The Inkwell Theater presents a staged reading of
“Motherland”
A new play by Lisa Kenner Grissom
Directed by Laura Stribling
Featuring: Alexis Genya, Schoen Hodges, Ross Kramer, Abigail Marks, & Jayne Taini
Original Music by JR Schwartz
Produced by Daniel Shoenman
April 13, 15, & 16 @ 8pm
All remaining performances SOLD OUT
A guest production at VS. Theatre
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?
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 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
Produced by Daniel Shoenman
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.
Last Season at the Inkwell LAB
Sisters Three
A New Play by Jami Brandli
Directed by Annie McVey
Featuring – Robyn Cohen, Dana DeRuyck, Kara Hume
The Brontë sisters, modern day, Christmas Eve. Due to the death of their brother, Charlotte has dropped out of society and joined a commune on Gondol Island. So Emily and Anne build a canoe to rescue her. Sisters Three is an off-center dramedy about family, social media, fame, the holidays, and the perfect cupcake.
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.
Also developed at the Inkwell LAB
M-Theory: a play told in 11 dimensions
By Jami Brandli
Directed by Diana Wyenn
Featuring: Brenda Varda, Kristy Johnson, & Reena Dutt
Produced by Daniel Shoenman, Bonnie Hallman & Annie McVey
Dramaturge Ari Agbabian
Fortune Wheel
By Joey Damiano
Directed by Jeff Liu
Featuring:
Emily Kuroda, Peter James Smith, Burl Moseley,
& Deja Soufka
Produced by Daniel Shoenman & Annie McVey
Dramaturge
Ari Agbabian
Casting by
Lisa Pantone
