Harold Pinter, playwright, actor and political activist, dies aged 78.

(pause)

Merry Christmas.

Click below to hear Mr. Pinter's Noble Prize acceptance speech.

Art, Truth & Politics

Scrooge Must Die!

Only 10 Shows Left!

Here it is. That dirty something for the holidays. Come check out Actors' Gang retelling of Charles Dickens' classic tale A Christmas Carol. The play tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge—the misanthropic, greedy, f---ing prick. With the current administration on the way out these kind of jerks are all over the place- in politics, in business, in our own families, and even in ourselves. Especially in ourselves. We all have inside of us a little version of Scrooge. If you haven't already busted a liver from holiday partying come bust a gut down at the theatre. And don't bring the little ones. This is not Scrooge McDuck it is more like Scrooge McDick. Check out the video on our youtube channel before you buy your tickets so you cant say we didn't warn you...

Members of The Actors' Gang explored the subject of racism in America through an original workshop production titled "I'm not a racist, but..." It was conceived and directed by longtime company member Cynthia Ettinger. The goal of this workshop was to develop the play for future audiences and to engage those who saw it in dynamic conversations about the larger issue of separatism. The workshop was presented in October and November - right through the election. In this politically charged environment audiences were hooked by the immediacy of the work . Both the historical significance of the presidential the election and the closed mindedness surrounding Proposition 8 worked their way into the piece. “I’m not a racist, but…” achieved it's goal and got people talking after every show. This is our community.

The Actors’ Gang is a place that embraces civility, tolerance, and humility. It is no surprise that both theatre and democracy were invented at the same moment in time in ancient Greece. This play was created through empathy: the act of walking in someone else’s shoes. Democracy is created the same way. Politicians walk in our shoes; they represent us. That is what we are doing at the theater. That is what we voted for November 4th. That is what change is all about. To find out more about the future development of this show please join the facebook group "I'm not a racist, but..." @ the Actors' Gang

Bury the Dead Extended

This summer Matt Huffman directed a huge cast in "Bury the Dead" by Irwin Shaw. This play was on the mind of the the Actors Gang since last fall when we had a reading and workshops within the company. This time around the show extended two weeks beyond its slotted run largely due to the positive reviews. Click here to check out what our friends at flavorpill had to say. Or you can read the full Los Angeles Times “Critic’s Choice” review here. "At a time when the U.S. is still reeling from the effects of its wars in Vietnam and Iraq, Shaw’s play possesses a raw power, but it never lets us forget that it’s delivering a message... Matthew Huffman’s somber production is terrific, and so is his cast." "Go" LA Weekly.

King O'Leary cast photo
photo by Kim Zsebe

King O'Leary: Opening Weekend!

Our third annual children's shakespeare show has arrived! King O'Leary, a hilarious adaptation of the Bard's tragedy, King Lear, just opened this last weekened. All shows are completely free and are performed in the park right next to our theatre in Culver City.

I won't give too much away, except to say that the story is now set in the old wild west gold mining community of Boomtown. The characters and plot stay true to the classic play while putting a comedic twist on the story. The kids loved it, and the adults laughed their heads off, too. Check it out! ... and watch out for the buffalo.

Finally, we'd like to extend a special thanks to the James Irvine Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, Sony Pictures, The Culver City Redevelopment Agency, and The City of LA Department of Cultural Affairs for making this free program possible.

King O'Leary

As we make the final preparations for the opening of our free park offering this year, I thought I would share a video compilation of last year's piece, "Titus the Clownicus." Enjoy!

If you want to see this year's play, "King O'Leary," it will be running every Saturday and Sunday at 11am starting this Saturday, August 9, in Media Park and closing August 31. Bring the whole family and share in the fun!

Summer Camp: Part Deux

The Summer camps are officially over, and let me tell you, the pre-teen camp, with seventeen kids ages eight through twelve, was a whole different animal. If the Teen camp was roadrunner, starting off at an amiable pace and picking up speed every day, peaking with an explosive performance on Friday, the kids camp was a crazed wolverine fresh out of the cage, with way more energy than seems natural to most interns, like yours truly. That said, it was a very likeable crazed wolverine.



The teen summer camp's lunch time supervision( if you could call it that), consisted of chilling in the park, talking about stuff like favorite movies and shows. PRE-teen summer camp lunchtimes were something like this:

ME: "Alright, everybody, stay on that side of the counter and I'll hand you your lunch."
KIDS: "I want to get it myself!"
ME: "No, I'll hand it to you. Okay, who has the green cooler."
KIDS: "Mine! That's mine!" "Look, I can jump over the counter!"
ME: "No, don't do thattt.... Okaaaay. Just, get back on the other side."

