Open Fist Theatre Company opens its 30th anniversary season with three programs of short works, performed in rotating repertory, by playwrights renowned for pushing the boundaries of theatrical invention. Rorshach Fest, featuring seminal work by John O’Keefe, Daniel MacIvor, Harold Pinter and Caryl Churchill in three separate programs, or Inkblots.

According to Open Fist artistic director Martha Demson, “Whether looking at an inkblot or watching a play from one of the iconic playwrights we are featuring, both reveal truths beneath the surface, truths that reflect the perspective of the viewer as much as the content provided by the playwrights.”

Inkblot C  includes two plays by Caryl Churchill. This Is A Chair, directed by Martha Demson, juxtaposes momentous news headlines with scenes of everyday life to sometimes funny, sometimes chilling effect. Churchill’s short play about the surreal nature of modern life was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre in 1997 as part of the London International Festival of Theatre. Here We Go, directed by Son of Semele artistic director Matthew McCray, is an unsentimental exploration of the final stages of life and the mysterious moments that follow in the great unknown. As a small group of acquaintances assemble at a funeral to recount what they remember about the deceased, he has already begun a new chapter in the after-life. The two plays utilize the same cast: Megan Brotherton, Emma Bruno, Carmella Jenkins, Schuyler Mastain, Debba Rofheart, David Shofner, Casey Sullivan, Alexander Wells and AlgeRita Wynn — with the addition of Neil Oktay and Steven Rosenbaum in This Is A Chair, and Alberto Isaac in Here We Go.

“These plays excite because they engage in unexpected ways and they only work live,” says associate artistic director Amanda Weier. “They are quintessentially theater because the audience experience is the event. Everyone will experience the ride in their own way, and that’s exactly the point and exactly why these plays are so much fun.”

Inkblot A features Ghosts, written and directed by legendary new theater-maker/playwright/monologist John O’Keefe. Inkblot B is made up of two one acts:  Harold Pinter’s Landscape, directed by Christopher Cappiello; and Never Swim Alone, written by Daniel MacIvor and directed by Amanda Weier.

The Rorschach Fest creative team includes scenic designers Jan Munroe (Inkblots A and B) and Jim Spencer (Inkblot C); lighting designer Matt Richter; sound designer Tim Labor; and prop master Bruce Dickinson.

Inkblots A, B and C will each perform twice per week on a rotating schedule; for a detailed performance schedule, check the website at www.openfist.org.

Inkblot C previews Wednesday at 8 p.m. on Feb. 12

Opening Sunday Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. and Monday, Feb. 17 at 8 p.m

Playing  Fridays at 8 p.m.: Feb. 28, March 20
Saturdays at 4 p.m.: Feb. 29, March 21
• Saturdays at 8 p.m.: Feb. 22, March 14,  April 4
• Sundays at 4 p.m.: Feb. 23, March 15
• Sundays at 7 p.m.: Feb. 16, March 8, March 29
• Mondays at 8 p.m.: Feb. 17, March 9, March 30

The Blank Theatre presents a world premiere play

HOT TRAGIC DEAD THING

by Ashley Rose Wellman
directed by Christopher James. Raymond

Max Banta, Reed Campbell, Nikki DeParis, Wes McGee, Marguerite Moreau and Siete White.

Previews February 26 & 27; opening February 28

In the play, two teenagers form an unlikely bond as their budding attraction and obsession to leave a mark on the world lead them to a dark, dangerous place.

Hot Tragic Dead Thing was first presented in The Blank’s Living Room Series, a staged reading series of new plays. It was then presented in the Living Room Series Plus, where the process took the play further into development with more rehearsal time and performances in front of an audience in October and November of 2019.

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.

More info: TheBlank.com

@TheBlankTheatre

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A Noise Within (ANW), California’s acclaimed classic repertory theatre company, is proud to present Alice in Wonderland, adapted by Eva Le Gallienne & Florida Friebus and directed by Stephanie Shroyer.

