make people laugh and lean into the joy of theatre and life, no matter how old they are or feel.”

Michael Donovan is a casting director, producer, director, and teacher. He has cast over 1,200 theatre productions (including shows at The Colony) and is the recipient of 10 Artios Awards, presented by the Casting Society of America for Outstanding Achievement in Casting. He has directed many productions, readings, and showcases. He is also President of the Board of the Foundation for New American Musicals.

Admission prices range from $13.00–$23.00 and tickets are available online at https://www.colonytheatre.org/scriptsandsips. Scripts & Sips is supported in part by a Community Arts Grant from the City of Burbank. The Colony Theatre is located at 555 N. Third Street in Burbank, 91502. Free parking is available.

Fountain Theatre presents SoCal premiere of funny,
provocative Confederates by Dominique Morisseau

Two Black women. Two eras.
One fight to claim their own power.

Musta’ been all that freedom talk. Fountain Theatre artistic director Raymond O. Caldwell directs the Southern California premiere of Confederates, a smart, funny and moving comedy-drama by Tony Award-nominated playwright and MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Dominique Morisseau. Performances run October 30 through December 13 at the Fountain Theatre, with two previews on October 28 and 29. Tickets are on sale now at FountainTheatre.com.

Fiercely funny and fearless, Confederates is a provocative examination of American institutions and Black womanhood. In The 15 most intriguing theater offerings hitting SoCal stages this fall, Los Angeles Times theater critic Charles McNulty calls the play “[a] sharp-eyed satire examining an unbroken thread of racial and gender bias in American history.”

Nedra Ryan Taylor (The First Deep Breath at the Geffen, Clyde’s at CTG) stars as Sara, an enslaved woman who becomes a Union spy during the Civil War, opposite Sarah Scott Davis (previously seen at the Fountain in Last Summer at Bluefish Cove) as Sandra, a tenured political science professor at a prestigious university in the year 2026. Their lives might be separated by more than 150 years, but the forces they navigate around race, gender, power and institutional betrayal prove disturbingly similar.

Moving between past and present with biting humor and theatrical ingenuity, Morisseau connects these two women across generations as each must decide whom she can trust, what she is willing to risk, and how to take control of her own story.

“I love this play, just as I love Morisseau’s entire canon, because it asks audiences to engage in complex conversations and to navigate the true cost of freedom,” says Caldwell. “It’s sometimes easy to assume that slavery was a Southern problem, not a West Coast problem. What Confederates makes clear is that Southern plantations were simply the springboard for the institutionalization of Black oppression as a core American value. It begs the question: how do we move on?”

Also in the cast are Sufe Bradshaw (VEEP) last seen at the Fountain in Roe, and Mara Klein (The Pitt), who starred in the Fountain production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ An Octoroon. Daks McClettie II, whose credits include Destination Procrastination: Break the Bullies, makes his Fountain Theatre debut.

The distinguished creative team includes scenic designer Matt McCarren; lighting designer Alison Brummer; sound designer Andrea “Slim” Allmond; and costume designer Wendell C. Carmichael. The assistant director is RheAnn Mennefield and the production stage manager is Lanae Wilks. The Fountain Theatre’s Community Partner for this production is Black Women for Wellness.

Confederates opens Friday, Oct. 30, at 8 p.m., with performances on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through Dec. 13. (No performances on Thursday, Nov. 26 or Friday, Nov. 27). There will be three additional performances on Monday evenings at 8 p.m. on November 16, 23 and 30. Preview performances take place at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28 and Thursday, Oct. 29.

Community Conversations, unique opportunities for audiences to explore themes from the play, will take place after Friday evening performances. Friday, Nov. 13, is “Black Out Affinity Night,” an opportunity for an audience self-identifying as Black to experience the performance together. (Non-Black-identifying patrons are encouraged to select a different performance.) A day-long Black Wellness Summit featuring Black wellness leaders and organizations will take place on Saturday, Nov. 14.

Ticket prices range from $5 to $75. The Fountain Theatre is located at 5060 Fountain Avenue (at Normandie) in Los Angeles. Patrons are invited to relax before and after the show in the Fountain Theatre Café, which will feature wines from Brown Estate, a Black-owned Napa Valley winery, throughout the run.

