Virtual Playwrights' Night
An evening of live cold readings of new plays over Zoom
August 18th @ 6pm
Virtual Playwrights' Night
An evening of live cold readings of new plays over Zoom
June 16 @ 6pm
After the death of Hamlet, the Nordic invaders were hoping for a bloodless transition of power. What they got, was Gertrude.
The Inkwell Theater presents a Zoomed reading of
Gertrude
By John Lavelle
Directed by Randee Trabitz
Featuring:
Keliher Walsh, Sandi McCree, Kacie Rogers, Deborah S. Craig, Parvesh Cheena, Tony Abatemarco
Friday, May 7th @ 8pm PDT
After the death of Hamlet, the Nordic invaders were hoping for a bloodless transition of power. What they got, was Gertrude.
ATLA in association with LASA present
An Inkwell Theater Production of
Prefers Bright Indirect Light
By Veronica Tjioe
Directed by Rosie Glen-Lambert
Featuring:
Sutton Arabe, Shirley Jordan,
Emily Kuroda, Hailey McAfee
Friday, October 16th @ 7pm
The Inkwell Theater Development LAB
A unique program in Los Angeles, The Lab aims to bring the writer out of their office, or coffee shop, and into the rehearsal room. We believe that nothing benefits works-in-progress more than artistic collaboration, and are focused on developing new plays through a collaborative workshop process. We believe that by working in a rehearsal setting with a director and actors, a playwright can best further their play. During a one to six-week intensive process, writers will not only see and hear their original draft, but will see their re-writes, changes, and inspired ideas come to life. After all that work is accomplished, the play will be presented as a reading for leaders in the theatre community as well as our fellow artists and dedicated supporters.
Our watchwords are the lessons of Max K. Lerner, the namesake of our Fellowship:
Don’t focus on the negative.
Go forward, not backward.
Keep your sense of humor.
Be a mentor.
More Information about
The Inkwell Development LAB
More Information about
The Max K. Lerner Playwrighting Fellowship
Last from the Inkwell LAB
a new play by Aja Houston
Directed by Melissa Coleman-Reed
Featuring: Geri-Nikole Love, David J. Cork, Nardeep Khurmi, Alexandra Grossi, Cherish Monique Duke
Produced by Annie McVey & Daniel Shoenman
Long division is hard. In Jo’s world dividing up years of marital memories with her ex-husband is even harder. When he sends someone to be his stand-in, Jo is forced to sift through intimate moments with a stranger, who challenges her to solve the problem of moving on.
This Season From the LAB
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Long Division
a new play by Aja Houston
Directed by Melissa Coleman-Reed
Featuring: Geri-Nikole Love, David J. Cork, Nardeep Khurmi, Alexandra Grossi, Cherish Monique Duke
Long division is hard. In Jo’s world dividing up years of marital memories with her ex-husband is even harder. When he sends someone to be his stand-in, Jo is forced to sift through intimate moments with a stranger, who challenges her to solve the problem of moving on.
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Gone
a new play by Lolly Ward
Directed by Hannah Wolf
Featuring: Cherish Monique Duke, Alexandra Hellquist, Peter James Smith, Mitchell Bisschop, Tyree Marshall, Shirley Jordan
A will provides peace of mind as four stepsiblings divide their anticipated inheritance with generosity…with suspicion…with greed. Gamble the night away, but whatever you do, don’t leave the house – your family is watching. “Gone” is a dramedy that tests whether blood is thicker than wine.
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The String's the Thing
a new play by Veronica Tjioe
Directed by Lisa Sanaye Dring
Featuring: Susan Lucas, Vico Ortiz, Alexandra Hellquist
The String’s the Thing uses the framework of the Minotaur myth to explore the complexities of being mixed-race, specifically half-asian. This play is for anyone who has ever felt lost and a profound sense of “in-betweenness” and would please like to know which way is out, thankyouverymuch. It is also good for lovers of cheap wine, close friends, and the merits of a nice ball of string.
