Sacred Fools Announces 21st Season
By: Julie Musbach Sep. 09, 2017
SacRed Fools Theater Company announces lowered ticket prices for their upcoming 21st Season, featuring World and Regional Premieres, along with additional programming.
Recognizing a need for inclusion and to expand the representation of diverse voices, Artistic Directors Bryan Bellomo, Scott Leggett and Danielle Ozymandias have selected a slate of four plays for their 2017-2018 Season to increase opportunities for the wide cross-section of voices, genders, cultures, and stories that abound in Los Angeles.
"It was important to our entire membership that our stage be more representative of the communities in which we live, work, and play. SacRed Fools has always fostered a democratic, open membership where all are welcome to get involved and participate. We sought to mirror this inclusivity on our stage. This season, we're proud that half of our productions are written and directed by women, and our stories contain points of view we haven't explored before," says Co-Artistic Director Scott Leggett.
Mr. Burns, a post-electric play
Opening the season in October is Anne Washburn's hilarious and moving tale, Mr. Burns, a post-electric play. Following a nuclear meltdown that destroys the electrical grid, society holds itself together by sharing history the old-fashioned way: person to person, around campfires. An episode of The Simpsons is first passed through a post-electric game of telephone, then these cultural touchstones from our time are translated, bastardized, and mythologized across generations, leaving the audience stunned and inspired by our primal urge to connect and tell our stories.
"It's our most ambitious undertaking to date," says Bellomo. "Our Mr. Burns will be performed across three different theaters in our complex-it's a massive project and our first multi-space show in the new venue." It is directed by multiple award-winning director Jaime Robledo, whose numerous Fools work includes such acclaimed shows as Stoneface, the Watson Plays, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and Astro Boy and the God of Comics.
Denim Doves
In January, SacRed Fools will offer the West Coast premiere of Adrienne Dawes' Denim Doves, with direction by Rosie Glen-Lambert, whose local credits include collaboration with Son of Semele and Bootleg Theater. Six sister wives locked in a fertility-crazed compound must find the lost path to conception in this riotous play with music. Denim Doves is a wildly theatrical visit to a future post-America settling somewhere in the valley between The Handmaid's Tale and Idiocracy.
Though Ms. Dawes' work has been performed throughout the United States, her plays have yet to be produced in Southern California. Bellomo says, "When (co-producer) Amir Levi introduced me to Adrienne over a year ago, it was clear she was a special artist of formidable talents. Her sharp humor and anarchic wit are on full display in Denim Doves, and we are delighted our company will introduce her to our local audiences."
The Art Couple
Following two apocalyptic dystopian plays, SacRed Fools moves to a world premiere dark comedy from the mind of Fools favorite Brendan Hunt. The Art Couple imagines an abandoned first draft of Neil Simon's seminal play, The Odd Couple, with Paul Gaugin and Vincent Van Gogh, who spent a claustrophobic summer together the south of France in 1888, as the mismatched roommates.
Mr. Hunt's last play, Absolutely Filthy, took home top LA Weekly, Hollywood Fringe and New York Fringe honors. It opens in February and is directed by longtime Hunt collaborator, Lauren Van Kurin (King of Kong: The Musical). "It's an amazing twist on an enduring classic. Van Gogh (in)famously sliced off his ear after living with Gaugin, and still they created some of their most enduring work," says Leggett. "Sadly, we'll never know if this bloody version would have made it on Broadway."
Akuma-shin
SacRed Fools Season 21 will close in April with Akuma-shin, a cautionary tale of revisionist history that imagines the global impact of a giant monster attack on Tokyo. The world premiere is written by Kenley Smith and directed by Co-Artistic Director Scott Leggett, whose credits on the SacRed Fools stage include Skullduggery: The Musical Prequel to Hamlet; Neverwhere; and Forbidden Zone: Live in the 6th Dimension.
Ozymandias remarks, "Akuma-shin examines how society responds to terror and politicizes tragedy - a timely discussion to have in the current political climate." Akuma-shin features a globally diverse cast ranging from eyewitnesses to the Tokyo attack to cameos from mid-20th century political icons such as Martin Luther King, Jr., William F. Buckley, and Norman Mailer.
No Patron will pay more than $15 for a SacRed Fools show
As more and more theaters steadily increase ticket prices to stay afloat, SacRed Fools has made a choice this season to make its shows more affordable. "It's a philosophical decision, and one that comes with a number of financial risks," says Managing Director Padraic Duffy. "We hope this gesture inspires our current patrons as well as the broader Los Angeles community to show up, experience our work, and become active with our company. The more participation we have, the greater the chance we can furtheR Lower ticket costs in the future."