For reservations and information, call (323) 663–1525 or go to FountainTheatre.com.

Ruskin Group Theatre at 2800 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90405

In a sunny, progressive beach community where the lawns are manicured, the politics are enlightened, and the neighbors are very good people, something has gone terribly wrong.

Spiderman—an award-winning, free-range rabbit—is missing. The prime suspect? Nacho, the shaggy rescue dog next door who has recently developed a troubling interest in what lies beyond the fence. What begins as a neighborly conversation about pets, boundaries and one suspiciously large hole quickly spirals into accusations, shifting alliances, whiskey, cashew cheese, and the uncomfortable realization that being a good neighbor is a lot easier when nobody is testing the fence. This wickedly funny new West Coast premiere about good intentions, bad behavior, and what happens when civilized people stop being quite so civilized stars Sharon Lawrence, Dann Florek, Matthew Scott Montgomery, and Jamie Pierce. Performances are schedule opens on Saturday, November 7^th at the new Ruskin Group Theatre Arts Center in Santa Monice, CA.

“This story grew from a funny – not so funny incident in my neighborhood,” says Brooks, and the incident itself grew out of something as old as neighborhoods: the challenge of living in close proximity to people who don’t necessarily see the world the way we do. We share sidewalks, fences, and property lines, all while viewing them through wildly different lenses. But no matter how we look at it, if we zoom out far enough, we arrive at the same burning question: How the hell do we live with each other? As a dark comedy – in all seriousness – it sinks its teeth into questions of boundaries, fences, gentrification, and tolerance. The limits of good intentions. There’s even a little debate about free-range parenting.”

Michelle Kholos Brooks (Playwright) is a multi-award-winning playwright with productions staged internationally and garnering a Susan Glaspell Award, Stage Raw awards, and Best of Edinburgh Fringe for H*tler’s Tasters, currently being developed as a streaming series by Producer Brad Saunders and Peter Dinklage’s company, Estuary. Kalamazoo won the Riva Shiner Comedy Award. Room 1214 was a finalist for The Ashland New Plays Festival. Hostage was a finalist for the Woodward/Newman Drama Award, the Fratti-Newman Political Play Contest, and a Showcase Finalist for the National New Play Network. Chair received second place in the Firehouse Theatre Festival of New American Plays. War Words was recently inducted into the United States Library of Congress as a collection of the Veterans History Project. Brooks is a Resident Artist at New Light Theater Project, a former Artist in Residence at New York Rep, and a current board member of ShPIel-Performing Identity Theatre Project. She is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America, The Playwrights Center, Pacific Resident Theatre, and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.

Casey Stangl (Director) works at numerous theaters across the country including South Coast Repertory, Geffen Playhouse, American Conservatory Theater, Guthrie Theater, Everyman Theater, Arizona Theater Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Denver Center, Portland Stage and Cleveland Playhouse. Recent projects include Bobby Robotowitz at IAMA Theatre (NNPN Rolling World Premiere), The Girl on the Train at the Alley Theater, SJ Hodges’ Already Here at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (world premiere), Audrey Cefaly’s Alabaster at the Fountain Theatre (West Coast premiere) and John Ross Bowie’s Brushstroke at the Odyssey Theater (2024 Scenie Award for Best World Premiere). Casey has developed work with numerous playwrights and directed at the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Humana Festival, Pacific Playwrights Festival, In the Works-In the Woods Festival, and served as associate artistic director for Ojai Playwrights Conference. Upcoming: Jennifer Maisel’s Provenance in a world premiere co-production with Asolo Repertory Theatre and Palm Beach Dramaworks.

