Odyssey Theatre Ensemble Will Perform Two Works in Progress by Sandra Tsing Loh

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble’s Thresholds of Invention series will present two new works-in-progress by iconoclastic writer/performer Sandra Tsing Loh. 

A true story, I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Come to It (An Hilarious Self-Immolation by Sandra Tsing Loh) recounts how Loh’s new play was dropped from Center Theater Group’s 2023 all-female season, only to rip through Los Angeles, New York and London in 16 explosive months. In this TED(x!) talk crossed with a “You’ll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again” for theater, shots are taken at “Tony Award-nominated” (sure!) producers, Actors’ Equity (because it deserves it) and, of course, diversity/equity/inclusion (cue Twitter cancellation) by a pudgy 62-year-old CIS-crone who doesn’t give a f*k any more! Absolutely not supported by the Ford Foundation or Doris Duke Charitable Fund. Directed by David Schweizer. 

A ‘Post-Apocalyptic’ Home Companion!, est. during Omicron Spike 2022, is a “dena” (Pasadena/Altadena/Santa Mon-adena) spin on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion.” Hosted by Loh, with Roger Neill conducting TACO (Terrible Adult Chamber Orchestra) and a slew of fun surprise guests, the live radio show format features comedy and classic American songs with a twist. In this special “Post-Apocalyptic” (post-election) edition, we will come together to either celebrate the end of a dark era, or to honor our already-proven human resilience and the fact that Costco box wine will always remain super-affordable (at least in Southern California). Come prepared to laugh, cry, and sing (or even play) along — your instruments welcome!

“My play-in-progress, Madwomen of the West, in which four educated, culturally sidelined women over 50 try to make sense of a post-Hillary Clinton world, was briefly developed by CTG as part of their 2022-2023 all-female season, then dropped,” explains Loh. “I’ll Burn That Bridge is the gossipy, rip-snorting, no-prisoners-taken tale of taking that play, starring Caroline Aaron, Brooke Adams, Marilu Henner and Melanie Mayron, from Los Angeles to New York to London for a dizzying, theater rule-breaking 16 months — proving what can happen when ‘women of a certain age,’ whom the world wants to stay invisible and silent, say ‘F*ck that!’”

The Odyssey Theatre’s ongoing Thresholds of Invention series of first looks at pieces in process by prominent L.A. visionaries is curated by Tony Abatemarco and produced by Abatemarco and Beth Hogan.

Loh’s off-Broadway solo shows include Aliens in America and Bad Sex With Bud Kemp. Repertory theater: Sugar Plum Fairy (Geffen Playhouse, South Coast Rep, Seattle Rep, East West Players); I Worry (Woolly Mammoth/Kennedy Center, Actors Theatre/Louisville); The Madwoman in the Volvo (South Coast Rep, Pasadena Playhouse, Berkeley Rep). Her comic memoirs include The New York Times New and Noteworthy “Madwoman and the Roomba”; The New York Times 100 Notable Books “Madwoman in the Volvo”; “Mother on Fire”; “A Year in Van Nuys”; and “Depth Takes a Holiday.” The Los Angeles Times named her 1998 novel “If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home By Now” a 100 Best Fiction Book. An Atlantic contributing editor, Loh has been heard on NPR’s Morning Edition, PRI’s Marketplace and This American Life. A Caltech physics grad, Loh currently hosts the LAist/NPR daily radio science minute The Loh Down on Science.

Two performances of I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Come to It take place on Saturday, Nov. 16 and Saturday, Nov. 23, both at 8 p.m. One performance of A ‘Post-Apocalyptic’ Home Companion! takes place on Sunday, Nov. 17 at 3 p.m.

The Odyssey Theatre is located at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025. Parking is free in the in-site lot. Tickets to the Thresholds of Invention series are $25 (plus a $3 credit card fee if applicable). For more information, call (310) 477-2055 ext. 2 or go to www.OdysseyTheatre.com.

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