"The Unseen Hand" & "Killer's Head" at OdysseyTheatre

THE SERPENT Announced At The Odyssey Theatre

The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble re-opens its re-envisioning of the Odyssey's 1969 West Coast premiere of The Serpent, the Obie award-winning play by Jean-Claude van Itallie. The production initially opened in March, 2020 as part of the Odyssey's 50th Anniversary “Circa '69” Season, but was shuttered five days later by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Review: THE UNSEEN HAND and KILLER'S HEAD Showcase Sam Shepard's Loners in the Middle of Nowhere or at a Dead End

Sam Shepard, who left this world in 2017, was an American playwright and actor whose plays adroitly blend images of the American West, pop motifs, science fiction, and other elements of popular and youth culture. His settings are often a kind of nowhere, notionally grounded in the dusty heart of the vast American Plains. His characters are typically loners, drifters caught between a mythical past and the mechanized present; his work often concerns deeply troubled families, lovers or friends. Two of his plays centering on loners at the end of their rope, THE UNSEEN HAND coupled with Shepard's gritty and audacious KILLER'S HEAD, joins Odyssey Theatre Ensemble's 50th Anniversary a?oeCirca '69a?? Season of significant and adventurous plays that premiered around the time of the company's inception.

Ron Sossi Re-Visits Obie Award-Winning THE SERPENT 50 Years Later

Go ahead a?" take the apple. Founding artistic director Ron Sossi directs a revival of The Serpent by Jean-Claude van Itallie a?" winner of the 1969 Obie award and arguably the most successful ensemble work ever created a?" as part of the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble's 50th Anniversary a?oeCirca '69a?? Season. Sossi previously directed the West Coast premiere exactly 50 years ago, in the spring of 1970, as the second production ever at the then brand-new Odyssey Theatre. The Serpent opens on March 7 at the Odyssey's current home in West L.A., where performances will continue through May 3.

Photo Flash: Odyssey Theatre Presents Sam Shepard's THE UNSEEN HAND

What happens when 1880 Western bandits are brought back to life in Azusa, CA by a space alien? Sam Shepard's The Unseen Hand joins Odyssey Theatre Ensemble's 50th Anniversary “Circa '69” Season of significant and adventurous plays that premiered around the time of the company's inception, coupled with Shepard's gritty and audacious Killer's Head. Longtime Shepard collaborator Darrell Larson directs both plays for a Jan. 25 opening at the Odyssey Theatre in West L.A., where performances will continue through March 8.

Casting Announced For Sam Shepard Double Bill At The Odyssey

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble has announced the schedule of rotating actors, including Shameless actor Steve Howey and film actor Dermot Mulroney, who will appear in Killer's Head by Sam Shepard, a monologue that makes up the first half of the Shepard double bill a?" the second half is his 1969 one-act The Unseen Hand a?" that is part of the Odyssey's 50th Anniversary a?oeCirca '69a?? Season of significant and adventurous plays that premiered around the time of the company's inception. 

Sam Shepard Double Bill Joins Odyssey's 50th Anniversary Season

What happens when 1880 Western bandits are brought back to life in Azusa, CA by a space alien? Sam Shepard's The Unseen Hand joins Odyssey Theatre Ensemble's 50th Anniversary a?oeCirca '69a?? Season of significant and adventurous plays that premiered around the time of the company's inception, coupled with Shepard's gritty and audacious Killer's Head. Longtime Shepard collaborator Darrell Larson directs both plays for a Jan. 18 opening at the Odyssey Theatre in West L.A., where performances will continue through March 8.