Odyssey Theatre’s 'Thresholds of Invention to Kick off the New Year With Three Works in Process

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble’s Thresholds of Invention series will kick off the new year by presenting first looks at works-in-process by three prominent L.A. visionaries on January 10, January 11 and January 25.

First up, on Saturday, January 10 at 8 p.m., will be a reading of The Equivalents, written by Steven Drukman and directed by Bart DeLorenzo. Set in the tense days leading up to January 6, this new play follows two brothers navigating a love triangle—and a country—on the verge of rupture. Wry, provocative, and deeply human, The Equivalents wonders what tragedy may transpire from sorting people into “good” and “evil.” At once timely and timeless, the play reminds us that the most dangerous divides are often the ones inside our own families.

The next afternoon, Sunday, January 11 at 2 p.m., will see a one-man reading by Thresholds of Invention curator and co-founder Tony Abatemarco, presented in celebration of the fourth anniversary of the series, of excerpts from his memoir-in-progress, A Living, Misgivings, Forgiving, & Then. In the search for threads reflecting on his personal storyteller's life, Abatemarco dives deeply into the origins of his creative ambitions and compulsions to make sense out of the decades he's dedicated to the very calling as an actor, director, writer and musician that continue to shape who he is. Kyle Secor directs.

On Sunday, January 25 at 3 p.m., Los Angeles-based jazz vocalist, songwriter, recording artist and actor Susan Krebs, joined by jazz ensemble The Local Outfit (Rich Eames on piano, Ken Wild on bass, Scott Breadman on percussion, Jerry Kalaf on vibes and Rob Lockart on woodwinds), brings decades of experience in improvisational theater to the bandstand with Soul Fuel ~ Antidotes for What Ails Us.