HOW LOVE LASTS to Play Atwater Village Theater, 2/18-3/24

How do romantic partnerships endure the test of time? What is the glue that holds them together? Writers Brooke Bishop and Daniel Landberg interviewed 52 couples in 20 states about their long-term relationships. How Love Lasts brings five of these couples' true stories to life, in their own words, on The Echo Theater Company stage at Atwater Village Theater. Performances take place every Thursday at 8 p.m. beginning February 18.

Bishop and Landberg interviewed couples of varied ages, faiths, races, sexual orientations and socioeconomic backgrounds during a month-long road trip across the U.S. At the Echo, Claudia Crook, Eduardo Fernandez-Baumann, David Hartstone, Briana McLean, Samantha Smart and Paul Weinberg will recreate some of their stories in the documentary style known as "verbatim theater."

"I've always been fascinated by love," explains Bishop. "I want to know everything there is to know about how it works. This project is a personal investigation. I wanted to talk to people who have successful partnerships because I want what they have, and I want to know how they did it."

Landberg says, "Brooke and I came home from our trip transformed. I knew that if we could distill even 10% of our experience into this show, audiences would be transformed, too."

Echo Theater Company artistic director Chris Fields discovered the project when the company performed a 15-minute segment at a holiday party held by Los Angeles theater website Stage Raw.

"I was completely taken with it," says Fields. "It's a beautiful, exquisite script."

In addition to the six scheduled Thursday evening performances, Fields has invited Bishop and Landberg to present the 15-minute "teaser segment" free of charge following Saturday evening performances of its concurrently running mainstage production, the world premiere of BED by Sheila Callaghan.

How Love Lasts runs Thursdays at 8 p.m., Feb. 18 through March 24. Tickets are $10. The Echo Theater Company is located at Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave in Los Angeles, CA 90039. On-site parking is free. For reservations and information, call (310) 307-3753 or go to www.EchoTheaterCompany.com.

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