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Tag Archives: Los Angeles
Happy Birthday, Fountain Theatre: 31 years!
Posted in Fountain Theatre, Theater, theatre
Tagged Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, theater, theatre
Video: Fountain Theatre prepares parking lot for new Outdoor Stage
Embrace the light. Let theatre shine.
by France-Luce Benson
On March 12, 2020, I flew from Los Angeles to Ft. Lauderdale to watch my 14-year-old niece, Shelby, act in her first play. The year prior we’d spent months, at her request, preparing for her audition for Dillard Performance Arts High School. Days before her audition, she desperately asked, “Auntie, do you think I have a chance?” As any loving aunt would, I replied, “Are you kidding? They’d be crazy not to accept you!”
Truth is, I was worried. Not about whether she’d get in or not—I had no doubt she would. I was actually worried about what would follow when she did get in. What would happen if she fell in love with theatre, just as I did at that age? What if it became her passion, her profession, her vocation, her life? I wanted to protect her from a life of rejection, of disappointment, of cutthroat competition, of financial instability, of heartbreak. I know, right? Project much?
Needless to say, Shelby’s school show did not go on. Like theatres all over the country, the school shut down that week and stayed closed for the remainder of 2020. What this last year without live theatre has taught me is that all the things I love and miss about theatre far outweigh the fears and anxieties I projected on to my niece. I was so focused on the ways the industry can hurt and disappoint. But 2020 reminded me of the ways the art of theatre loves. Theatre heals. Theatre connects. Theatre teaches. Theatre activates change and even revolution.
And probably most evident in this past year, no matter what, theatre survives. I am in awe of the ways my community has demonstrated this truth, and am immensely grateful for the opportunities I have had to create, connect, heal, and teach through my own work. In July 2020, I was one of four female-identifying playwrights, representing the African Diaspora, commissioned to write plays in response to the prompt “Conversations with the Ancestors.” A production of Project Y Theatre, All Hands on Deck streamed throughout the summer.
From April through December, I hosted “Saturday Matinees” with the Fountain Theatre, a virtual salon that featured theatre artists from all over the country, including Kit Yan, Antonio Lyons, Lisa Strum, Dennis A. Allen, Vanessa Garcia, and more. The weekly series celebrated BIPOC artists, while providing audiences time and space to connect with each another during a time when many of us endured incredible isolation. In November, I led a four-week workshop hosted by Global Voices Theatre in London. Participants joined from all over the world—Hong Kong, Philippines, India, the U.S.—to develop new plays aimed at correcting revisionist history.
In January of this year, my play Tigress of San Domingue streamed as part of Atlantic Theatre Company’s African Caribbean Mixfest, and last month I was among six playwrights featured in Long Distance Affair. Produced by Juggerknot Theatre and Popup Theatrics, LDA brought together playwrights and actors from six cities around the world—Los Angeles, Portland, Beirut, Lagos, Mexico City, and Mumbai—to create immersive theatre. With over 60 live performances, LDA is the closest thing to in-person theatre I experienced all year. Audience members interacted with one another in intimate Zoom rooms, and with the characters whose lives they interrupted, often at odd times depending on the city (2 a.m. in Lagos).
I had the pleasure of collaborating with L.A.-based actor Wendy Elizabeth Abraham, who bravely invited us into her home in Sherman Oaks, and into her emotional journey through grief and motherhood. I attended about six of the 60-plus performances, and no two were ever the same.
Finally, I launched Fountain Voices, a new arts education initiative I developed in my role as community engagement coordinator for the Fountain. The program promotes empathy and community building, teaching students how to write original plays based on interviews with members of their own community. The successful pilot run of Fountain Voices at Hollywood High culminated in January, with a powerful presentation of work that explored homophobia, depression, and homelessness among teenagers. This month, Fountain Voices begins a partnership with Compton Unified School District, where we will serve over 100 students, longing to be seen and heard.
My time spent with these students reaffirmed what the last year taught me. And when my niece is ready to return to school and inevitably enjoys her first moment onstage, rather than prepare her for the darkness, I will encourage her to embrace all the light and love theatre shines on us.
This post originally appeared in American Theatre Magazine.
