Steven M. Porter News

Can't Pay? Don't Pay! written by Nobel Laureate Dario Fo and Franca Rame is now extended at The Actors' Gang Theater in the old Ivy Substation through Saturday, June 11. 

After two years of most people living in at least semi-isolation, with many unemployed through no fault of their own, the Actors' Gang is returning to the stage with a re-mounting of Can't Pay? Don't Pay! written by Nobel Laureate Dario Fo and Franca Rame on March 19, 2022, with previews beginning March 12, exactly two years from the day the theater was shuttered and had to suspend this hilarious production. Fo's high-energy, satirical farce is again directed by Bob Turton, and I decided to speak with him about the journey he has taken with the production, especially what it's been like waiting for two years to bring the play back to its original location.

'Can't Pay? Don't Pay!' written by Nobel Laureate Dario Fo and Franca Rame is returning to The Actors' Gang Theater in the old Ivy Substation on March 19, 2022, with previews beginning March 12, exactly two years from the day the theater was shuttered and had to suspend this hilarious production. 

This wildly funny satirical farce questions why, in a world of bailed-out banks and overpriced prescription drugs, theft is only a crime when it is committed by those truly in need, centering on humble housewife Antonia (Kaili Hollister) who joins a revolt of women at the local supermarket as they are all hungry and fed up by rising prices and stagnant wages. Determined to live with dignity and rejecting an austere diet of dog food and birdseed which is about all Antonia can afford to buy on her husband Giovvanni's (Jeremie Loncka) wages working on the production line at a local factory, the women's protest escalates and looting ensues.

The Actors' Gang Theater is holding a food drive during the entire run of their new production of Dario Fo's classic modern farce, Can't Pay? Don't Pay! to support Upward Bound House (UBH). UBH has programs in Culver City (home to The Actor's Gang), Santa Monica, Compton, and Los Angeles.

The Actors' Gang Theater presents Can't Pay? Don't Pay!, written by Italian playwright and Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo, translated by Cam Deaver and directed by Bob Turton. This wildly funny satirical farce that questions why, in a world of bailed-out banks and overpriced prescription drugs, theft is only a crime when it is committed by those truly in need, begins performances February 6th (Press Opening Saturday, February 15th at 8:00pm) and will run Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, through March 28th.

The Actors' Gang presents One Act Festival, featuring two contrasting programs performed in repertory. Show one, entitled The Classic, begins performances March 14th (press opening March 23) and features two classic one-act plays -- Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit, directed by Brian T. Finney, and Samuel Beckett's Krapps's Last Tape, directed by Cynthia Ettinger. Show two, entitled The Original, begins performances March 16 (Press Opening March 29) and features three new one-act plays written, directed, and acted by The Actors Gang ensemble:  Tradition, written by James Edward Bane and directed by Tess Vidal, A Perfect World, written by Lynde Houck and directed by Danielle Powell, and Clean Slate, written by Bob Turton and directed by Zoe Hall. Both programs will run Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, through April 20th.  

Our Town - Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning stage classic about small town life extends through July 11 at The Actors' Gang. Our Town explores the poignancy of everyday life in a quiet New England village in the early years of the 20th century. This timeless play is told through the eyes of the Stage Manager, who allows a girl named Emily to relive a day in her life, then stands back and watches. After exploring her town of Grover's Corners for its daily life, love and marriage, and finally life and death, Emily is left to ask, 'Doesn't anyone ever realize life while they live it?'

In this new American era of hope, fresh with the promise of new beginnings, The Actors' Gang is pleased to present Our Town by Thornton Wilder. Wilder's evocative play with its timeless themes of love and loss opens on Saturday, April 25 with performances continuing through May 30. Low-priced previews begin April 18.

From December 6 through January 10th, The Actors' Gang presents 'Aah! Scrooge Must Die!', a 'rambunctious and very raunchy' retelling of Dickens' beloved classic tale.

The Actors' Gang puts the 'X' in Xmas with Aah! Scrooge Must Die!, a rambunctious and very raunchy retelling of Dickens' beloved classic tale. Leave the kids at home - this one is uproariously NC-17. Performances take place Saturday, December 6 through January 10 at The Actors' Gang in the Ivy Substation at 9070 Venice Blvd. in downtown Culver City.

The Actors' Gang puts the 'X' in Xmas with Aah! Scrooge Must Die!, a rambunctious and very raunchy retelling of Dickens' beloved classic tale. Leave the kids at home - this one is uproariously NC-17. Performances take place Saturday, December 6 through January 10 at The Actors' Gang in the Ivy Substation at 9070 Venice Blvd. in downtown Culver City.

From December 6 through January 10th, The Actors' Gang presents 'Aah! Scrooge Must Die!', a 'rambunctious and very raunchy' retelling of Dickens' beloved classic tale.

Carnage, A Comedy, The Actors' Gang's raucous satire about televangelism and the state of religion in America, co-written by Adam Simon and Tim Robbins, has extended at The Gang's Ivy Substation home in Culver City. Performances continue Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8PM and Sundays at 3PM through March 29.

The Actors' Gang plunges into 2008 with a revival of its 1987 hit production, Carnage, A Comedy, to open February 2 with performances through March 8.

The Actors' Gang will combine puppets, music, songs and theater magic to create a new adaptation of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels for the stage.