(Originally written for the SF Olympians, a mythology adaptation festival of staged readings,) -
Teen Dad
a new play by Adrienne Dawes
Directed by Claudia Duran
Featuring: Krysta Gonzales, Brandon Curry, Elena Sancho, Kelvin Morales, Anna Maria, Tyler Rainer
Abby, a precocious emo-goth teenager, orchestrates a surprise reunion for her mother Tanya, and birth father, Tom, with the help of her mom’s fiancé/healer John. Hoping to provoke long-lasting reconciliation between her parents before her high school graduation, Abby’s plans completely derail when Tom arrives with his new girlfriend Alisha. Can this family confront their past traumas, “deal and heal?
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Day of Saturn
a new play by Leviticus Jelks
Directed by Melissa Coleman-Reed
Featuring: Moe Irvin, Rickey Junior, Brandon Rachal, Geri-Nikole Love
For Achilles Jones, the reality of his son, Icarus’, attempted suicide still haunts him a year later as he works tirelessly to repair his run-down hardware store. His plans get more complicated, however, when he hires a charismatic young volunteer with a painful past of his own. Through Achilles’ recovered memories and Icarus’ journal entries, the secrets about his son and the truth about their relationship come to light. ‘Day of Saturn’ is a planetary collision of loss, humor, Black masculinity and the generational scars that follow us through life.
Last Season From the LAB
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Waiting
a new play by Aja Houston
Directed by Susan Dalian
Featuring: Alexandra Churchwell, Mihara India, David McClain Jr., Kari Nicolle, Brandon Rachal, Carlis Shane Clark, Inger Tudor
When Proctor passes into the afterlife, she finds herself a captive of “The Middle” — a place where Black souls killed for the sin of being “Spooks” are held until they earn their redemption. Proctor pushes back against the other members and the omnipresent system that governs them so she may be released into the promised paradise of “The Away.”
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Original Tenants
a new play by Carole Braverman
Directed by Randee Trabitz
Featuring: Helen Duffy, Sharon Freedman, Kathe Mazur, Bruce Nozick, Noelle Romano
A middle-aged woman returns to the Brooklyn neighborhood where she grew up to care for her ailing mother, and encounters some formidable ghosts from the past: an old friend with the seemingly perfect life, a candy store owner who was once her teenage boyfriend, and the shocking power of old grievances, the kind that can explode on you like long-buried minefields. "You've always been a joker, Nina" her old friend tells her, but mortality is no joke. Or is it?
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The Sister House
a new play by Stephanie Alison Walker
Directed by Randee Trabitz
Featuring: David Adler, Carrie Barrett, Leandro Cano, Aidan Elyse McCollough, Paula Weston Solano
When Ramona decides to rent out her deceased husband’s office to a mysterious stranger, her daughter Ryan rebels. Three women and one imaginary vampire collide in a historic Victorian home with a past of its own, in this play about immortal love, mothers and daughters, and redemption.
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Abigail
a new play by Sarah Tuft
Directed by Jessica Hanna
Featuring: William Salyers, Christine Dunford, Meg Cashel & Eddie Goines
A masterpiece of the American Theater, “The Crucible” would be the perfect comeback for blacklisted film director Ben Meyers after allegations of sexual harassment nearly derailed his career. So perfect, that Ben’s wife – the renowned stage actress Savannah Wainscott – arranges for him to helm the Broadway production in which she stars as Goody Proctor. But when Ben casts YouTube star Ashley Hart as Abigail Williams, Ashley’s objections to the play’s portrayal of women bring everything to a grinding halt. ABIGAIL looks at our post-#MeToo culture and asks: Has anything really changed?
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Space Available
a new play by Jennie Webb
Directed by Judith Moreland
Featuring: Cherish Monique Duke, Alexandra Hellquist, Tamika Katon-Donegal, Beth Lane, Peter James Smith
This is the story of Jane, a woman who’s managed to survive an absurd litany of profound misfortunes, but ends up taking a closer look at her own life choices – and what it means to have options – when faced with a surreal future no woman should have to live with. ‘Space Available’ is a play about a woman’s place and what (& who) we let define us.
