The Powerhouse Presents THE NAKED ARMY, 6/9-7/2

The latest offering from the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble is The Naked Army, a premiere adaptation of Aristophanes' Lysistrata, written and directed by Matthew James Weedman. The Naked Army opens June 9 and runs through July 2.

Based on Aristophanes' famous play, Lysistrata, The Naked Army takes place as the city state of Athens enters its eighth year at war. A group of women decide to take matters into their own hands and deny sex to all the men until they can finally make peace and end the war. The men first try to resist, but eventually must deal with their recalcitrant women as well as certain ...physical discomforts.

Aristophanes' play is a staple of theatres around the world but this is not a conventional production of the classic work. "We really wanted to find a new approach to the material," says director Matthew Weedman, "We used improvisation, clowning, music, movement, and extensive research to explore new ways to tell the story while remaining faithful to the original spirit of the play. The result is something that is wildly funny and anarchic, but also deeply thoughtful and personal. The actors really poured themselves into the process and much of the final script is taken from their own ideas and words in rehearsal as well as written responses to the material"

Matthew Weedman has produced and directed for the stage throughout the United States. He received an MFA in Acting from UCLA and has studied with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, England. His production of The Trojan Women for Salem, Massachusetts's Lyre of Orpheus theatre received a Phoenix grant for direction. He is the author of the plays The Gospel According to Jon, which was produced at UCLA's Freud Playhouse and the collaborative re- imaging of Greek myth Icarus Falls.

The Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble is dedicated to staging theater works of high artistic integrity while endeavoring to remain broadly accessible and genuinely entertaining. The ensemble holds fast in its commitment to strike a balance between providing a venue for emerging artists and veteran artists; between the works of new playwrights, and revisiting timely and important classics.

The Powerhouse Theatre is housed, appropriately enough, in the Powerhouse, a historical building originally erected in 1910 for the Southern California Edison Electrical Plant for the city of Santa Monica. Committed to nurturing innovative new work, the Powerhouse has introduced Los Angeles audiences to critically-acclaimed world premieres such as the multiple award-winning The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World; the scathingly funny The Family Room by Aron Coleite; Golden Prospects: A Los Angeles Melodrama by Colin Campbell; and A Series of Comedic Lectures with John Lehr.

Tom Burmester, founder and Producing Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble and Managing Artistic Director of the Powerhouse Theatre, has produced over 20 productions for the stage including Wounded and Nation of Two by Tom Burmester, Kindred by Daniel Keleher, I Gelosi and The Heretic Mysteries by David Bridel, Monkey Madness by Daisuke Tsuji, Quixotic by

Kit Steinkellner and The Water Engine by David Mamet. Tom earned his MFA in Directing from the University of California, Los Angeles, and moonlights as the Performance Manager of the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

Tickets are $20.00 and can be purchased at www.latensemble.com. There are also three preview performances. Tickets for these performances are $10.

The Powerhouse Theatre is located at 3116 2nd Street in south Santa Monica, just off Main Street between Rose and Marine. Guests in wheelchairs should call in advance to make arrangements. For information, the public should visit www.latensemble.com.

 

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