Crash through the looking-glass with Alice on her zany adventure to an upside-down magical dreamland where imagination defies reality and madness makes logic. Weaving a whimsical poem of hilarious and colorful eccentrics, Lewis Carroll’s fractured fairy tale creates a prism through which we can again experience the mystery and effervescent
wonder of growing up.

“We never grow out of childhood, we just forget it,” said Director Stephanie Shroyer. “I often feel the need to apologize for being a child, but Alice gives us all permission to remember how wonderful it is to be a child even if our years on the planet deem we’re beyond it.”

Only eight actors are playing quadruple the number of parts—a challenge for both the director and the cast. “We’ve agreed to reinvent the rabbit hole,” said Shroyer. “We have our work cut out for us, just like Alice, but we are presenting a spellbinding tale that is both evocative and provocative for all audiences.”

“Lewis Carroll’s story is a sparkling, humorous ode to whimsy,” concluded Artistic Directors Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott. “You will find—as we did when we chose Alice as part of the season—that there is so much more to Wonderland than you remember from the Disney movie. Going through the looking-glass with Alice is a journey that will
enchant both children and adults.”

There will also be a free symposium with Pomona College Professor Ori Amir on Wednesday, Mar. 4 at 6:45 p.m. prior to the 7:30p.m. performance of Alice in Wonderland.

More info at anoisewithin.org

Geffen Playhouse presents MAN OF GOD, written by Anna Moench (Mothers, Birds of North America) and directed by Maggie Burrows (Spacebar, Damsels).

During a mission trip to Bangkok, the four members of a Korean Christian girls’ youth group discover that their revered pastor has hidden a camera in their hotel bathroom. Samantha is personally wounded that Pastor would do this to her. Jen is worried about how this might affect her college applications. Mimi’s out for blood, as usual. And Kyung-Hwa thinks everyone needs to have lower expectations for men. Their communal rage and disillusionment fuel increasingly violent revenge fantasies amidst the no-holds-barred neon bubblegum sex-tourism mecca of Bangkok. Man of God is a funny feminist thriller about that moment when girls realize the male gaze has been watching all along—and decide they’re definitely gonna do something about it.

Man of God had its world premiere in January 2019 as an East West Players production at the David Henry Hwang Theatre at the Union Center of the Arts in Los Angeles.

The Geffen Playhouse cast features Shirley Chen (Krista, Beast Beast) as Samantha, Camryn Kim (It Was Nice) as Jen, Natasha Liu (Synchronic, Here and Now) as Mimi, Albert Park (Vietgone, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon) as Pastor and Jenapher Zheng (Seize the King, Kentucky) as Kyung-Hwa.

Previews for Man of God begin Tuesday, March 3; opening night is Thursday, March 12.

Join LAFPI on Thursday, March 5 for our LAFPI Night at the Geffen! Use the exclusive offer code below – plan to meet instigators in the lobby at 7pm for convo and connections over cocktails, as your ticket for the night includes a free drink.

FB Event Here

Exclusive LAFPI offer code: $30 tickets (includes fee) for performances March 3 – March 13, 2020. Excludes premium seating. Use code: GODLAF. Valid until March 13, 2020 or while supplies last. Purchase online here or call 310.208.5454.

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 

Sacred Fools Finishes 23rd Season With West Coast Premiere of Antigone, Presented by the Girls of St. Catherine’s by Madhuri Shekar, directed by Reena Dutt.

They all have a million secrets. What’s so bad about this one?

The St. Catherine’s drama club is struggling to put up its first school play – Sophocles’ Antigone. As if staging this tragedy in an all-girls Catholic school isn’t challenging enough, the cast’s beloved director ends up betraying them in an unforgivable way – and it’s almost opening night!

The cast must figure out the right course of action, all while rehearsing a classic play about impossibly difficult choices. What is the right thing to do? And must the show go on?

