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Loft Ensemble has announced its ninth anniversary season, which was delayed one full year due to the Covid-19 crisis. The slate of plays will feature five world premieres, a West Coast premiere, and a revival of George C. Wolfe's classic play The Colored Museum, which in 1986-87 ran for a then record-breaking nine months at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in New York City.
The season will focus on conservation and recovery, as Loft is one of the few NoHo Arts District theatres to make it through the pandemic. The season's theme is de novo - anew, from the beginning. The plays selected by the company member-elected artistic committee represent a new approach to theatre fundamentals. The plays are about relationships, language, people, culture, and change ... focusing on the story a play is telling without getting swept up in elaborate design elements. The slate of plays addresses issues including the unhoused experience, racist tropes in entertainment, the impact of gentrification on cultural loss in communities, political evolution in society, and body positivity. A modular set will be shared by all shows; it will include wall pieces and platforms that can be moved around the stage and reconfigured to give each show a unique geography.
The season will open with the West Coast premiere of The Calorie Counters by Molly Wagner, in which the size of a bridesmaid dress causes a tumultuous and comedic journey through self-discovery, identity, body shaming, and the pitfalls of equating self-worth with one's weight and physique. Directed by Danielle Ozymandias, opening is October 15. Next up is Alley of Misfits by Barbera Ann Howard & Marjorie Lewit. In a lonely New York alley, Ruby and Pearl wait overnight to be the first in line for Thanksgiving at the food bank. Through the night they navigate disagreements, a lonely Build-A-Bear employee, a recovering drug addict, two wasted party girls, and a few seemingly sentient stuffed animals. This world premiere will be directed by Bree Pavey and Marc Leclerc and opening is on November 13.
The new year will begin with Coloropolis, a place where individuals are identified only by the color of their clothes. Left to the will of its inhabitants, life turns into a "Lord of the Flies" situation amongst the Primaries and Nonprimaries. This world premiere play is an abstract, funny, biting, satire. Written by A.P. de la Caridad and directed by Tor Brown & Travyz Gatz, opening is set for January 8, 2022. Next is the world premiere of Branwell (and the Other Brontës) by Stephen Kaplan, which peeks into the private fantasy worlds of Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne Brontë. The play explores the pain and necessity of creation in light of destruction and loss. Directed by Sarah Nilsen, opening is set for February 25. The season continues with The Concrete Jungle by Travyz Gatz. Based on In the Jungle of Cities by Bertolt Brecht, this world premiere follows Jorge Garcia after he gets fired because a local businessman, Slink, arranges a shelf of books the way he knew it to be when growing up. Directed by Mitch Rosander, opening is set for March 26.
Next up is Try Not to Think About It, Alice Childress, a world premiere in which a series of miscommunications turn into a night of survival when a natural disaster strikes the Hollywood Hills. This witty, challenging, funny, drama will leave the audience wondering what just happened and what will happen next. Written and directed by Chris Haas, opening will be on April 23. The season concludes with a revival of The Colored Museum by George C. Wolfe. In a series of 11 'exhibits' (sketches), the play explores and satirizes prominent themes and identities of Black Culture from transport to the new world to existing in it, examining different facets of the Black/African American experience. Directed by Jazmine Nichelle, opening is on June 18.
Admission for the entire ninth season will be Donate What You Want. Reservations may be made at www.loftensemble.org. Loft Ensemble is located at 11031 Camarillo Street in North Hollywood, 91602.
