The Lark takes Los Angeles 2019
Last month, we took a trip out to the West Coast to stay connected with some of the playwrights who have taken their skills to the small screen and moved to Los Angeles to write for television. For years now, Larkees have been popping up in writers rooms, where their voices are reaching millions of viewers through shows like The Good Fight, This Is Us, 13 Reasons Why, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Succession, and more. To talk more about how the influx of theater folks has impacted the arts scene in Los Angeles, local station Spectrum News 1 sat down to interview Lark Artistic Director John Clinton Eisner, and playwright, The New Black Fest Artistic Director, and LA-transplant Keith Josef Adkins, about what they've observed. Check out what they had to say below!
And if you're based in Southern California, be sure to check out some of the following Lark-developed plays that have made their way across the country this season!
October 22 - December 1, 2019 | Geffen Playhouse
THE THANKSGIVING PLAY by Larissa FastHorse
Three “woke” white thespians are tasked with devising an elementary school pageant about the first Thanksgiving while avoiding any culturally appropriative missteps.
November 6 - December 1, 2019 | East West Players
THE GREAT LEAP by Lauren Yee
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January 22 - February 16, 2020 | Cygnet Theatre
THE GREAT LEAP by Lauren Yee
When an American basketball team travels to Beijing for an exhibition game in 1989, the drama goes deeper than the strain between countries. For two men with a past and one teen with a future, the game is a chance to claim personal victories on and off the court. Tensions rise right up to the final buzzer as a pivotal moment in history collides with the action in the arena.
November 16 - December 15, 2019 | La Jolla Playhouse
CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND by Lauren Yee
Featuring a mix of contemporary Dengue Fever hits and classic Cambodian oldies, this epic play/rock concert tells the story of a young woman trying to piece together her family history thirty years after her father fled Cambodia, and brings to vivid life the Cambodian rock scene of the ‘60s and ‘70s, a movement cut short by the Khmer Rouge’s brutal attempt to erase the music (and musicians) once and for all.
January 5 - 26, 2020 | South Coast Repertory
FIREFLIES by Donja R. Love
Somewhere in the Jim Crow South, the sky burns red. A church bombing has rocked the Civil Rights Movement to its core, and Reverend Charles Grace must galvanize the people with messages of hope. His wife, Olivia, skillfully crafts his speeches, but her ability to play the supportive spouse is cracking under the weight of too many secrets.
April 12 - May 3, 2020 | South Coast Repertory
I GET RESTLESS by Caroline V. McGraw
Hazel just landed a job at a top law firm, bought a condo and married Mitch, who adores her. Then an accident on her honeymoon leaves her unable to remember anything about the past six years. Adrift in unanswered questions, Hazel must find who she is without knowing who she was. And what about a husband who’s now a stranger?