Playing Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm,
Sundays March 22 & 29 and April 5 at 3pm Monday, March 30 at 8pm

Antigone, Presented by the Girls of St. Catherine‘s features Madeleine Hernandez, Emma Mercier, Scarlet Sheppard, Jessica Ma, Jenny Griffin, Chloe Wray Gonzalez and Luis Fernandez-Gil. Understudies are Sydney Ashe, Cameron Cipolla, Christina Burdette, Amber Li, Jessie Bias and Robert Paterno.

The design team consists of Amanda Knehans (Set), Kaitlin Chang (Lighting), Nancy Dobbs Owen (Costumes), Dennis Peraza (Sound) and Sam Squeri (Props).

Playwright Madhuri Shekar was born in California and grew up in India. Other plays include House of Joy, Dhaba on Devon Avenue, Queen (whose world premiere at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theatre received a Jeff Award nomination for Best New Play) and In Love and Warcraft, winner of the 2013/14 Kendeda Graduate Playwriting contest held by Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, which also commissioned Antigone, Presented by the Girls of St. Catherine’s.

She has an MFA in Dramatic Writing from USC, and a dual Master’s degree in Global Media and Communications from the London School of Economics and USC. She is a 2018 alumnus of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights program at Juilliard and is a staff writer for the upcoming HBO show The Nevers.

Director Reena Dutt is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors’ Lab (New York City), Directors Lab West (Los Angeles), and a Semi Finalist for Drama League’s Hangar Directing Fellowship.

She has directed staged readings at A Noise Within in conjunction with East West Players (Snow in Midsummer by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig), the Road Theatre (Kissing Che by Augusto Federico Amador) and Sacred Fools (Monkey Love by Madhuri Shekar). Most recently she directed the world premiere of Defenders by Cailin Harrison at The Broadwater. 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.

More info: www.sacredfools.org

FB: facebook.com/sacredfoolsla/ 

TW & Instagram: @SacredFoolsLA

Wild Wild Christian by Simone McAlonen

Directed by Kevin Comartin

Saturday, March 7 – 8pm
Sunday, March 8 – 7pm
Friday, April 10 – 8pm
Saturday, April 11 – 8pm
Info & Tickets are available here: https://dime.io/events/wild-wild-christian

The Echo Theater Company presents the world premiere of Poor Clare, a play by Chiara Atik about what happens when your eyes are opened to the injustice of the world around you — and you can’t look away. Alana Dietze (Dry Land, The Wolves) directs.

Set in 13th Century Italy and based on the real story of St. Clare of Assisi, Atik’s powerful and very funny modern spin on the Middle Ages couldn’t feel more timely. Clare and her sister Beatrice (Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson and Donna Zadeh, both seen in last season’s The Wolves) are ordinary teens from an affluent family — they could just as well be living in 21st Century Calabasas or Beverly Hills. They worry about the latest styles, and gossip about boys with their live-in help (Kari Lee Cartwright and Martica De Cardenas). Together with their mother, Ortolana (Ann Noble), they do their best to be socially conscious and “give back,” donating leftover food to the poor (Robert Stoccardo) and organizing clothing drives. But Clare is intrigued when she hears that a local boy, Francis (Michael Sturgis, last seen at the Echo in Gloria), recently stripped naked in the market square — ostensibly as a protest against poverty. “That’s so dumb,” Clare says at first. “Like, who is pro poverty? It’s just a thing. Like just a fact. Of life.”

Chiara Atik’s other plays include Five Times in One Night, Bump and Women, a mashup of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” and HBO’s Girls. Her work has been developed at New York Theater Workshop, Clubbed Thumb/Playwrights Horizons Superlab, Williamstown, Northern Stage and Colt Coeur. Chiara’s writing has been featured in The Atlantic, Glamour magazine, Cosmopolitan magazine and at NYMag.com. Other writing credits include “Paris is Lovely/Lonely When You’re Alone” (Amazon Kindle) and “Modern Dating: A Field Guide,” (Harlequin, 2013). Her feature film script, Fairy Godmother, was on the 2016 Black List. Chiara is a member of the Ensemble Studio Theater and an alum of EST’s Youngblood.

