Showing results by publisher "L.A. Theatre Works" in All Categories

On November 24, 1947, the most powerful men in American film met in New York’s plush Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to decide how to address the Communist witch-hunt being carried out by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Twenty-four hours later, they emerged having created the Hollywood Blacklist. The Waldorf Conference dramatically speculates on what went on in that room.

Adapted from the diaries of Richard Wagner, Beethoven’s music soars in the background as a poor young composer named Richard Wagner struggles toward Vienna to meet the composer he idealizes.

The sensuality of Louisiana's humid, jasmine-scented air permeates this love triangle about three people who are haunted by the memories of the Vietnam war.

Benny Silverman, a retired, successful actor, seems to have surmounted the bitter time in his life when Leo Greshen, a good friend and colleague "named" him in front of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Benny's flourishing career was nearly destroyed, and his comeback was slow and painful. The two men haven't spoken since. But they are forced to deal with each other 30 years after the fact, when Benny's daughter wins a career-making role in a hot new play Leo is directing.

This is a timely docudrama about The Washington Post's decision to publish the Pentagon Papers, a top secret study documenting U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The subsequent trial tested the parameters of the First Amendment, pitting the public's right to know against the government's desire for secrecy. This new 2008 tour edition features a new cast and a revised script.

A Lesson Before Dying is set in a small Louisiana Cajun community in the late 1940s. Jefferson, a young illiterate black man, is falsely convicted of murder and is sentenced to death. Grant Wiggins, the plantation schoolteacher, agrees to talk with the condemned man. The two men forge a bond as they come to understand what it means to resist and defy one's fate.

A well-meaning American diplomat in South Africa tries to pacify his ferociously combative wife and anti-apartheid activist son by being reassigned to The Hague. But peace is hard to come by and, at an elegant New Year's Eve party, a harrowing betrayal is revealed. Judith Ivey recreates her acclaimed performance from the Lincoln Center production in this masterful drama from the author of The Substance of Fire.

A pointed look at organized, merchandised religion; the dangers of pride and ambition; the battes for power between generations; and the redemptive power of faith. A face off for control between a legendary Baptist pastor and an ambitious young preacher.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic masterpiece The Scarlet Letter is set in 17th century Salem, Massachusetts, and concerns the public condemnation of Hester Prynne, who bears an illegitimate child. However, the story is not about adultery, nor is it specifically about sin. Rather it traces the effect of actual and symbolic sin on the mind and spirit of each character.

The acclaimed comedy trio known as Culture Clash spent three months interviewing about 70 Miami residents for this mix of vignettes about urban renewal, crimes, hurricanes, and immigration, as well as where to get a plate of arroz con pollo served by a 6-foot tall drag queen.

An audio adaptation of the classic Shakespeare drama. Pericles is at the palace of Antioch with King Antiochus to solve the riddle that will win the King’s daughter’s hand in marriage. They are surrounded by the heads of men who have died trying before him. Pericles solves the riddle, learning the terrible truth about the incestuous relationship between the Princess and the King. Pericles flees Antioch, fearing Antiochus’ wrath.

In Buk: The Life and Times of Charles Bukowski, Paul Peditto presents an often tragic, often funny look at the life of a great American poet, based on poetry and stories by Charles Bukowski.

Ken Narasaki's adaptation of the novel by Japanese American author John Okada is set during the aftermath of the US government's incarceration of 120,000 people of Japanese descent during World War II and the resettlement of Japanese Americans to the West Coast. In the play, Ichiro returns to Seattle, where he struggles to transition into post-war life.

After 18 years of marriage, Della Doucet decides she’s had enough of life on a South Carolina military base and reinvents herself in the New York art world while reveling in a series of shallow romantic affairs. Her new life seems to be going well until she finds herself in the arms of a charming younger man.

A group of politically correct teachers are tasked with creating a Thanksgiving play for their students. They hire a Native American actor to lend authenticity to the proceedings. When it turns out she’s ethnically ambiguous the teachers are left to navigate the resulting pitfalls in this rich satire. Includes a conversation with playwright Larissa FastHorse.

A zoologist in Australia gets funding to save an endangered species from the very company that threatens its existence. Will this deal with the devil allow her to save the species, or will it destroy her entire life's work? Includes an interview with playwright Hannie Rayson and director Martin Jarvis.

A team of lawyers uses a little-known legal writ to fight and overturn the conviction of Fred Korematsu, unjustly sentenced for resisting the WWII mass incarceration of all Japanese Americans on the West Coast. The play draws much inspiration from Enduring Conviction: Fred Korematsu and His Quest for Justice by Lorraine K. Bannai (University of Washington Press 2015) and Justice Delayed by Peter Irons (Wesleyan University Press 1989).

Based on the true story of renowned social psychologist Stanley Milgram, Please Continue recounts the infamous obedience experiments at Yale in the 1960s. In that study, participants were asked to administer strong electric shocks to a subject who gave the wrong answer to a question, not knowing that the shocks were fake, and they were the real subject of the study. The play examines how the experiments gave insight into the nature of authoritarianism and individual morality.

A sheet of ice sits in the desert of New Mexico. A mad eco-terrorist plants a bomb in order to save humankind. A beleaguered film crew tries to get in one last shot before losing the light. Storytelling and science collide with hilarious and devastating consequences.

80-something Dan Yamada has been rendered speechless after a stroke, and as he lies in bed, he vividly recalls his life, from his days in the World War 2-era internment camps, to serving in the US Army, to his one true love. At his bedside in the present, his adult children fight over his care and legacy, all while Dan tries to communicate his poignant final wish.