Theatricum Botanicum Announces 40th Anniversary Season

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum celebrates its 40th Anniversary with a lively summer season of theater, music and performance under the stars and live oaks of Topanga Canyon.

Theatricum Botanicum, founded in the 1950s by actor Will Geer, achieved non-profit status in 1973. The company offers an annual summer repertory season of Shakespeare, the classics, and socially conscious theater as well as a variety of music, dance, poetry and comedy improv events, all taking place in two outdoor amphitheaters carved into the Topanga Canyon hillside. Theatricum is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Margaret Harford Award for "sustained excellence," which is the Los Angeles Critics Circle's highest honor.

Leading up to the 40th Anniversary 2013 Summer Repertory Season, which kicks off on June 1, are an array of celebratory events beginning May 4 with a free Open House Anniversary Party (11am-5 pm) featuring a full day of food, games and theater for the whole family and a sneak peek at the upcoming repertory season. Come back on May 12 for Theatricum's annual Mother's Day presentation of Lexi Pearl's Momentum Place, an uncommon, family-friendly afternoon of performance delights including modern dance, aerial acts, juggling and performance art. And on Friday, May 24, celebrated actor John C. Reilly helps Theatricum celebrate with a benefit concert by John Reilly and Friends of classic songs from folk, country and roots music.

On June 1, Theatricum's annual Summer Repertory Season gets off to a rowdy start with the opening of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Ellen Geer and starring Willow Geer as Kate and Aaron Hendry as Petruchio. On June 2, Theatricum's signature production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, co-directed by Willow Geer and Melora Marshall, brings Shakespeare's fairies and rustics back to the theater's enchanted wooded grounds. And what could be a better centerpiece for the 40th Anniversary celebration than a production, opening June 22, of The Royal Family by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, directed by Susan Angelo and starring Topanga's own theatrical family - the Geers. On July 20, get ready for Merlin: The Untold Adventures, an epic tale written and directed by Ellen Geer and featuring an original electronic score by composers Marshall and Kellen McDaniel. Beginning September 5, A Celebration of Joyce Carol Oates: 'Tone Clusters' and Selected Monologues, featuring long-time company members Alan Blumenfeld and Katherine James, will open in Theatricum's intimate second performance space.

Unlike most theaters in the Los Angeles area that stage continuous runs of a single play, using Theatricum's company of actors, performs each play on a rotating basis so that it's possible to see all five plays in a single weekend

Additional 40th Anniversary programming includes Under the Oaks featuring poetry, music and comedy improv with Theatricum's own Off The Grid (schedule at www.theatricum.com); Family Fundays, offering children's theater from Creative PlayGround and music from Peter Alsop's Kids Koncerts (every Sunday and select Saturdays @ 11 am, June 2-October 27); Botanicum Seedlings: A Development Series for Playwrights featuring free readings of new plays (August 25 and September 1 @ 11 am); and Theme Dinner Buffets in the idyllic Theatricum gardens.

On Saturday, October 5, homegrown Topangan and acclaimed singer/songwriter Inara George will close the season with Unsung Heroes: A Tribute to Eleni Mandell, sharing the Theatricum stage with an eclectic musical line up.

The beginnings of the Theatricum Botanicum can be traced to the early 1950s when Will Geer, a victim of the McCarthy era Hollywood blacklist (before he became known as the beloved Grandpa on TV's "The Waltons"), opened a theater for blacklisted actors and folk singers on his property in Topanga. Friends such as Ford Rainey, John Randolph and Woody Guthrie joined him on the dirt stage for vigorous performances and inspired grassroots activism, while the audiences sat on railroad ties. Today, two outdoor amphitheaters are situated in the natural canyon ravine, where audiences are able to relax and enjoy the wilderness during an afternoon or evening's performance.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum is located at 1419 North Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Topanga, midway between Pacific Coast Highway and the Ventura (101) Freeway. The amphitheaters are terraced into the hillside, so audience members are advised to dress casually (warmly for evenings) and bring cushions for bench seating. Picnickers are welcome on the grounds before or after the performances.

For tickets, subscriptions, group discounts and a full schedule of theater, music and family entertainment, call 310-455-3723 or go to www.theatricum.com. Subscribe before Shakespeare's Birthday (April 23) and see all four mainstage plays at last year's prices.

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