Posted in Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, playwright, playwriting, Theater, theatre
Tagged All Hands on Deck, American Theatre Magazine, BIPOC, Community Engagement, Fountain Theatre, Fountain Voices, France-Luce Benson, Los Angeles, Project Y Theatre, Saturday Matinees, theater, theatre, Wendy Elizabeth Abraham
One year ago today …
On March 12, 2020, we were forced to shut down our hit production of the world premiere of HUMAN INTEREST STORY due to the COVID pandemic. One year later, after an unimaginable period of closing our doors, we are poised to launch our game-changing Outdoor Stage this summer.
L.A. premiere of ‘An Octoroon’ by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins will launch outdoor stage at Fountain Theatre
The Los Angeles premiere of An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins will inaugurate the new outdoor stage at the Fountain Theatre later this spring. Judith Moreland will direct.
Winner of the Obie Award for Best American Play, Jacobs-Jenkins’ landmark play has earned ecstatic reviews nationwide. The New York Times hailed it as “this decade’s most eloquent theatrical statement on race in America today.” The Guardian declared it “brilliant” and “extraordinary.”
An Octoroon is a radical, incendiary and subversively funny riff on Dion Boucicault’s once-popular 1859 mustache-twirling melodrama set on a Louisiana plantation. A spectacular collision of the antebellum South and 21st-century cultural politics, An Octoroon twists a funhouse world of larger-than-life stereotypes into blistering social commentary to create a gasp-inducing satire.
“I’m proud the Fountain will introduce this bold play to Los Angeles audiences on our new outdoor stage,” states Fountain artistic director Stephen Sachs. “It could not be timelier. The moment has come for our nation to confront its own racist history. Branden uses satire to get to the dark core of American slavery and the racial stereotypes that continue to plague this country today.”
Earlier this year, the Fountain received approval from the City of Los Angeles to install the outdoor stage for the purpose of safely presenting live performances and other events during the pandemic. Construction is set to begin this month, with the opening of An Octoroon slated for June.
Before that can happen, a number of tasks remain on the Fountain’s to-do list to inaugurate the outdoor venue. The first step is to repave the parking lot, where the stage will be installed. Lighting, sound, and video equipment will be loaded in. New chairs will be positioned according to COVID guidelines to accommodate 84 viewers. The entire site will meet all safety requirements for artists and audience members.
“Everything now depends on the COVID numbers,” says Sachs. “Once they drop to a level where the County Department of Public Health allows a gathering outdoors of one hundred people, with safety guidelines in place, we’re good to go.”
The new outdoor performance area is made possible, in part, by the generous support of Karen Kondazian, the Vladimir and Araxia Buckhantz Foundation, Rabbi Anne Brener, Carrie Chassin and Jochen Haber, Miles and Joni Benickes, and the Phillips-Gerla Family.
For more information about the Fountain Theatre, go to www.fountaintheatre.com
Posted in African American, Fountain Theatre, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged An Octoroon, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Carrie Chassin, Fountain Theatre, Jochen Haber, Judith Moreland, Karen Kondazian, Los Angeles, Maggi Phillips, Miles Benickes, Outdoor Stage, Rabbi Anne Brener, Stephen Sachs, theater, theatre, Vladimir and Araxia Buckhantz Foundation
Stephen Sachs believes Fountain’s Outdoor Stage will be game-changer
Curious about the future of Los Angeles theatre and our game-changing Outdoor Stage? Artistic Director Stephen Sachs chats with theatre journalist Steven Leigh Morris.
Fountain Theatre to host online tribute to photographer Ed Krieger on Jan. 24
The Fountain Theatre will host “L.A. Theatre Pays Tribute to Ed Krieger,” a virtual memorial for longtime theater photographer Ed Krieger, on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021 at 2 p.m. PT. Krieger passed away on Dec. 16, 2020.
“The Los Angeles theater community has lost a dear friend,” says Fountain artistic director Stephen Sachs. “For decades, through the lens of his camera, Ed chronicled the production history of local stages throughout Southern California.”