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Geneis
a new play by Leenie Baker
Directed by Rosie Glen-Lambert
Featuring: Sutton Arabe, Nadege August, Jonathan Cho, Noah James, Hailey McAfee, Ammy Ontiveros
In a time-bending journey from the Garden of Eden to modern-day, we follow God, envisioned as a young woman, in her quest to discover herself. ‘Genesis’ explores issues of faith, love, and power as God develops personal relationships with her creations. ‘Genesis’ asks, what does it mean to succeed—or fail–as a creator?
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Broken
a new play by Aaron Braxton
Directed by Susan Dalian
Featuring: Elisa Perry, Brandon Rachal, Derek Shaun, Celestial, Pamela Shaddock, Mihara India, Patricia Belcher, Eddie Goines, James T. Lawson II, Yvans Jourdain
A witty two-act dramatic play centered on the traumatic experiences of a woman rejecting psychological help while suffering hallucinations, pathological guilt, and addiction, “Broken” centers around the stigma of mental illness in an African American family.
Season 7 (2018-19)
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Season 6 (2017-18)
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Virtual Playwright's Night
An evening of live cold readings of new plays over Zoom
October 28th @ 6pm
Please consider a donation to one of these groups today:
Black Lives Matter: The national umbrella of the Black Lives Matter movement, donations to BLM go toward programs and actions across the country, focused on ending white supremacy and state-sanctioned violence.
The Bail Project: With locations in Compton, Van Nuys, and San Diego, as well as offices or partnerships in cities from coast to coast, the Bail Project is one of the largest and most established bail funds.
Peoples City Council Freedom Fund: The L.A. activist group Peoples City Council stages protest actions on a variety of issues around social and economic justice. Recently, the local group has been lobbying for a city budget that reduces the share of public funds used to pay for the LAPD.
Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment: This grassroots organization aims to register voters and empower Californians to advocate and vote for economic, racial, and social justice.
Virtual Playwright's Night
An evening of live cold readings of new plays over Zoom
September 23rd @ 6pm
Please consider a donation to one of these groups today:
Black Lives Matter: The national umbrella of the Black Lives Matter movement, donations to BLM go toward programs and actions across the country, focused on ending white supremacy and state-sanctioned violence.
The Bail Project: With locations in Compton, Van Nuys, and San Diego, as well as offices or partnerships in cities from coast to coast, the Bail Project is one of the largest and most established bail funds.
Peoples City Council Freedom Fund: The L.A. activist group Peoples City Council stages protest actions on a variety of issues around social and economic justice. Recently, the local group has been lobbying for a city budget that reduces the share of public funds used to pay for the LAPD.
Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment: This grassroots organization aims to register voters and empower Californians to advocate and vote for economic, racial, and social justice.
To our Patrons, Artists, and Friends:
In light of the recommendations by Mayor Eric Garcetti, Governor Gavin Newsom, and the most recent California Department of Health guidance regarding public gatherings, The Inkwell Theater will be temporarily closing our doors as of today.
Out of an abundance of caution, we have canceled all performances of Waiting, as well as the remaining readings in this season’s Development LAB series. We will also be moving our monthly Playwright’s Nights online.
We are exceedingly proud of the commitment and exceptional creative work that the playwrights, directors, actors, and staff put into our season. However, the health and well-being of our audience, artists, and community must come first. We so much appreciate everyone who has attended events during our 2019-20 season, and we greatly value your support and loyalty.
We are working to reschedule the canceled events for a later date, and we will continue to give you updates in the future. All ticket holders with online purchases will automatically be refunded for the cost of the ticket and all fees associated.
Thank you again for your support and your loyalty. We will keep you updated through this dynamic situation and look forward to welcoming you back to Inkwell. In the meantime, please continue to take care of yourself and your loved ones.
Sincerely,
Daniel Shoenman
Artistic Director
The Inkwell Theater
March 12, 2020
Season 7 (2018-19)
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Season 6 (2017-18)
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