Later, as I'm doing one of my head counts, something I did once about every 2 minutes.

KIDS: "Hey, can I go over there?"\

ME : "No, you have to stay in the park."
KIDS: "Johnny's over there."
ME: "What?! Johnny, get back here!"
KIDS: "When are the other kids gonna get back from IN'n'Out?"
ME: "When Vanessa brings them back."
KIDS: "I wanna get In'n'Out." "I have to go to the bathroom!"

Yes, the constant energy of the campers never ceased to impress me. One of the most interesting tasks presented itself in the form of helping the kids get cleaned up after they finished painting their own set; trying to clean their hands off outside with a garden hose and a spay nozel. One girl approached me, rubbing her cup of blue paint all over her hands and up her arms like it was soap.

"Hi. I kept on putting paint on me, that way it won't dry and it comes off easier."
".... I don't think it works like that."

But despite all the crazy, often high-stress level situations the campers got into, it was a lot of fun helping the Actors' Gang teachers with the camp. And it was never boring. My favorite part of the week came when I got to assist our Poduction Coordinator, Francois Pierre, as he taught the kids about stage lighting. With every new design he threw on the wall with a gobo'd spotlight, with every new color or effect he created with different gels, the kids would go crazy.

"WHOA!!! DO THAT AGAIN!"
"NEAT! That was SO Cool!"

And it really was cool. The kids loved the camp, and I could tell when I watched their performance on Friday, along with all their parents and some grandparents, that they had really gotten a lot out of it.

Prize of Hope Video

Here's a video that Simon Anthony created to show in conjunction with the awards ceremony when we were given the Prize of Hope.




And here is some streaming video from the Awards Ceremony

Summer Camp Part 1

Hi again. It's Alex, here at the Actors' Gang, and as of today we are halfway into our first week of Summer Camp. This week is strictly teens, while two weeks from now we have another theatre camp for pre-teens.

I got here on monday at 9 a.m, quite a switch from working mostly nights for the past couple weeks on 1984. After barely seeing Vanessa for three weeks, it was great to see her again. She's in charge/ the mastermind behind the two Summer Camps. Plus, I was glad to be working at the theatre in Culver City again.

Vj and Justin are teaching the morning sessions and I got the chance to sit in on a little bit of that. Right away the teens got acquainted with the Commedia Del Arte characters that the Gang trains with every Sunday in workshop. It was a welcome reminder to me too, having already forgotten a lot of what I'd learned about Commedia after my USC finals this spring. After that the campers selected a character they were going to portray over the course of the week (Harlequino, Columbina, Brighella... etc.), they went on to pick what they wanted for costumes and makeup.

Watching the camp, and seeing the campers really start to grow as actors has been great, and it's definitely been a learning experience for me, too. The whole thing's giving me the acting bug again.

I take my lunch break at the same time as the campers, too, and have found out they're all really cool kids. Topics of discussion range from favorite movies to what shows they've done to what they're learning to which famous celebrities we've randomly seen around the city. Plus, I've been putting a good word in for USC (despite my afformentioned History of World Theatre amnesia, it's an amazing school). Gotta show them the light before the Bruins here get to 'em first.

The Prize of Hope.

Hi everyone! It's the intern again.

Happy to say that 1984 closed strong at the Redcat, with many sold-out shows the last weekend and a remarkable guest speaker: Gore Vidal. Gore was surprisingly hilarious and predictibly brilliant as he lectured on the destruction of our constitution and the decay of our nation under the current administration. He closed with a morbid tale about Benjamin Franklin: When our Constitutionion was first drafted, he recounted, Franklin stated that throughout history, Republics such as the one defined under our Constitution failed within a short time due to the corruption of the people.

... (Silence for about five seconds. One thousand one. One thousand two... Then, FINALLY, thunderous applause.) It was a disurbing tale from a brilliant man.

After our final show on Sunday, Mia took over and we had a surprisingly quick strike of the set. I said auf wiedersehen to my parnter in crime Annetta, and to Erica, agreeing that we would all reunite one day for corn on the cob and sour kraut.

But while I was away, apparently, some prestigious things have been happening at the Actors' Gang. In June we garnered The Prize of Hope, from Denmark’s Institute for Popular Theatre! The Prize of Hope is awarded to a person or theater "who has worked for human hope in a daring, loving, vulgar, serious, poetic manner with sparkling energy" and is given to "those who encourage people to use their own eyes, ears and voice." YEAH! Vanessa, Justin, and Actors' Gang founding members Cynthia Ettinger and Tim Robbins flew up to Blue Lake, California to accept the prestigous award (pictured above) on June 21st.

It's also a very unique award, as the Institute created the mask specificallly to be an embodiment of what they felt the Gang represents.

