Ellen Geer News

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum will return to live performance at its unique and stunning outdoor amphitheater in Topanga with a summer repertory season of three plays July 10 through Nov. 7. Theatricum will open the season on Saturday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. with a fresh look at Julius Caesar.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum has announced its annual summer line-up of theater, music and performance in its unique and stunning outdoor setting in Topanga.

William Shakespeare's rollicking and ever-popular comedy of mistaken identity, TWELFTH NIGHT, brings its magical combination of mischief, madness and romance into the outdoor amphitheater at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum this summer where it plays in rep through September 28. Written in 1601 and first seen in the Inns of Court shortly after Christmas (hence, the title), the holiday was celebrated as a festival during which everything was made delightfully topsy-turvy, much like the world of the play's Illyria. And you could not ask for a more ideal cast of characters to bring The Bard's non-stop, high energy hijinks to life.

I am a huge fan of Our Town by Thornton Wilder. It is literary genius in its storytelling of the lifespan of two families in Grovers Corners, New Hampshire It's almost as if Wilder turned Our Town upside down, shook it a few times in snowglobe fashion and created The Skin of Our Teeth. It's also a family drama but it covers more than one lifespan, as it combs a five thousand year period from the Ice Age to the 20th century in Excelsior and Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Antrobus family is bound throughout: the father (Mark Lewis), the mother (Melora Marshall) and their two children Gladys (Gabrielle Beauvais) and Henry (William Holbrook) and their maid Sabina (Willow Geer). Their lives change through time, and plotwise, there is always a crisis they are exposed to. What is mos effective to witness is how they manage to pull through each obstacle...and survive.

Summer is the best time of year to get out and see a Shakespeare play, especially in Southern California. Whether it's under the stars, staged in a unique performance space, or revived in a traditional theater, you can't go wrong when it comes to the world's greatest writer. Here's what we've currently got on our radar. Go see a show!

The Skin of Our Teeth, the Pulitzer Prize-winning tribute to the indestructibility of the human race by Thornton Wilder, opens on the beautiful outdoor stage at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum on Saturday,July 13, where performances continue through Sept. 29. 

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum continues its mission to resist and struggle against the forces of inequality and injustice by presenting socially conscious classics that speak to today. A new version of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, freely adapted by artistic director Ellen Geer and co-directed by Geer and Melora Marshall, joins Theatricum's 2019 summer repertory season beginning Saturday, June 22.

Mischief, madness and romance are in the air this summer when Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum presents William Shakespeare's rollicking comedy, Twelfth Night, in its magical, outdoor Topanga amphitheater. Twelfth Night opens Theatricum's summer repertory season onSaturday, June 1 at 8 p.m., where performances will continue through Sept. 28.

A celebration of one of the greatest novels ever written and a triumph of theatrical imagination. Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum presents Moby Dick-Rehearsed by Orson Welles.

Mischief, madness and romance are in the air this summer when Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum presents William Shakespeare's rollicking comedy, Twelfth Night, in its magical, outdoor Topanga amphitheater. Twelfth Night opens Theatricum's summer repertory season on Saturday, June 1 at 8 p.m., where performances will continue through Sept. 28.

Spring has sprung, andWill Geer's Theatricum Botanicum is thrilled to announce its annual summer line-up of theater, music and performance in its unique and stunning outdoor setting in Topanga. The Summer 2019 Season will include six plays opening in rapid succession and performed in repertory throughout the summer, along with a host of satellite events.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum presents the first-ever revival of a historical melodrama about the Haitian revolution that graced the stage at New York's Lafayette Theatre in Harlem in 1938 as part of the Federal Theatre Project. Haiti by William DuBois will join Theatricum's summer repertory season beginning July 28. Performances will continue at Theatricum's beautiful outdoor venue in Topanga through Sept. 29.

Theatricum Botanicum takes on Shakespeare's stinging drama CORIOLANUS this summer on its outdoor stage in Topanga Canyon and offers an intriguing look at the cynicism of politics and power. The work includes a massive cast of 45. Some are seasoned veterans and many are young actors in the early stages of their careers, including a sweet Geer granddaughter (Quinnlyn Scheppner). Together they bring forth the early days of Rome when democracy was in its infancy and mob mentality could turn the tide in the blink of an eye.

 A mystery of hidden pasts, lost loves and false identities in a world where living things cannot grow. Members of the Geer family star in a revival ofThe Chalk Garden by Enid Bagnold, a unique comedy that blends witty humor with insightful truths. Susan Angelo directs Bagnold's captivating psychological chamber piece for a June 30 opening at Theatricum Botanicum's outdoor amphitheater in Topanga.

A parable of mass hysteria that draws a chilling parallel between the Salem witch hunts of 1692 and McCarthyism, which gripped America in the 1950s, The Crucible by Arthur Miller remains eerily timely in today's climate of fake news. Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum, its own history firmly rooted in the McCarthy-era Hollywood blacklist - when actor Will Geer and his wife, Herta Ware, created the theater as a haven for blacklisted actors - opens a new production of Miller's modern classic onJune 30. Theatricum artistic director Ellen Geer, Will's daughter, is at the helm, with family members Thad Geer,Willow Geer and Melora Marshall featured in the cast.

William Shakespeare'sCoriolanus, a tragedy based on the life of legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus, opens the summer season at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum on June 2.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum is back with an exciting summer line-up of socially conscious theater, music and performance. The Summer 2018 Season, including five plays set to open in rapid succession and perform in repertory throughout the summer together with a host of satellite events, will open June 2 and continue through mid-October in the company's breathtakingly beautiful outdoor Topanga setting.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum will launch its new Weekend Shakespeare Retreat Friday, March 23rd through Sunday, March 25th on their 9-acre outdoor campus and 299-seat amphitheater nestled in the Santa Monica Mountain Range town of Topanga, California. Throughout the weekend, Theatricum will provide classical theatre workshops for participants taught by professional instructors and international leaders in various techniques related to bringing Shakespeare to life. Participants will have the opportunity to enjoy special discounts from local Topanga's unique business community including bed and breakfasts, restaurants, and retail vendors.

Find below a list of the projects Brigade will be handling at 2018 SXSW

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals announced the features lineup and opening night film for the 25th edition of the Film Festival, running March 9-18, 2018 in Austin, Texas. The acclaimed program draws thousands of fans, filmmakers, press, and industry leaders every year to immerse themselves in the most innovative, smart and entertaining new films of the year.