Echo Theater Company Sets 2016 Season

The Echo Theatre Company is stepping up its game, offering five premieres in 2016 - up from four in 2015 and three the year before.

The new season will feature the Los Angeles premiere of Dry Land by Susan Blackburn Prize finalist Ruby Rae Spiegel, and four world premieres by Los Angeles-based playwrights including BED by Sheila Callaghan; Captain of the Bible Quiz Team by Tom Jacobson; One of the Nice Ones by Erik Patterson; and Blueberry Toast by Mary Laws.

"All of these plays are about striving for connection - the wonder and the beauty when that connection is made, and the pain that results when we're unable to attain it," said Echo artistic director Chris Fields.

Dedicated to producing new work, the Echo Theater Company was anointed "Best Bet for Ballsy Original Plays" by the LA Weekly in its 2014 Best of L.A. issue, and was a recent recipient of the "Kilroy Cake Drop"- one of only 13 theaters in the country to be surprised by cakes to honor the efforts they are making to produce women and trans writers.

Together, Fields and the Echo have introduced Los Angeles to playwrights such as David Lindsay-Abaire, Adam Rapp, Sarah Ruhl, Tommy Smith and Miki Johnson among many others. The company is also recognized for its acting ensemble; in the Los Angeles Times, theater critic Charles McNulty wrote, "Echo Theater Company, which has cultivated a community of top flight actors, would be my go-to place in Los Angeles for symbiotic ensemble acting."

Following a two-decade itinerant existence, the Echo moved to Atwater Village Theatre in 2014 - its first permanent home. There, the inaugural season included three critically acclaimed world premieres: Smith's Firemen, named to "Best of 2014" lists by both the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles theater site Bitter Lemons, and winner of five Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Awards including for playwriting, direction and production; Mickey Birnbaum's Backyard, named "Best of 2014" by KCRW and Ticketholders, and Better by Jessica Goldberg, also on KCRW's "Best of 2014" list. The Echo's 2015 season included the world premiere of Fugue by Tommy Smith and Los Angeles premieres of Row After Row by Jessica Dickey, A Small Fire by Adam Bock and American Falls by Miki Johnson. Row After Row and A Small Fire each received Ovation nominations for playwriting.

The 2016 season schedule is as follows:

Feb. 6 - March 13:
World premiere of Bed - The man. The woman. The couple. The other man. The bed. The whole slam seen through the lens of inimitable playwright Sheila Callaghan. Directed by Echo Theater Company associate artistic director Jennifer Chambers.

April 9 - May 15
Los Angeles premiere of Dry Land - Ester is a swimmer trying to stay afloat. Amy is curled up on the locker room floor. Ruby Rae Spiegel's play is about female friendship and resiliency, and what happens in one high school locker room after everybody's left. Directed by Alana Dietze.

May 13 - July 2 (Fridays & Saturdays @ 8 p.m.):
Site-specific world premiere of Captain of the Bible Quiz Team - Just out of seminary, an idealistic Lutheran minister returns to a country church in Minnesota for Christmas and experiences an epiphany. Seven sermons in a single service - a tragicomedy with Jell-O written by Tom Jacobson and directed by Michael Michetti. To be performed in various churches throughout the Los Angeles area.

July 9 - Aug. 14
World premiere of One of the Nice Ones by Erik Patterson - Do you really get ahead by being nice? Maybe. Maybe not... Chris Fields directs.

Sept. 17-Oct. 23
World premiere of Blueberry Toast by Mary Laws - Ever wonder what evil lurks in the heart of suburbia? Directed by Dustin Wills.

For more information about the Echo Theater Company, visit www.echotheatercompany.com.