The Inkwell Theater presents a staged reading of
“Not A Monster”
A new play by Susan Josephs
Direction & Dramaturgy by Diana Wyenn
Featuring: Madeline Fair, Rachel Kann, Solomon Shiv & Ivy Strohmaier
Produced by Daniel Shoenman
October 29 @ 8pm
A guest production at VS. Theatre
** All proceeds from this event will be donated to RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. **
Can’t make the reading? You can also support RAINN directly by donating HERE.
On the heels of sexual abuse allegations, a controversial New Age guru welcomes a veteran journalist into his backstage greenroom so she can interview him for a retrospective piece about his transformation from obscure Orthodox Jewish rabbi to celebrity spiritual leader. As their conversation unfolds, revelations emerge about a shared past and the truth becomes a slippery, malleable tool in this timely drama about sexual and spiritual abuse, male privilege and female agency.
The Playwright’s Promise Award recognizes the writer of a Fringe production, who will be guaranteed a staged reading of their NEXT play, to be cast, rehearsed and produced by The Inkwell Theater in our upcoming season.
We look forward to working with Ailma in our 2018-19 LAB season.
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 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 Ruth Fowler
Directed by Rosie Glen-Lambert
Featuring – Featuring: Leo Oliva, Emily Reas, & Bart Tangredi
Produced by Daniel Shoenman and Annie McVey
Last Season at the Inkwell LAB
Motherland
a new play by Lisa Kenner Grissom
Directed by Laura Stribling
Featuring – Alexis Genya, Schoen Hodges, Ross Kramer, Abigail Marks, & Jayne Taini
With Original Music by J.R. Schwartz
With her life in crisis, Lizzie returns home to hide from the world, but when her Russian grandmother Bella starts telling “stories” and her mother Sarah tries to meditate the past away, Lizzie goes down a rabbit hole of discovery. This time-bending drama features four generations of women and asks us all, can you reclaim your life without knowing your roots?
Match
a new play by Jennifer Maisel
Direction & Dramaturgy by Diana Wyenn
Featuring –Carolina Hoyos, Josh T. Ryan, Ilana Turner, Ray Xifo, and Miebaka Yohannes
Lighting Design – Joey Guthman
Sound Design – John Zalewski
Costume Design – Rebecca Carr
Prop Design – Effy Yizhou Yang
Stage Manager – Jeffree Davis
Leo has a wife and needs a kidney. Leyla needs Leo and wants a baby—or is it the other way around? Ben needs a kidney and desperately longs for human connection. Maddy needs redemption—will donating a kidney give her that? Moss deals in flesh, seeking the highest bidder. As a bromance flourishes and organs are harvested, as faith is tested and baked goods are devoured, these five New Yorkers find themselves asking: Can there really be such a thing as a gift with no strings attached? Match is an audacious new dramedy from award-winning playwright Jennifer Maisel about failing kidneys, delicious muffins, and the lengths we will go to to save the people we love.
Last Stop
a new play by Katherine Cortez
Directed by Rosie Glen-Lambert
Featuring – Tyler Bremer, Ronnie Clark, Marian Gonzalez, Ammy Ontiveros, Victoria Ortiz, Kevyn Richmond, Deborah Strang and Julian Yuen
Society has changed. Fear has de-civilized. A new underground railroad arises for those oppressed peoples seeking freedom. ‘Last Stop’ looks at the world as it could become and the resilience of “ordinary” people, asking the question: what will you do when push comes to shove?
Journey To Alice
a new play by Aja Houston
Directed by Annie McVey
Featuring – Shirley Jordan, Sola Bamis, Alma Collins, Nadège August, and Leonard R. Garner Jr.
Associate Producer – Chandler Turk
Flying with her mother to a wedding, Lynè encounters the unexpected and inexplicable, threatening her struggle to hold her own world together. ‘Journey to Alice’ grapples with family, loss, as well as the weight and power of inheritance.
Friends with Guns
a new play by Stephanie Walker
Directed by Randee Trabitz
Featuring – Arianna Ortiz, Joe Fria, Justin Huen, and Paula Weston Solano
Two sleep-deprived moms meet at a West LA park, and it’s instant sisterhood. Their husbands hit it off, too, and it seems as though they’ve found their ‘tribe’ — until the issue of guns comes up. Friends With Guns explores the question of what we can compartmentalize…and what we can’t.
Ascent
a new play by Henry Ong
based on the true story of Qian Xuesen
direction and dramaturgy by Diana Wyenn
Featuring – West Liang, Kara Wang, Bart Tangredi, and Russell Edge
with original music by J.R. Schwartz
Born in China. Trained by America. Ascent is the story of how one promising Chinese immigrant shaped the rise of not one, but two, world nuclear powers.
At the 2016 Hollywood Fringe Festival, Vanessa Espino won The Inkwell Playwright’s Promise Award for her play Odilia. Inkwell is proud to have supported the development of the latest play in her Mexican/Greek trilogy.
Falling Water is a modern adaptation and retelling of the La Lorona folk tale. It follows the journey of Luz, an artist who finds herself at the crossroads of following her passion or the expectations building a new family and the traditions that come with a mother. Falling Water blends ancient allegory with modern sensibility to create a haunting tale of love, hope and loss.
Featuring
Warren Davis, Shirley Jordan, Josh Stamell, Gina Torrecilla, and Dale Waddington
Thanks to our cast, crew, staff and our passionate and supportive audiences.
