Interview: Loft Ensemble's Adam Chambers Ordering CODE PINK

Loft Ensemble's first live mainstage production since the lockdown of theatre CODE PINK will world premiere July 10, 2021. Co-written and co-directed by Adam Chambers and Jana Lee Hamblin, CODE PINK's cast features: Bahasi Chapman, Nicole Craig, Britt Crisp, Madylin Sweeten Durrie, Sydney Jenkins, Matt Monaco, Ignacio Navarro, Bree Pavey, Leesie Pinto, Natasha Ranae Potts, Sarah Siverson, Sarah Sommers and Vel Stacy.

Adam, who is also Loft Ensemble's co-artistic director, managed to find some time to answer a few of my queries amidst juggling Loft Ensemble responsibilities, daddy duties and band rehearsals.

Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Adam!

What was the original inspiration for you and Jana Lee to write CODE PINK?

My daughter Kai was born in September of 2019, six months before the pandemic shut the world down. I was blown away by the humans who worked at the hospital and how they supported and guided us through what was a complicated birth. As we made our way into the pandemic, I realized that I had an opportunity to really celebrate front line workers by writing a show centered on their experiences.

When did you and Jana Lee start brainstorming CODE PINK?

When the world shut down Jana and I were teaching at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and it was time for grad plays. Before the shutdown, we had been assigned a play that would not work in a digital space, so we started talking about finally putting this idea of a show about nurses to paper and offering that for our students' grad play.

How much of the script did you have before presenting it to your cast to contribute? An outline? 50%? 80%?

We had a version of the play that was 100%, but then we asked the actors to take the monologues and rewrite and restructure them to suit their individual voices and the stories they wanted to tell about each characters' life outside the hospital. We wanted their input about what drives them and what scares them or hurts them outside of the hospital, so we could explore the heroism these professionals show in being able to put all of their personal stuff aside in order to save lives.

What would your three-line pitch for CODE PINK be?

Anything can happen during a 24-hour shift in a hospital maternity ward. This world premiere play peeks into the lives of the nurses, doctors, and administrators who work there, and reminds us that every hero has a story, but they don't all have a happy ending.

What was the casting process for CODE PINK? Did you and Jana Lee write your characters with specific Loft ensemble actors in mind?

I feel like we always write with the voices of artists we know in our heads. Because the original digital version of the script, which was more specific to the COVID crisis, was written for school, we definitely wrote it knowing it would always change with each new cast that would come in.

How many members are there in Loft Ensemble?

Around 70 full members.

Describe the lightbulb moment when you and your co-founding members decided to start Loft Ensemble in 2007.

A group of us were part of another theatre company and we were much younger than all the other members and I just always had the passion to do something original with theatre and we branched off from that company and started our own thing. We knew it was a risk, but I also knew I wanted to be part of something original.

Pre-pandemic, how did an actor become part of Loft Ensemble? Company auditions? Workshop participation?

Folks joined Loft in a variety of ways. Sometimes it would be someone who saw a show and was inspired to join who would just send an email or a message on social media. Sometimes a friend of a current member would want to join. Sometimes we would hold open auditions for several people at once. In all occurrences, we have a very casual meeting, talk about who the artist is and what they're looking for in a creative community; we talk about what Loft and our membership is all about and what it means to be part of the company. Then we have the candidate perform a monologue. We can usually tell by the end of that meeting if we'd like to work with someone. And if so, we tell them to go take a day and really think about it, talk to someone important in their life about it, and then let us know if they would like to come be part of things.

How many script submissions did you receive for what was to be your Season 9 last year?

About 150.

Are any of those submissions being produced in Loft Ensemble's season this year?

Our artistic committee has resumed their work of evaluating scripts and planning a new season. We had three shows from season eight that we never got to produce so those three shows will be included in the ninth season.

CODE PINK will be Loft Ensemble's first mainstage production since the lockdown of theatres. But you have already scheduled two other special events onsite - the JUNETEENTH WELCOME BACK PARTY and KEVIN PADILLA & FRIENDZ on June 30th. How did JUNETEENTH WELCOME BACK go?

It was absolutely packed. Maybe the most packed our mainstage has ever been! We had people everywhere and another probably 15 people hanging out in the lobby watching through the doorway. It was an incredible evening of art, community, friendship, and outreach.

What can Loft audiences expect to see June 30th? Lots of stand-up from LGBTQ+ comedians?

Our June 30th show is produced by company member Kevin Padilla (aka KP) and features a roster of comics from our LGBTQ+ community with Abe Farrelly headlining and music from a band called Electric Preacher. It will be a night of a lot of laughs and celebration of Pride!

Has raising a new one-year-old during these pandemic months changed your perception of yourself and/or your theatre company? More reflective? More responsible? As free-wheeling as before?

Raising Kai has changed my thought process about almost everything during this time. I do everything with the hope that one day she will know that I'm trying to help others, and for her to be proud of me as a human being as well as her dad. I'm so grateful that my wife and I got to be at home with her during these incredibly important months of her life. Having this chance to really support who she will be as she continues to grow is a tremendous gift. I'm definitely more reflective, more emotional, and more responsible (maybe); but my wife, Amanda and I also recognize that engaging and celebrating who we are as individuals is an important part of helping Kai grow up to know who she is as an individual. So we still go out, we go do things without each other, etc. But we also have 'Kai dates' where it's just me and my daughter, or just Amanda and Kai. As for changing my perception of the company, I've had the great fortune to welcome a co-artistic director to the team, Vel Stacy, and his perspective on art and people and problem solving has definitely given me new ways of looking at the theatre, at art, and at the world.

What's coming up in the immediate future for Adam Chambers?

Of course, CODE PINK opening July 10th! I will also be performing a ton of shows with my band, The SHOW With Adam and Sean, and I'm looking forward to appearing in the second season of B Positive on CBS. And Kai turns two in September!

Thank you again, Adam! I look forward to seeing CODE PINK live.

For tickets for the live Saturday and Sunday performances through August 15, 2021; log onto www.loftensemble.org

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