"We've always believed there should be no barrier to any audience member attending well-produced theater," adds Co-Artistic Director Bryan Bellomo. "It's an exciting moment for us: we are investing in our audiences as they invest in us. It is our hope that this will lead to a more diverse audience in every way."
OCTOBER 2017
Mr. Burns, a post-electric play
Los Angeles Premiere
Written by Anne Washburn
Score by Michael Friedman
Lyrics by Anne Washburn
Directed by Jaime Robledo
After the collapse of civilization, a group of survivors keep the spark of human spirit alive by telling stories around a campfire. As the years wear on, these stories expand into the realm of legend and myth. At turns sidesplitting and bone-chilling, Mr. Burns also features an unusual approach for the Fools: each act will be staged in a new space, transporting the audience as we search for the light.
The cast features: Scott Golden, Heather Roberts, Tracey A. Leigh, Joe Hernandez-Kolski, Tegan Ashton Cohan, Eric Curtis Johnson, Dagney Kerr, Emily Clark, and Aaron Mendelson.
JANUARY 2018
Denim Doves
West Coast Premiere Dystopian Farce
Written by Adrienne Dawes
Directed by Rosie Glen-Lambert
In a not-too-distant future, nestled deep in the woods of what was once a small Midwest town, a modest compound is home to five denim-clad sister wives and their naive husband, "Penis." When a mysterious sixth wife arrives to join the sisterly Braid, clad in scandalous acid-wash and singing forbidden songs of ancient riot grrls, will she compromise the security of this pious sect? And who, if anyone, will produce a long-awaited heir from the night of The Seedling, their semi-annual procreation ritual?
FEBRUARY 2018
The Art Couple
World Premiere Dark Comedy
Written by Brendan Hunt
Directed by Lauren Van Kurin
Long before Felix met Oscar, Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin were ill-fitting roommates in the south of France; a fateful co-habitation that would change the face of art-and Van Gogh's face, too. It's a lesser-known tidbit of theatre history that these two masters were also the subjects of Neil Simon's original draft of The Odd Couple. SacRed Fools now presents the first-ever performance of this abandoned script, and the odd tale of how it was written.
APRIL 2018
Akuma-shin
World Premiere Political Drama
Written by Kenley Smith
Directed by Scott Leggett
In 1956, a giant kaiju (monster) destroys Tokyo and sends seismic waves of fear, anger and ignorance through generations. Facts are questioned, history is alternatively written and modern politics is set against primal religion in this ferociously civilized cautionary tale of two nations coping with their own damaged legacies. Can humanity reckon with the monsters that rise against us, the ones that live within us all?
LATE NIGHT, OFF-NIGHT SHOWS & EVENTS
SacRed Fools offers complementary programming year-round, from long-running shows to new programming announced throughout the season. These curated shows and events are all different, yet embody SacRed Fools' risky, theatrical, whimsical, heartfelt and wickedly inventive spirit.
Take a Foolish Journey - Season Launch Party & Celebration
Join us for a SacRed Fools Progressive Party that will thrust our guests into different experiences-celebrating and introducing our exciting 21st Season.
Saturday, October 7 - 7:00PM-Midnight
Tickets $35, Cocktail Attire
Serial Killers Season 13
The wildly popular late-night show returns with new challengers for its thirteenth season on Saturday, October 14, 2017 at 11pm. "Five shows enter... three shows leave."
We The People: Theatre Action
A bi-monthly staged reading series curated by Kimberly Atkinson and Amir Levi, We The People will feature brand new short plays written on a current political or social theme and prominently connect artists from SacRed Fools and across the nation. Proceeds will be donated to related non-profits. Inaugural performance is Monday, September 11 based on the prompt, "America, a More Perfect Union."
Disasteroid!
Book and music by Zachary Bernstein, Directed by Guy Picot
When tax auditor and amateur astronomer Edgley is misled by scientific authorities to believe a giant asteroid is weeks away from destroying the Earth, he departs his humdrum life for adventure. Along with his philanthropist married client Mabel, they roam the planet in search of love, life, and the meaning of the universe. Disasteroid! will perform on Friday nights in March in the Black Box Theater.
Ten Tops
SacRed Fools' oldest ongoing show returns the first Monday of every month. Hosted by Poe Show creator Ed Goodman. Ten performers get up to seven minutes to do anything they want, from sketch comedy to dramatic readings to dance.
Fast & Loose
SacRed Fools' 24-hour theater returns for its annual New Year's Event. On December 31, dozens of writers, actors, and directors showcase original plays that are written, rehearsed, and performed-all in the span of 24 hours.
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