Showing results by publisher "L.A. Theatre Works" in Drama & Plays

Winner of the Susan Smith Backburn Prize honoring women writers worldwide, Emma’s Child explores the idea of commitment in a marriage as a parent. Told gently, lovingly, and with unexpected humor, this is the story of a childless couple struggling to decide whether to continue the adoption process when the baby they had hoped for is born severely disabled.

Three terminally stylish friends, who share rivalrous affections, attempt to uncoil their twisted love triangle in this sexy and scandalous gem. Written in 1932, the play was deemed extremely daring, and even by today's standards is considered controversial. In its frank and funny take on sex, love, and commitment, Design for Living proves to be one of Coward's greatest successes.

In a contest of intellect and wills, Abby Gersten, a tenacious civil liberties attorney, defends a right-wing Holocaust denier, arguing her case against a young, committed Jewish federal prosecutor. But Abby may have to sacrifice everything to prove that Truth and Justice do not always go hand in hand. Performed by a full cast starring Stephanie Zimbalist, Harold Gould, and more.

An intense, chilling take on life behind bars, this performance strikes a fine balance of intellectual vigor and sophistication on the one hand and so much anguished passion on the other.

This is a hilarious comedy in which an actor decides to end his career, throw out his résumés and become a furniture maker. Featuring a full-cast performance with D. W. Moffett, Bruce Norris, Lucy Childs, Christopher Donahue, Kevin Hurley, Amy Morton, Susan Nussbaum, and William Peterson.

Reality is stranger than fiction when seven 1960s radicals refuse to behave in Judge Julius Hoffman's courtroom. Based on actual trial transcripts and starring a cast of top Chicago actors, this play centers on events following the protests and riots during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.

As the '20s roared and the Harlem renaissance thrived, a young woman from rural Florida became the toast of literary New York. Jump At The Sun chronicles the passionate life of Zora Neale Hurston (author of Their Eyes Are Watching God), who went from spinning tales on the front porch of a country store to writing prize-winning stories, novels, and plays. Imbued with the rhymes and rhythms of the Jazz Age, Hurston's story reveals a woman's ferocious appetite for life, literature, and love.

This tale of illicit passion, set among the lush cane fields of the Hawaiian islands in 1919, was inspired by a true incident. Beautiful 16-year-old Yachiyo reluctantly leaves her impoverished parents to live with sophisticated relatives. As she acquires civilized graces, she also struggles with a passion for her hostess' husband.

On November 24, 1947, the most powerful men in American film met in New York’s plush Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to decide how to address the Communist witch-hunt being carried out by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Twenty-four hours later, they emerged having created the Hollywood Blacklist. The Waldorf Conference dramatically speculates on what went on in that room.

In 1943, something strange is going on in the New Mexican desert. By night, the starkly beautiful canyons of Los Alamos fill with the sound of exploding graphite - and by day, the crackle of scientific brainpower. Fifty years after Hiroshima, Atomic Bombers takes us into those secretive canyons to meet the cadre of brilliant scientists who worked there.

What happens when conflicting emotions inhabit the same space? When a new vocabulary is devised to disguise the same old thoughts? In this barbed satire of political correctness, Rebecca Gilman's provocative characters spin a web of their own, revealing the latent racism that may lurk beneath the porcelain veneer of a liberated conscience.

Hailed by The Boston Globe as "a gem," The Ruby Sunrise begins when a 1920s tomboy feverishly works to develop her latest invention - a little something called "television." Twenty-five years later, her daughter will stop at nothing to bring her mother's incredible story to life during TV's Golden Age. But will it get the truth it deserves? An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring Asher Book, Katharine Leonard, Kate McGregor-Stewart, Elisabeth Moss, Jason Ritter, Kate Steele and Henry Winkler.

A deeply affecting and genuinely funny journey through the medical juggernaut of DES, and anti-miscarriage drug given to millions of pregnant women and later discovered to cause cancer and reproductive problems in their children. Picoult as journalist and DES daughter reveals the strength of mothers and daughters fighting together for their lives with guts, humor and love. A one-woman performance featuring Darci Picoult..

Prize-winning author Joyce Carol Oates turns her satiric eye to Tobias Harte, a man obsessed with perfection in everything from ethics to egg salad. Rollicking comedy ensues as Harte struggles with his highly imperfect family and friends.

In Deborah Zoe Laufer’s End Days, a suburban family is undergoing a spiritual crisis following the September 11th attacks. Sylvia Stein has turned to Christianity to save her disaffected husband Arthur and her rebellious teenage daughter Rachel. But as Sylvia races around preparing for the Rapture, Rachel is learning that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in her philosophy.

Beware the gossips! Lady Sneerwell and her hireling, Snake, are certainly up to no good in this timeless send-up of hypocritical manners. Thanks to their scandal-mongering, the comely Lady Teazle must fend off the slanderous barbs that have caught the ear of her elderly husband - as well as every other gossip in London! What follows is a torrent of mistaken identities and sex-crazed scheming in which the upper classes have never looked so low class.

A wistful look back at a young Hispanic woman’s “MGM”, which stands for “My Grandmama”. The narrator often channels “MGM” for advice as she tries to succeed as a second-generation American. An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring Yolanda Lloyd, Tony Plana, Rose Portillo, Ruben Sierra and Renée Victor. Directed by Peggy Shannon. Recorded before a live audience in June 1992.

Of One Blood is a poignant and disturbing play about the infamous murder of three civil rights workers - James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner - in Mississippi in 1964. The broadcast includes an interview with Rita Bender, Michael Schwerner's wife in 1964.

Harry Shearer’s fantasy about a World’s Fair held in Kansas City. Told in quick blackouts, it resembles a profane Simpsons episode. An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring Fran Adams, David Arnott, Lewis Arquette, James Avery, Hank Azaria, Dan Castellaneta, Timothy Fall, David L. Lander, Tom Leopold, Edie McClurg, Julie Payne, Mary Kay Place, John Randolph, Erika Schickel, Harry Shearer, and Fred Willard. Directed by Harry Shearer. Recorded before a live audience in February, 1995.

> Dreams of Home is a surreal urban fantasy about two lost souls on a subway platform, attempting to salvage their dignity as their eccentric host taunts them. A full-cast performance featuring Lisa Marie Ackel, Noe Cuellar, Frankie Davila, Laurie Martinez, Rita Moreno, and Juan A. Ramirez.