Poor Clare opens on Saturday, March 14, with performances continuing on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 4 p.m.; and Mondays at 8 p.m. through April 20. Three preview performances are set for Wednesday, March 11; Thursday, March 12; and Friday, March 13, each at 8 p.m

Atwater Village Theatre is located at 3269 Casitas Ave in Los Angeles, CA 90039. On-site parking is free. For reservations and information, call (310) 307-3753 or go to www.EchoTheaterCompany.com.

Visit us on facebook: www.facebook.com/echotheater
Follow us on twitter: @echotheater

Hundredth Monkey Productions presents the World Premiere of

Worst-Case Scenario
An Apocalyptic Romantic Comedy by D.M. Conte, directed by Shana Betz

Starring C. Thomas Howell

What if you met the person you’ve been waiting for your whole life, just as a nuclear apocalypse was heading your way? Worlds collide in a tiki bar at the edge of Kauai when an aimless Silicon Valley dropout meets the bar’s brassy owner, who has a plan for all worst-case scenarios, except one… finding love. The world premiere of Worst-Case Scenario was inspired by the real-life event which took place on the morning of January 13th, 2018 when an incoming missile alert was issued for the island of Kauai which advised residents to “seek shelter… this is not a drill.”

Set in the wee hours of the morning, “Ethan” (C. Thomas Howell, The Outsiders, E.T.) sits in a tiki bar with only his backpack and a secret. He has wandered the island of Kauai looking for a way out of his dilemma… that is until “Staci” (Jacy King, The Affair, Glee), the bar’s intrepid owner, walks in. Sparks fly as they dance around their attraction for each other… after all, it’s Christmas time on an island paradise… What could possibly go wrong? An incoming missile alert propels them both into a bunker to face their darkest fears. Staci reveals a secret of her own, threatening to explode their budding romance before it even takes off. What they uncover about themselves that will determine if they have it in them to really live, should they open the hatch to second chances.

The cast also includes Toni Torres (Tim Robbins’ The Actors’ Gang Embedded which also ran Off-Broadway, and in London, TV: Goliath, How To Get Away With Murder, Lopez) as the salty bartender and Pierre Adeli (acting member with The Actors’ Gang in over thirty productions including 1984,  A Midsummer’s Night Dream, The Rivals) as the island barfly.

Previewing March 13-15; opening March 20.

Performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m..

D.M. Conte (playwright/producer) Darlene brings decades of experience across multiple disciplines as the writer/producer of Worst-Case Scenario. She is currently shopping a half-hour comedy series, 150 Jobs, as well as the feature Continental Divide. Additionally, she is developing the thriller The Gateway as well as the coming of age comedy, Cornhole. She will produce her next play, SHAME, later this year. She is a proud member of The Chimaera Project.

Shana Betz (director) Shana is an award-winning independent director whose fearless, character-driven approach is bolstered by life experience and a passion for storytelling. Best known for her 2015 film Free Ride, starring Anna Paquin (HBO), as well as her work in the award-winning anthology GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS! Her latest feature, a thriller starring Richard Roundtree is set to release in 2020.

Info www.worstcasescenariotheplay.com
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• Follow us on twitter: @wcsplay

Celebrating 60 years as Los Angeles’ oldest non-profit theater company, we present our 12th annual L.A Short Play Festival: It’s All ReLAtional! Presented for 11 nights starting Saturday, March 21st, the festival features 8 new short plays by Los Angeles based playwrights that pose the question: What are the specifics, the nuances, the strife and successes of L.A life that impacts a relationship like no other city can? What plays out in the lives of Angelenos in nurturing, sabotaging, building, dismantling their relationships? It’s All ReLAtional explores the intricacies of human intimate relationships and how living in Los Angeles colors those relationships.