I think it looks a little like Voltron. Or a Tic-Tic from 10,000 B.C., not that I'm admitting I saw that movie.

In other news our annual Summer Camp began on monday, this one for teens, and it's going great. More on that later...

1984 @ Redcat! Down With Big Brother!

Hi everybody! It's the intern again, reporting to say we're finished with our first successful week of 1984 @ the Redcat Theatre. Only 2 more weeks left, so get you're tickets while you can.

Working on this show has been quite the experience. The first day in the space a rag-tag team of actors and myself were able to erect the entire set in only a few hours (under Mia's careful tutelage). We were like Gremlins, but opposite. That's right, Snilmergs.

And the theater, located right under the Disney Concert Hall, is an incredible space. The lobby ain't half bad either, complete with a bar which usually has one or two actors hunched over it before each show. JK. While I'm working backstage with the lovely Annetta (a designer with the Gang hailing from Germany, who's also crewing the show) Intern numero dos, or uno, depending on which one of us you ask, anyway his name is Will, is in the back of the house running the sound for the show. I don't want to spoil the magic of theatre for you too much, so I'll just say that the show is a terrific ensemble piece with just the right amount of technical magic and spectacle (provided in part by yours truly).

Another perk to the show is that if you catch it on the right night, you'll get to experience a talk-back from the actors and possibly a guest speaker. Probably the most insightful was
John Dean, a man who was White House Counsel to the Nixon administration during Watergate, and author of the 2004 book, Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush. Looking for a chance to passionately talk politics with a friend of the opposite party? Chances are this show could spark it. But whether you're a political enthusiast or just want to see a play involving brainwashing, a futuristic dystopia, sex, violence, and all-in-all a profound examination of what it means to be human, this is the one for you. Check it out!

The Internship- 1st week.

(06/13/08)

So this is my first entry as the new intern here at the Actor’s Gang, and I’m pleased to say it’s been one exciting first week. I arrived for my first day on Tuesday to find the theater filled with people working on all sorts of things. I met with my boss, Vanessa, who showed me to my desk upstairs, in one of the funkiest offices I’ve ever seen. I quickly met all the regulars here, including Greg, Mia, and Joel, and knew right away this was gonna be a fun place to work. Later on as I was working on the mailing, advertising 1984 and KLUB I looked over and saw Kristen Chenowith getting made up in one of the dressing room chairs. Whaaaaa? Apparently she was shooting in the theater for some show that’s going to be shown in New York. Pretty good start to a first day. Just as we were finishing up with the mailing I got another job offer:

“So, would you be interested at all in crewing 1984 at the Redcat these next couple we-.”

“-YES.”

Next thing you know I’m heading over to the National Wushu headquarters to be on book for the actors as they rehearse 1984 in this expansive black box-esque space. Oh, and I met the director, Tim Robbins, or Tim, as I like to call him when I’m bragging to my roommate about my new internship. The rest of the week has been about the same: Working the first half of the day at the Actor’s Gang in Culver City, then going to help with rehearsal of 1984 for the second half. I also met Erica, a fellow Nebraskan now currently living in LA, who's stage manager on the show. We reminisced about corn and Husker football. It was great. But what was really great was getting to see a group of actors rehearse for a show they’ve already toured for so long, so that the play has become almost second nature to them.

Next week I'll be helping Mia on Monday as we move the 1984 set into the Redcat theatre, and will be crewing the show for the next three weeks. I'm excited to see what the set looks like and what I'll be doing backstage.

Well, gotta go. I'm heading over to the Wushu headquarters for another rehearsal, then tonight we have an all-company meeting and barbecue. I can't wait to meet some more actors in the company and pig out on Mia's burgers and grilled corn on the cob.

Oh, and I'm sure it will be informative, too. :)

Until next time,

-Alex

Klüb Returns!

The cast of Klüb are in final rehearsals to prepare for the re-opening on Thursday. One of the things I'm excited about is seeing Donna Jo Thorndale stepping into the role of Madame Verona. If you saw her in Carnage, you know what a brilliantly funny actress she is. She also bakes a mean lemon scone, but that's another story.

In the meantime, I'm down at Redcat taking part in the preparations to open 1984 tonight. Yes, we have two shows opening in one week (and a board meeting on Thursday!). The show is looking really good here at Redcat; it's such a great space, and the people who work here are really cool.

Here's a video preview of Klüb. Come check it out. Thursdays at 8pm and Saturdays at 10:30pm are Pay What You Can!

