Comedy

Ambulance Men written and directed by Garrett M. Brown
Zen and the Art of Mourning a Mother by Barbara B. Goldman
Directed by Tamara McDonough
Lamb by Elizabeth Logun
Directed by Sally Fairman
Hope Bloats by Patricia Scanlon
Directed by David Gautreaux
Five Actors by David Starzyk
Directed by Kim Fitzgerald

Three One-Act Plays by Lanford Wilson

The Madness of Lady Bright
Wandering
This is the Rill Speaking

a sweet, dreamy romantic comedy

a magical, snow-covered family retreat is the scene to which young jonathan and ariel try to escape to be alone for new year's, only to find that jonathan's mother and father and their respective lovers have gotten the same idea. a romantic getaway quickly becomes a stay in hell when this accidental, snow-bound gathering causes suspicions and jealousies to flare out of control. add to this mix some various shades of local color who tip the scales back and forth as to whether these entangled lovers will destroy each other or find new strength in the power of love, and you have chuck mee's wintertime.

BackStage West CRITIC'S PICK!
"...inspired sections of sheer lunacy... sweeping emotional extravagance... downright hilarious... a can't-take-your-eyes-off-it theatrical outing!"
"...[a] wild, wintry sleigh ride. It glides over the mysteries of human love, jingling all the way." -l.a. citybeat

A funny, yet touching play, looking at the life of woman who experiencing a pre-mature mid-life crisis. Karen Hoffman takes you on an eccentric journey through the ridiculous, strange and somewhat grotesque tests of womanhood. She takes you on this journey by reflecting on the crazy choices that she’s made in her life, love and pursuit of normalcy. In revealing her deepest fears and growing sense of isolation, in the end, she has much more than she ever realized.

What happened in the '80s didn't stay in the '80s

Activist and playwright Larry Kramer (The Normal Heart) has never shied away from speaking the unspeakable. And what could be more unspeakable than mixing Nancy Reagan with sex, drugs, and pure denial?

Theatre of NOTE presents the West Coast premiere of Just Say No. It is 1982, and the affluent and fabulous Foppy Schwartz has a problem larger than deciding where to take the ladies who lunch. He is caught in the middle of a sex scandal that threatens the re-election of America's most powerful political figures. A feckless New York mayor, a closeted son, and even the nation's infamous first lady all converge into Foppy's crowded townhouse for help. Will Foppy keep the secrets and lies of the high and mighty? Will Foppy finally ask the powerful Mrs. Potentate to save his dying friends from a mysterious disease? And what will he wear while doing it? One part sex comedy and one part social exposé, Larry Kramer's vital and vitriolic Just Say No, a play about a farce, reminds us that we can laugh at anything, even a plague that still threatens us all.

EVENING A: RETROSPECTIVES
Very Strange Fruit by Mark V. Jonesdirected by Tony Robinson
Biscuit, CB and Whats-His-Face written and directed by Mark V. Jones

EVENING B: ENCOUNTERS
The Rich Bitch by Veronica Thompsondirected by Tony Robinson
The Launching of Katie Garrison by Christopher Woodsdirected by Kila Kitu
Digital Natives by Barbara White Morgan directed by Nancy Cheryll Davis
The Meeting by Jeff Stetson directed by Niva Dorell

The bigger the star, the more tragic his fall.

THE SWINE SHOW chronicles the life of the legendary Swine, a man who could live on beer and cigarettes alone. He was perhaps the biggest star ever seen at the box office and on television, and this is his story. From his humble beginnings with the Chicken Brothers Sideshow on Wheels through his training at the Upper Lip Performance Academy (ULPA), his years of indentured servitude with the fabulously wealthy Mrs. Gouge, his subsequent rise to stardom followed by his tragic fall followed by his inspiring redemption, Swine consistently bent over backwards just to entertain. This is his story. But we've already said that.

"...hilariously trenchant... deliriously wrong and exactly right... an unhinged hoot... inspired dementia!" -L.A. TIMES (CRITIC'S CHOICE!)

"...ruthless, riotous... prescient satire... deliriously go-for-broke... crowd-pleasing... sharp and smart!" - L.A. WEEKLY (GO!)