LAFPI

The Speakeasy Society presents
“THE JOHNNY CYCLE: Part III – The Living” by Julianne Just & Chris Porter
Thur – Sat 8pm
Mountain View Mausoleum
“Johnny may speak for the dead, but who will listen?”

TSet amongst the marble hallways of the Mountain View Mausoleum in Altadena, the stunning conclusion to The Speakeasy Society’s critically-acclaimed THE JOHNNY CYCLE: Part III – The Living immerses audiences in the mind of an injured soldier as his perception of reality blends with dreams, memories and events from his author’s life. Johnny may speak for the dead, but who will listen?

Inspired by Dalton Trumbo’s novel, Johnny Got His Gun, and drawing on several historical and artistic wartime sources, THE JOHNNY CYCLE guides audiences through a personalized, individual, and epic experience examining the costs of war.

The Johnny Cycle: Part III – The Living runs Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 pm May 11th to May 27th with two previews May 5th and 6th at Mountain View Mausoleum 2300 Marengo Avenue Altadena, California 91001. Admission is limited. There will be no late admittance. The running time is estimated to be about 90 minutes, but performance lengths may vary.

Please note–the performance requires audience mobility. The audience will be asked to walk, kneel, and/or stand throughout. It is intended for audiences of 14 years of age and older.

Featuring: Matthew Bamberg-Johnson, Jonathan Bangs, Jenny Curtis, Zach Davidson, Alex Demers, Christie Harms, Zan Headley, Michael Pignatelli, Colleen Pulawski, Jessica Rosilyn, Chynna Skye with Michael Bates, James Cowan, and Julia Henning

Writers: Julianne Just, Chris Porter
Directors: Genevieve Gearhart, Julianne Just
Costumes: Felicia Rose
Sound: Martin Gimenez
Music: Chris Porter
Production Manager: John Henningsen
Produced by The Speakeasy Society

The beginning:
As a high school student, The Speakeasy Society’s Co-Artistic Director Matthew Bamberg-Johnson read Dalton Trumbo’s book “Johnny Got His Gun” for the first time. The story of the WWI soldier, Joe Bohnam, made a such lasting impression that almost two decades later, The Speakeasy Society, has dedicated the past three years to bringing the story to life.

“The novel was a starting point.” Associate Artistic Director and Co-author Chris Porter said. “We also drew from actual accounts of WWI soldiers in the trenches, stories from torn families and home life, as well as details from Trumbo’s own life. Each first hand account dove a little deeper into the human experience of war.”

“At the core of the novel is the struggle to be heard, not just to be understood, but to believe your thoughts, feelings, experiences, sacrifices can create actual change, can move mankind forward.” Julianne Just, co-director said of the larger themes in the Cycle, “We allow the audience, like Johnny, to grapple with questions of choice, nationalism and the larger impact that war has on both those who are asked to fight, and those who are left behind to pick up the pieces. Through the characters, we give a voice to the deceased, and highlight the willful choice not to listen, both as a society and as individuals – particularly about the human cost of war.”

Co-director Genevieve Gearhart adds, “We designed this piece so that it can function both as a stand-alone show and part of a larger exploration and discussion over the full cycle – ranging through memory, trauma, and aftermath. It is important to us that new audience members can still see how the themes and narratives are tied together in the final installment creating a full and rich experience.”

Part III – The Living is the culmination of a passion that began almost two decades ago. The ornate Mountain View Mausoleum provides a complex emotional and physical landscape to explore Johnny’s isolation and longing to connect with the world of the living. Hopefully Johnny will find peace at last.

The Johnny Cycle:
PART I – The Quick and the Dead
Premiered May 2015 at the Pasadena American Legion in Pasadena
Named LA Weekly’s Best of 2015
Johnny recollects childhood loves, family members, war room generals, soldiers, nurses, and religious figures–who each played their role, intentionally or not, in sending our hero to his destiny.

PART II – The Shell
Premiered May 2016 at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in Glendale
Named LA Weekly’s Best of 2016
A countdown to the impact that destroyed his body, the fragmented mind of our soldier is trapped in wartime memories of the trenches.

PART III – The Living
Premiering May 11th, 2017
Mountain View Mausoleum, 2300 Marengo Ave, Altadena, CA 91001
The stunning conclusion immerses audiences in the mind of an injured soldier as his perception of reality blends with dreams, memories, and events from Trumbo’s life. Johnny may speak for the dead, but who will listen?

About the Creative Team

The Speakeasy Society, named Best Emerging Immersive Theater Company of 2015 by LA Weekly, is an LA based immersive entertainment company creating intimate and epic experiences in unexpected places. We collaboratively create 360-degree worlds providing escape through total engagement–crafting a shared experience where audience interaction becomes a vital aspect of the performance. speakeasysociety.com