Loft Ensemble In North Hollywood Announces 10th Anniversary Season

Loft Ensemble in North Hollywood has announced its 10th anniversary season. The slate of plays, selected by the company member-elected artistic committee, represent a desire to celebrate new voices while re-examining the fundamentals of theatrical storytelling and will feature six world premieres and a West Coast premiere. Three of the shows will be presented in Sawyer's Playhouse, the company's intimate black box space above the mainstage. Loft is one of the few NoHo Arts District theatres able to present a 2022-2023 season.

The plays are about relationships, identity, truth, culture, love, and change - focusing on the relationships and authenticity of characters within a play's story. They address issues including examination of the human experience, love and identity, fresh starts, the value of truth in American culture, a queer theatre noir crime drama, the structure and accomplishment of Amazon warriors, and surviving a natural disaster. A modular set will be shared by all shows on the mainstage; it will include various pieces and platforms that can be moved around the stage and reconfigured to give each show and its furnishings a unique geography.

Mud

The season will open with the world premiere of Mud, written and directed by Bree Pavey. After the collapse of society, a group of people band together for safety, survival, and community. As they begin to rebuild, they examine the failures of the past with an eye on truth. But can they escape the beast that hunts them and avoid falling into the holes humanity has left behind? Opening is set for August 19.

Mass Graves

Next up is Mass Graves by Cris Eli Blak. A group of men, struggling with the consequences of their past actions, tries to recover their lives inside a confined halfway house. As their cohabitants and families start closing in, each is forced to confront the crimes they committed. Can they redeem themselves or will the past keep pushing them to the edge? This world premiere will be directed by Matt Lorenzo and opening is on September 30 in Sawyer's Playhouse.

Mrs. Dilber's Fabulous Bedcurtains

Loft will welcome the holiday season with Mrs. Dilber's Fabulous Bedcurtains, a world premiere comedy by Arthur M. Jolly. A reimagining of A Christmas Carol centering on Mrs. Dilber and her epic attempt to claim Scrooge's bedcurtains despite a series of ghosts and other diversions, including Dr. Jekyll, the little matchstick girl, and an oddly Mr. Hyde-esque tiny Tim ... on a night adjacent to ... the more familiar holiday story. Co-directed by Tor Brown & Marc Leclerc, the production opens November 12 and will run through December 18.

Katrina

The new year begins in Sawyer's Playhouse with the world premiere drama Katrina by LaDarrion Williams. Two strangers stuck in an abandoned hospital during Hurricane Katrina's landfall realize they may have nothing left but each other, and that just might be all they need. Directed by Jazmine Nichelle, opening will be January 27, 2023. Gifted, by Bob DeRosa, will follow on the main stage. A group of people with small but extraordinary gifts explores how those gifts can be used to benefit their own lives and the lives of those around them, examining whether even the smallest power can be super. Co-directed by Jennifer Christina DeRosa & Sara Nilsen, opening is set for March 10.

Missed Opportunities

Next is the West Coast premiere of Missed Opportunities by Jillian Leff. A young writer is mistaken as a lesbian by her college crush, and hilarity ensues when she and his roommate (actually lesbian and newly single) cook up a scheme to help her get closer to him ... and, it turns out, to herself. Co-directed by Ignacio Navarro & Madylin Sweeten Durrie, opening in Sawyer's Playhouse will be on April 21.

Behind the Six

Next on the main stage is the world premiere of Behind the Six by Dan Perry, in which a man goes undercover to infiltrate the crime gang that murdered his brother and falls in love with a grifter. But can he trust him or his heart? Co-directed by Sarah Sommers & Sarah Nilsen, opening is set for June 2. Loft's 10th anniversary season will conclude with the world premiere of Penthesilea by Danielle Ozymandias. When Amazon women warriors went to the Trojan War, they intended to show their might in order to protect their world, but with their power and love, they created a legend. Co-directed by Bree Pavey and Ozymandias with fight direction by Marc Leclerc, opening is on July 14.

Admission for the entire season will be Donate What You Want. Reservations may be made at www.loftensemble.org. Loft Ensemble is located at 11031 Camarillo Street in North Hollywood, 91602.

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