BLOODY RED HEART Plays The Odyssey 11/4

Real L.A. teens explode the puffy pink heart stereotype in the stage adaptation of the bestselling book of essays, RED: Teenage Girls in America Write On What Fires Up Their Lives Today. A unique theater collaboration between book editor Amy Goldwasser, the Los Angeles City College Theatre Academy, the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble's student outreach program The ODDS, and Los Angeles public high school students, whose personal stories will be incorporated into the production, Bloody Red Heart opens November 4 at the Odyssey Theatre in West L.A. The three-week run is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Leslie Ferreira directs the stage adaptation by Goldwasser and Tom Bryant.

Every word of Bloody Red Heart is written by real teenagers-the girls in the book, ages 13 to 19, and students in local classrooms. These talented young authors are on fire. Their true stories are the best shades of red (not pink): deeply gutsy, a little bit angry, a lot passionate, primary-color invested in their cause.

Actors from the Los Angeles City College Theatre Academy will bring the teenagers' stories to life on stage. A local essay contest adds an unprecedented immediacy and gives L.A. teens the opportunity to write and share their personal stories, shaping important dialogue between youth and their peers, parents, and educators. Student stories become a part of Bloody Red Heart, their lives made a part of the theater and vice versa.

First published in November 2007, RED was hailed by critics ("Unsparingly frank and perceptive, the essays in RED take on politics, pop culture, and body image. Long underestimated and undervalued by society, [teenage girls] emerge as literature and society's great hope." - Vanity Fair) and has gone on to become a national teen-driven multimedia movement (www.redthebook.com).

"This thrilling NEA grant gives me the chance to bring the RED ethos to the L.A. public schools and the Odyssey, connecting underserved kids and their own highly personal stories with the theater in a very cool, new way," explains Goldwasser. "These students, who may or may not think of themselves as writers or playwrights, get to actually see their work performed by actors on stage. So theater, which hasn't necessarily had a place in these young people's lives, BECOMES their lives, one and the same."

The teen essay-writing contest is open to all Los Angeles-area teens 13-19. Teens can write about anything they'd like in their lives - as long as it's true. Participants will receive a free copy of RED The Book and a chance for their essay to be performed LIVE at the Odyssey Theatre. Submit by October 15. Call 310-477-2055 ext. 111 or email: beth@odysseytheatre.com.

Performances of Bloody Red Heart take place Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays @ 8 pm and Saturdays & Sundays @ 2 pm, November 4 through November 21. Tickets are $20-$25; students with valid ID are $10. The Odyssey Theatre is located at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles, 90025. For reservations and information, call (310) 477-2055 x2 or go to www.OdysseyTheatre.com.

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