Cast: Dann Florek* as Xander (Broadway: The Front Page – revival, other roles have included productions at the Ruskin – Ian McRae’s The Joy Wheel, at La Jolla Playhouse and the Globe Theatre. Best known for his portrayal of Captain Donald Cragen on Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. TV: L.A. Law, Hill Street Blues, The Equalizer, and The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer. Film appearances include Angel Heart, The Flintstones, Flight of the Intruder, and Hard Rain. Trained at Juilliard, and received a 2010 PRISM Award nomination for Performance in a Drama Episode); Sharon Lawrence* as Devorah (Broadway: Cabaret, Fiddler on the Roof, Velma in Chicago. Off Bway: Pen Pals, Tongue of a Bird, Love, Loss and What I Wore, regionally in Steel Magnolias, Parents In Chains, and roles at the all the major LA theaters with 2 nominations for Ovation Awards and win from LA Drama Critics Circle. Next April, at The Wallis, Sharon stars as famed Washington Post publisher, Katharine Graham in the multi-award-winning solo play The Shot. TV work includes the multiple EMMY nominated and SAG AWARD winning run as Sylvia on NYPD Blue, as well as featured roles on Shameless, Dynasty, Desperate Housewives, Rizzoli & Isles, Grey’s Anatomy – 4th EMMY nominations – and currently in Joe Pickett on Paramount + and several of Hallmarks top rated holiday programs); Matthew Scott Montgomery* as Brad 2 (Foursome at IAMA Theatre/Celebration Theatre), Stage Kiss (The Geffen Playhouse), Del Shores’ Yellow – Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award recipient for Best Actor, Ovation Award nominee for Best Actor. Film/TV/Web: Sonny With a Chance, Austin & Ally – Disney, Del Shores’ Southern Baptist Sissies opposite Leslie Jordan, Jane the Virgin – CW, and most recently starred in a sold out presentation of his play Ghost Play at the Renberg Theatre – Los Angeles LGBT Center. His new feature, the dark comedy horror Howdy, Neighbor!, is in post-production, directed by Disney co-star Allisyn Snyder and stars himself, Debby Ryan, and Alyson Stoner); Jamie Pierce* as Brad 1 (most recently seen as twin brothers John and James Jeckyll in Terrence McNally’s Love! Valour! Compassion! at the Dezart Playhouse, for which he received a Desert Theatre League Award nomination. Selected credits include, Los Angeles: Priscilla, Queen of the Desert at Celebration Theatre; Ovation Award nomination, New York: The Music Man at the Helen Hayes Theatre, Broadway Dances with Karen Ziemba. TV/film: The Family Business – BET/Netflix, The Con – ABC, the 79th Annual Golden Globe Awards, and the title role in the award-winning independent film Bill).

Creative Team: Stephanie Kerley Schwartz (Scenic and Costume Design), Brandon Baruch (Lighting Design), Hannah Owens-Bender (Costume Design), Keith Stevenson (Sound Design), Megan Trapani (Props), Victoria Hoffman (Casting), Nicole Millar (Production Stage Manager).

John Ruskin (Artistic Director/Producer) founded the professional company in 2001. Recently, he produced Joanna Murray-Smith’s Honour, starring Marcia Cross and Matthew Letscher, for the new arts center’s inaugural show on the Kaplan Stage. Other productions include Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge (Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle nomination for BEST REVIVAL and two additional nominations for BEST ACTOR; winning 3 Stage Raw Awards). He produced Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile (extended for four months), the Los Angeles premiere of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (extended for three months), and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman which starred Rob Morrow. John helmed the critically acclaimed production of Strange Snow, and teaches a Master’s Class in acting at the RGT school. John’s years of experience include studies at the Yale School of Drama, British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England, and the University of Colorado in Boulder. In New York, Ruskin joined the acting faculty of the Neighborhood Playhouse at the request of Sanford Meisner (who he then apprenticed with) before moving to Los Angeles where he founded the RGT school of acting in addition to the professional theatre company. 

Michael Myers (Producing Artistic Director) has served as Ruskin’s Managing director since 2002. In that time, he has produced over 100 projects, along with John Ruskin, including the long running recent West Coast premiere of Samuel D. Hunter’s Grangeville and the hit musical which he directed, Paradise: A Bluegrass Musical, later revived at the Austin Playhouse for a sold-out run. Other notable projects include developing and producing the world premiere production of Rex Pickett’s Sideways the Play. Since its world premiere at the Ruskin, Sideways the Play has been produced at the La Jolla Playhouse under Des McAnuff and recently had its West End Premiere at the St. James Theatre. Mike developed and directed the world premieres of Sneaky Ole Time with music by multi-Grammy Award winner Paul Overstreet, Rainbow Bridge, and Digging up Dad. Mike is a co-creator of the Ruskin Group Theatre’s “L.A. Cafe Plays,” the monthly offering of one-acts done in 10 1/2 hours from conception to staging. The “L.A. Café Plays” have been produced over 200 times since 2004. Mike served 12 years on Santa Monica Arts Commission, ten years as chair. During his time on the commission, Mike was integral in the city’s decision to prioritize maintaining artist affordability in Santa Monica.