George Orwell's "1984" Coming Back to LA

Well, it's getting busy here at the Gang again, as we gear up for the reopening of "Klub" at The Ivy Substation in Culver City and the return to Los Angeles of our touring production of "1984" directed by our artistic director, Tim Robbins, which will play at REDCAT downtown. I'm so excited that we're going to be performing at REDCAT again. The last time we were there, with "The Exonerated" was a huge success. The people there are awesome, and it's a great venue. Here's a video that our company member Simon Anthony created about "1984." Enjoy!

Actors' Gang Education Program in Flagstaff!!

It was a very exciting weekend for me because Jon Kellam and I were able to take the education program to Arizona and work with a group of students from Flagstaff Arts & Leadership Academy. After seeing multiple productions at The Actors' Gang, Mike Levin the Theater Instructor for the Academy, asked us to come out and teach a Style Workshop to his talented group of students. Jon and I flew in Friday night, after a ridiculously bumpy ride into the mountains, and were welcomed with open arms by this amazing community. We taught for 8 hours on Saturday and 5 hours on Sunday and the students couldn't get enough! As a teacher it was one of the most rewarding teaching experiences I have every had. As you can see from these pictures, the students and a couple of community members, picked up the States and the characters extremely quickly. Fortunately we were able to use the costumes from the local community theater, so the students could develop their images with full costume and make-up. Some of the comments we heard the students say throughout the weekend were: "This is the best theatrical experience I have ever had", "I already know I am a better actor because of this weekend intensive", and "Vanessa is so funny". Ok, so the last one I made up, but honestly it was a great experience all around. If you ever find yourself in Flagstaff, please check out this school because these students are amazing artists. Hopefully we can lure them to LA when they graduate to be a part of the company. This weekend reconfirmed for me the special work that we do as a company and we both were so proud to represent The Actors' Gang!!

Fixing the Lobby!

A project we've been working on for a while now is getting the lights in the lobby to all be on one switch, rather than plugged into a thousand different power strips... both for safety reasons, and because the way we have it set up now is pretty ridiculous. If you've seen a show at the Gang and noticed the lights blinking before the show starts, there is actually a person (often me!) who has climbed behind the counter, manouvered past costumes racks and props, and physically flicks the on/off switch on a power strip.

Susan Obrow from the Culver City Redevelopment Agency has been working tirelessly to get the lobby lighting hard-wired for us. Today she came by with the amazing Danny Barnes, also from Culver City, to look over the bids with Francois-Pierre. Hopefully a winning bid will be chosen soon, and by the next time you see a show here, it will all be completed!

Behind the Scenes Video from "Carnage," by Tim Robbins

Since we're just getting started with this blogging thing, I thought I might share this cool video that Simon Anthony from the Gang made about our last production, "Carnage," which was written by our Artistic Director, Tim Robbins, and directed by Beth Milles. Enjoy!

New Interns!

I love our new interns! Thanks to Vanessa, Steve, VJ, Ned and Cythia we have a really great group this year.

Here is the fabulous Kirsten counting cash from last weekend's closing performance of Klub. (forgive me Mike Schlitt for missing the umlaut)

First Blog attempt

After attending a very informative session on marketing for the arts using web 2.0 technology yesterday, we are inspired to take advantage of some new ideas here at The Gang! Zach Behrens, of LAist.com, showed us all how to harness the power of RSS, blogging, Facebook, etc. Thanks, Zach!

We are striking lights today to prepare for the students at the Culver City High School Academy of Performing and Visual Arts who are coming in to present their annual end of the school year showcase, Java Drama. Here's our great new interns Jesse and Ruben on my favorite piece of equipment, the genie lift.

I'm not sure I have figured out how to upload pictures yet, so if you don't see the photo above, be patient and I'm sure I will figure it out!

Tim Robbins speaks at NAB Conference

"Hello, I'm Tim Robbins. I'd like to thank you for the invitation to address you here at the National Association of Broadcasters. When I first received the invitation I was a little confused because the last time I had contact with the national media I seem to remember them telling me to shut the hell up.

"I would like to start with an apology. To Rush and Sean, and Billo and Savage and Laura what's-her-name. A few years ago they told America that because I had different opinions on the wisdom of going to war that I was a traitor, a Saddam lover, a terrorist supporter, undermining the troops. I was appealing at the time for the inspectors to have more time to find those weapons of mass destruction. I was a naïve dupe of left wing appeasement. And how right they were. If I had known then what I know now, if I had seen the festive and appreciative faces on the streets of Baghdad today, if I had known then what a robust economy we would be in, the unity of our people, the wildfire of democracy that has spread across the Mideast, I would never have said those traitorous, unfounded and irresponsible things. I stand chastened in the face of the wisdom of the talk radio geniuses, and I apologize for standing in the way of freedom."

For the speech in its entirety go to Huntington Post.
To see a video of the speech check out Paper Tiger TV.