THE ANTIPODES Comes to the Lobby Theatre

Lobby Theatre, a nonprofit organization that champions emerging and established American Playwrights and highlights accomplished artists in Los Angeles, will offer a staged reading of Annie Baker's The Antipodes, starring Arye Gross, Louis Ozawa, Chris Parnell, and Deborah Puette, to be directed by Lobby's Founding Artistic Director, Robin Larsen.

The event is the second installment of an ongoing series entitled “Eat, Drink, Play,” an evening that presents a play that has thrilled audiences elsewhere but has yet to be produced in Los Angeles, bookended with drinks and food before and after the show, encouraging the audience to arrive early and stay after to engage with the cast, creative team, and each other. Tickets are available at https://lobbytheatre.ludus.com/index.php.

A Pulitzer Prize-winner for Drama, Baker is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary American theater. Her acclaimed plays—including The Flick, Circle Mirror Transformation, and John—have premiered at prestigious venues such as Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theatre, and Soho Rep, earning her a MacArthur “Genius” Grant and multiple Obie Awards. 

The Antipodes follows a team of writers gathered in a windowless conference room as they set out to break the greatest story ever told. As their brainstorming sessions unravel into strange tangents and dark confessions, there's a growing sense their story might break them.

This staged reading of The Antipodes marks Larsen's second collaboration with Baker. She previously directed Baker's translation of Anton Chekhov's UNCLE VANYA at the Antaeus Company in 2015 which itself holds the distinction of being the only full production in Los Angeles to date of Baker's work. Larsen shared, “We are ecstatic that Annie has entrusted Lobby Theatre to present her work to Los Angeles audiences in this staged reading. The first time I walked into the newly renovated AGBO space in 2019, I thought immediately of The Antipodes. A play about storytelling staged at a studio that exists to create stories is the kind of symbiosis we are excited about in our collaboration with AGBO. The play will feel immersive in this space.”

Founded with support from AGBO, Anthony and Joe Russo's independent television and film studio, Lobby Theatre is committed to building on the traditional symbiosis of theatre and Hollywood to nurture artists and advance dramatic storytelling in all forms and to keeping their work financially viable for all. Lobby is showcasing at AGBO's Downtown LA campus for three performances, May 9 - 11, 2025. Tickets are pay-what-you-will..

“AGBO is committed to our missions of spotlighting emerging artists and building community through storytelling. We are honored to do both these things in partnership with Robin Larsen and Lobby Theatre, showcasing this critically-acclaimed play in its first presentation to Los Angeles audiences at our DTLA campus,” said Angela Russo-Otstot, Chief Creative Officer at AGBO.

In addition to Gross, Ozawa,Parnell, and Puette, the cast includes veteran actors Steven Klein, Daniel David Stewart, Beth Triffon, Kevin Weisman. Casting is by Chris Redondo.