Born in Chicago, Krieger photographed the Southern California theater scene for more than 30 years. His production stills captured the essence of live performance at such venues as the Fountain Theatre, Skylight Theatre, Boston Court, El Portal, Laguna Playhouse, Rubicon Theatre, Downey Civic Light Opera, Ford Amphitheatre, Hollywood Bowl and many more. His images appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Variety and the Hollywood Reporter. American Theatre magazine highlighted Krieger in its 2015 feature on nationally recognized theater photographers.
The tribute is scheduled to run 90 minutes and will include a slideshow of Ed’s photos as well as live and pre-recorded testimonials by members of the L.A. theater community.
The Fountain is requesting that organizations who worked with Ed each submit two of their favorite photos.
To register to attend the event and to upload photos and/or testimonials, CLICK HERE
Fountain Theatre welcomes Rabbi Anne Brener to Board of Directors
As the Fountain Theatre continues to add public-spirited individuals to its nonprofit arts organization, it welcomes Rabbi Anne Brener to its board of directors. She is a longtime friend and supporter of the Fountain who has enjoyed many plays and special events over the years. She also currently serves on the board of ALEPH: The Alliance for Jewish Renewal.
“The Fountain Theatre begins 2021 with a large, active, dedicated board of directors who are dedicated to guiding the organization to not only survive these difficult times, but rise above them,” says Artistic Director Stephen Sachs. “Rabbi Anne Brener offers wisdom, intelligence and a compassionate heart as we trek forward. Her years of experience in community building and serving others is inspirational.”
Rabbi Anne Brener, Professor of Ritual and Spiritual Development at the Academy for Jewish Religion, California, is the author of Mourning & Mitzvah: Walking the Mourners’ Path, now in its third edition. She is a Psychotherapist, Spiritual Director and Meditation Teacher, whose writing appears in many anthologies and periodicals. Anne co-founded one of California’s first Domestic Violence shelters and the Morei Derekh Jewish Spiritual Direction Training Program. She worked as a Hospice Chaplain and currently serves on the board of ALEPH: The Alliance for Jewish Renewal and Los Angeles’ Fountain Theatre. Her work has been dedicated to the study of ancient Jewish rituals and practices to harvest an understanding of the universal healing wisdom that is embedded within them.
Posted in Arts, arts organizations, Board of Directors, Fountain Theatre, non-profit organization, performing arts, Theater, theatre
Tagged Aleph, Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Anne Brener, Board of Directors, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, Mourning & Mitzvah, Stephen Sachs, theater, theatre, Walking the Mourner's Path
Actor, ‘Walking the Beat’ co-founder Theo Perkins joins Fountain Theatre Board of Directors
The Fountain Theatre is pleased to announce that actor, director and producer Theo Perkins has joined the board of directors. Perkins is known to Fountain audiences for his dazzling performances in the Los Angeles premieres of The Brothers Size and In the Red and Brown Water.
“Theo is a beloved member of our Fountain Family,” said Artistic Director Stephen Sachs. “He brings to our board a shared belief that theatre can serve as a vehicle for social change and an educational tool for young people.”
Theo Perkins is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Elizabeth Youth Theater Ensemble (EYTE), a not for profit social justice arts organization whose mission is centered upon strengthening the voices of young artists within communities. EYTE’s major initiative is Walking the Beat: a devised theater program for youth of the Global Majority and police officers both in Los Angeles and New Jersey. For his work, Theo was honored by the Union County Urban League Young Professionals of New Jersey, recently featured in Oxygen Network’s 2020 Unsung Heroes, and is a 2020 AEA Paul Robeson Award nominee.
As an actor, his television credits include guest star appearances on Fox, TNT, and CBS. On stage, he has performed on Broadway and regionally at NJPAC, Kirk Douglas Theatre, International City Theatre, Boston Court Theater and the Fountain Theatre.
Theo is a graduate of Morehouse College, UCLA’s MFA Acting program and the Executive Arts Leadership Program at the University of Southern California. He currently works as an Arts Coordinator for the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA.
Posted in actors, Board of Directors, Fountain Theatre, Theater, theatre
Tagged actor, Board of Directors, director, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, theater, theatre, Theo Perkins, UCLA, Walking the Beat