California

Holly L. Derr writes about different all-female productions of Shakespeare's plays and how this opens up further opportunities for discussion about gender, relationships, and the timelessness of the stories.

Is ensemble a group of people working together over a long duration? Is it a non-hierarchical organizational structure? A way of being and working together with a shared sense of priorities?

I think about paradoxical needs this experience embodies—for community and solitude; structures and flexibility; stability and change—and the need for all of it, simultaneously, in our lives, our practices, our field.

In the following Around the Teapot series, three writers reflect on “Adventuring Together: Ensembles, Collectives, Laboratories & Networks,” a weekend-long gathering of performance artists and scholars, from across the U.S. and Europe, held in Los Angeles. 

Lily Janiak writes about Terminus at San Francisco's Magic Theatre, and how the tale of a night in Dublin centered around a construction crane, reverberates with the construction boom in the Bay Area.

A look at the idea of killer nerds: cautionary tales twice over.  First, these stories show the consequences of marginalization and then secondly probe the power of advancing technology.

Even though Los Angeles has a fifteen percent Asian population, the question is still up in the air about the representation of these artists and their stories in mainstream media channels. 

Holly L. Derr questions if the Hollywood Fringe Festival’s “open access” producing training is at the expense of diversity considering the inherent privilege in the model of producing.

Inspired by the Adele’s song for Skyfall, the artists of the new play By and By collaborated with the band The Kilbanes to reframe the experience for the audience members.

California Shakespeare Theater, under the direction of Jonathan Moscone, has changed route from classic work to new work that explores the diverse culture and artistry of the Golden State.

Emily Mendelsohn shares insight into her experience directing Cooking Oil written by Deborah Asiimwe in Uganda.

Ragged Wing Ensemble explores the concept of time with the centerpiece of an ice sculpture in Time Sensitive.

In the land of film and technology, LA pushes theatre to innovate the theatrical definition of reality.

The Arsonists acts as a chilling critique of blinding following norms and devotions while simultaneously being a rally cry to trust gut intuition.

Holly Derr reports from LA Stage Day, where a lack of female playwrights demonstrates a larger problem: if LA has so many female writers, then how come none of them are getting produced?

Lily Janiak talks about Theatre Rhino’s A Lady and A Woman and examines her role as a theatre critic.