Featured Short Plays, Playwrights and Directors:
JUMPED THE GUN
Written by Cyndy Fujikawa
Directed by Shen Heckel
In the wake of a school shooting, a casual dinner turns awkward when the men want to talk ballistics, and the women find they have no voice at the table.

UNITED SELF DEFENSE OF HIGHLAND PARK
Written by Judy Soo Hoo
Directed by Julianna Stephanie Ojeda
A self-defense class must deal with a visitor with an unique problem.

DEDICATIONS
Written by Mildred Lewis
Directed by Heather McLane
Four East LA women struggle to connect with incarcerated loved ones through live radio dedications. In honor of LA’s famed DJ Art Laboe.

CITY DATING
Written by Tamadhur Al-Aqeel
Directed Mauro Flores Jr.
When LA goes on a Tinder date with Glendale, dissed San Fran starts hating on San Diego, who breaks up with Tijuana; and Santa Monica won’t take their calls.

Ensemble:
Sade Ayodele, Matt Callahan, Jennifer Cheung, Victor Chi,
Corinne Chooey, Pat Cochran, Elizabeth Covarrubias,
JaneMarie Erickson, Steven Ho, Danny Huen, Nakasha Norwood,
Julianna Stephanie Ojeda, Javier Ronceros, Cairo Spencer,
Raul Vega Martinez & Leah Zhang

Set & Light Design: Justin Huen
Sound Design: Ivan Robles
Costume Design: Manee Leija
Video Projection Design: Leonel Nunez
Music Composer: Joe Romero
Dramaturge: Adrian Centeno

Tickets
General Admission: $15
Senior/Student/Military: $10
All Monday’s: Pay-What-You-Can

Buy 2 Tickets for $20 using code: TWENTY20

Company of Angels at Legacy L.A
1350 San Pablo St, Los Angeles, CA 90033
FREE PARKING ON-SITE

Debbie Devine directs the West Coast premiere of Kerry Muir’s magical, surreal, dream-like movie-within-a play, The Night Buster Keaton Dreamed Me, at 24th Street Theatre.

Maya Brattkus (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Crucible at Theatricum Botanicum) and Olivia Cristina Delgado (A Mexican Trilogy at the LATC, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest at the Broad) star as sisters Haley and Renata, fending for themselves in a fire-scarred apartment. So far, they’ve managed to elude Child Protective Services, but now it looks like Mrs. Giamatti next door (radio host/voiceover artist Keri Tombazian) might be on to them. Is this all a dream? Or are they being filmed for a movie like the ones their mother used to take them to at the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax? (Tony Duran, seen at 24th Street in La Razon Blindada, portrays the “director”; the original silent movie score is composed and performed live by Bradley Brough.) When Buster Keaton (John Ellsworth Phillips, whose credits include Julius Caesar with Independent Shakespeare Company) mysteriously appears on the eve of Haley’s birthday, the boundaries of the girls’ reality are stretched.

The Night Buster Keaton Dreamed Me was the winner of the 2010 Maxim Mazumdar Award (under its original title, Cut-Ups). It premiered at the Alleyway Theatre in Buffalo, NY, where the Buffalo News called it, “A surrealistic play about personal loss and the power of the imagination… bouncy and moody, hungry and hostile, dreamy and daffy all at once.”

The play was recently published in a Spanish translation by Ercilia Sahores, and the production will include Spanish supertitles. Appropriate for adults and audiences 12 and up

The Night Buster Keaton Dreamed Me opens on Saturday, April 11 and continues through May 31, with performances on Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. (dark April 12). Previews take place March 28 through April 5 on the same schedule, with one additional preview performance scheduled on Friday, April 3 at 8 p.m.

For more information, visit www.24thstreet.org

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