Ruskin Group Theatre recently concluded their over two-decade tenure, at the original building next door, with a sold-out production of The Fantasticks, known for being the world’s longest running musical. Their CAFÉ PLAYS, created at RGT, celebrates their15th anniversary.

Nacho Ate Spiderman opens at 8pm on Saturday, November 7^th and runs at 8pm Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays; 2pm Sundays through December 20, 2026 (check website for exceptions – no performance on December 12). Ruskin Group Theatre is located at 2800 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90405. Tickets $45, with discounts for students and seniors, can be purchased in advance at www.ruskingrouptheatre.com or for more information: (310) 397-3244. Free parking available on site.

Instagram: @ruskingroupthtr 

Destiny of Desire
A Telenovela Play with Music
By Karen Zacarías
Directed by Marcela Lorca

A co-production with Denver Center Theatre Company

A delightfully unapologetic homage to telenovelas…

On a stormy night in Bellarica, Mexico, two baby girls are born—one into outlandish wealth, and one into a life of poverty. When the newborns are swapped by a ruthless ex-beauty queen, the stage is set for two outrageous misfortunes to grow into an extraordinary destiny. Brimming with energy, Karen Zacarías’ hilarious hit, Destiny of Desire, takes you on an emotional rollercoaster sprinkled with the melodrama and wild antics that make the telenovela the most popular form of storytelling in the world.

Noche de Teatro en Español
Tuesday, December 8, 2026 at 7:30 PM
This performance will feature Spanish translation with open captions.
Use code SPANISHCAP for Spanish open-captioned seats and special pricing.
Post-show talkback immediately following the performance

Stage Talks
Stage Talks offer an opportunity for theatregoers to come together after select performances for engaging conversations with cast members and/or the creative team.

Tuesday, December 1, 2026 at 7:30PM
Tuesday, December 8, 2026 at 7:30PM
Sunday, December 13, 2026 at 1PM

“The Heiress” by Ruth Goetz and Augustus Goetz.

The Heiress is the story of Catherine Sloper, the plain-Jane daughter of a tyrannical rich man who dominates her life and subjects her to constant comparison to her vibrant mother, who died when Catherine was young. When she becomes involved with a young man who wants to marry her, Catherine’s father suspects him of being a fortune hunter. A meeting he has with the man’s sister strengthens that belief. Catherine’s father threatens to disinherit her if she continues the relationship, and she must make the difficult choice between wealth and a love that may or may not be reciprocated.

Directed by Ann Hearn Tobolowsky.

Rosa
by Sophie Goldstein
Directed by Armando Molina
Co-produced by Playwrights’ Arena and Company of Angels

What if you could create the perfect past? Rosa is certainly trying. Filled with emotional depth, humor, and a dash of chaos, Rosa confronts the boundaries of family, identity, memory, and the moments that shaped her life.

CAST:

Rose Portillo – Rosa
Oscar Emmanuel Fabela – Jorge/Carlos
Julianna Stephanie Ojeda – Lucy/Sophia
Jonathan Medina – Enrique

Producers:

Tamadhur Al-Aqeel (Company of Angels)
Elmira Rahim (Playwrights’ Arena)

Dramaturg: Evangeline Ordaz

Additional Dramaturgy: Melanie Qeuponds

Preview on Friday, November 13 at 8pm

Playing Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 4pm, Mondays at 8pm 

Join LAFPI Instigators on Sunday, November 22 for another LAFPI Night at Company of Angels – Connect with other artists before the show begins. Tix are $15 which includes a beverage of your choice! Go Here for Info