
Productions & Events

ROE
An urgent call to action in response to the upcoming Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that gave women the choice of a safe, legal abortion.
June 23 - July 10
Fri - Sun 8pm
Outdoor Stage

LA Theatre Pays Tribute to Ed Krieger
The Los Angeles theatre community lost a dear friend on December 16, 2020. For decades, through the lens of his camera, Ed chronicled the production history of local stages throughout Southern California.
Let’s come together in a digital gathering to celebrate Ed’s life and work, and to assemble as a community of Los Angeles theater-makers.

Interviewing Miss Davis
Settle in with your favorite beverage on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET when the Fountain Theatre winds up 2020 and its monthly Saturday Matinee series with an Old Hollywood-themed holiday party filled with joy, games, and — of course — an online playreading

Theatre Talk feat. Larry Powell
Join special guest Larry Powell: writer, actor, director. Hosted by Stephen Sachs.

Saturday Matinees at The Fountain feat. Leslie Gray Streeter
Special guest entertainment columnist Leslie Gray Streeter joins our host France-Luce Benson for another installment of Saturday Matinees at The Fountain.

The Fountain Theatre and Tell Me A Story Productions presents The Gaze.
THE GAZE is a cycle of plays that examines the process of building culturally specific and queer works of color in historically white spaces. It tackles hard topics like racism head on. It wrestles with the question:
Why strain to be free under a gaze fixed on your imprisonment when it’s you who is holding the key? Why stay? Go where? No Homo is the first play in the cycle.

Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Feat. Holli Harms
Join special guest Holli Harms, playwright, screenwriter, and short-story writer for another installment of Saturday Matinees at the Fountain, hosted by France-Luce Benson.

Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Feat. Lynne Streeter Childress
Special guest Lynne Streeter Childress joins host France-Luce Benson for another installment of Saturday Matinees at The Fountain.

Raise Your Voice - VOTE
Raise Your Voice - Vote! Is a guerrilla-style, immersive theatre event to take place over the weekend of October 24 & 25. An ensemble will present a series of pop up performances in public spaces throughout Los Angeles. Each piece will feature America's most iconic speeches about voting rights.
Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Feat Padraic Lillis
Padraic Lillis is the Founding Artistic Director of The Farm Theater whose mission is to cultivate early career artists through workshop, production, and mentoring. He is a director, playwright, and educator.
Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Feat Lisa Strum
Lisa Strum, a Philadelphia native living and working in the New York area is a director, an educator, actress, playwright, producer, casting director, singer and a certified wedding officiant! She received an MFA in Acting from the University of Washington in Seattle and has performed in regional theatres all across the country.

Talking Peace
Art imitates life when the Fountain Theatre presents Talking Peace, a new 10-minute, site-specific “Zoom-within-a-Zoom” by acclaimed playwright France-Luce Benson. Talking Peace will premiere on day one of Alternative Theatre L.A.’s Together LA: A Virtual Theatre Festival, one of six short plays presented by Los Angeles-based theater companies on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. ET.

Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Feat Josh Wilder
Join prize-winning playwright Josh Wilder and your host France-Luce Benson for an inspiring Saturday Matinee at The Fountain.

Theatre Talk feat. Beatrice Casagran & Martha Demson
The Dynamic Duo! These two female Artistic Directors are working tirelessly to help save the Los Angeles community during this COVID crisis, and have become pals in the process. Hosted by Stephen Sachs.

Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Feat Kit Yan & Melissa Li
Join Kit Yan & Melissa Li for another installment of Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Hosted by France-Luce Benson

The Ballad of Emmett Till 2020
In August, 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi when he was accused of whistling at Carolyn Bryant, a white woman who was a cashier at a grocery store. Four days later, Bryant's husband Roy and his half-brother J.W. Milam kidnapped Till, beat him and shot him in the head.
The original director and cast of the Fountain Theatre’s 2010, multiple award-winning production of The Ballad of Emmett Till by Ifa Bayeza will reunite for a live-streamed reading of the play

Theatre Talk feat. Ifa Bayeza
Playwright Ifa Bayeza, author of The Ballad of Emmett Till, joins host Stephen Sachs on Theatre Talk on Thursday, August 27th @ 4pm PT/7pm ET. The night before our special livestream reading of the play.

Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Featuring Dennis A. Allen II
Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Featuring Dennis A. Allen II. Playwright, Actor, Director.

Theatre Talk feat. Jon Rivera
Join Jon Rivera, Artistic Director of Playwrights Arena along with your host Stephen Sachs.

Theatre Talk feat. Robert Schenkkan
Join Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning playwright and screenwriter Robert Schenkkan and host Stephen Sachs.

Theatre Talk: Daniel's Husband & The Normal Heart Company Reunion
Celebrate Pride Month with a Daniel's Husband & The Normal Heart company reunion. Featuring Verton Banks, Bill Brochtrup, Tim Cummings, Jose Fernando, Matt Gottlieb, Simon Levy, Ed Martin, Michael McKeever, Jenny O'Hara, Lisa Pelikan, Dan Shaked, and Jeff Witzke. Hosted by Stephen Sachs.

Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Featuring Showtime Blues by France-Luce Benson
Showtime Blues by France-Luce Benson
On a stalled train, Ameira and Demetrius dodge law enforcement and grapple with the realities of life as a moving target.

Theatre Talk. Featuring Wren T. Brown
Wren T. Brown, founder of Ebony Repertory Theatre joins your host Stephen Sachs for another edition of Theatre Talk.

Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Plays, prose, and poetry celebrating our fathers.
Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Plays, prose, and poetry celebrating our fathers.

Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Featuring Deux Femmes on the Edge de la Revolution.
This week, in honor of all the men and women on the front lines of our Nation's current uprising, we'll celebrate one of the greatest uprisings in world history - The Haitian Revolution. Join us for excerpts from the first play in France-Luce Benson's epic trilogy - Deux Femmes on the Edge de la Revolution.

CITIZEN: An American Lyric. Live Reading.
Join us for a live reading of our smash-hit CITIZEN: An American Lyric.
A provocative meditation on race, fusing prose, poetry, movement, music, and the visual image. A lyric poem, snapshots, vignettes, on the acts of everyday racism. Remarks, glances, implied judgments. Some of these encounters are slights, seeming slips of the tongue, and some are intentional offensives in the classroom, at the supermarket, at home, on the tennis court with Serena Williams and the soccer field with Zinedine Zidane, online, on TV — everywhere, all the time. Those did-that-really-just-happen-did-they-really-just say-that slurs that happen every day and enrage in the moment and later steep poisonously in the mind. And, of course, those larger incidents that become national or international firestorms. As Rankine writes, “This is how you are a citizen.”

Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Featuring Darrel Alejandro Holnes & Tom Angelo
Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Featuring Darrel Alejandro Holnes & Tom Angelo

Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Featuring Antonio David Lyons
Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Featuring Antonio David Lyons

Theatre Talk feat. playwright Nambi E. Kelley
Award-winning playwright Nambi E. Kelley (Native Son, Jazz) shares her process as an acclaimed writer and actress.

Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Featuring Vanessa Garcia & Cameron Dye
Saturday Matinees at The Fountain. Featuring Vanessa Garcia & Cameron Dye
HUMAN INTEREST STORY
Written by Stephen Sachs (author of Bakersfield Mist)
Directed by Stephen Sachs
Produced by Simon Levy, James Bennett, Deborah Culver
Starring Tanya Alexander, Richard Azurdia, Aleisha Force, James Harper, Matt Kirkwood, Rob Nagle, Tarina Pouncy
Feb 15 – April 5, 2020
World Premiere – Written and Directed by Stephen Sachs (author of Bakersfield Mist). Newspaper columnist Andy Kramer is laid off when a corporate takeover downsizes the City Chronicle. In retaliation, Andy fabricates a letter to his column from an imaginary homeless woman named “Jane Doe” who announces she will kill herself on the 4th of July because of the heartless state of the world. When the letter goes viral, Andy is forced to hire a homeless woman to stand-in as the fictitious Jane Doe. She becomes an overnight internet sensation and a national women’s movement is ignited.
BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY
Written by Stephen Adly Guirgis
Directed by Guillermo Cienfuegos
Executive Producer Barbara Herman
Produced by Simon Levy
Starring Victor Anthony, Joshua Bitton, Lesley Fera, Liza Fernandez, Matthew Hancock, Marisol Miranda, Montae Russell
Previewed Oct. 16 – Oct. 18
Opened Oct. 19
EXTENDED UNTIL JANUARY 26, 2020
Walter “Pops” Washington is a retired New York City policeman. His wife has died and his son, “Junior”, has just been released from jail. They live in a rent-controlled apartment on Riverside Drive in New York City. Junior’s girlfriend, Lulu, and Oswaldo, a recovering addict, also spend time at the apartment. Walter has been pursuing a discrimination suit against the Police Department, because he was accidentally shot by another police officer.
New York Times Critic’s Pick! – “For theatergoers who are tired of the clear-cut eithers and ors of most mainstream play writing, ‘Between Riverside and Crazy’… is a dizzying and exciting place to be… ‘Riverside’ creeps up on you. And every time you think you’ve figured out where it’s going, Mr. Guirgis alters its course, forcing you to readjust your emotional bearings and your take on its characters.”
HANNAH AND THE DREAD GAZEBO
Written by Jiehae Park
Directed by Jennifer Chang
Produced by The Fountain Theatre in association with East West Players
Producing Underwriters: Diana Buckhantz and The Vladimir and Araxia Buckhantz Foundation · Wendy Chang · Jean Christensen & Steve Warheit · Lorraine Evanoff · Laurie & Robert Silton · Jerrie Whitfield & Dick Motika
Starring Jennifer Chang, Hahn Cho, Monica Hong, Wonjung Kim, Gavin Lee, Jully Lee
Low-Price Previews Aug. 14-16
Opens Sat. Aug. 17
Runs thru Sun. Sept. 29
Hannah is two weeks away from becoming a board-certified neurologist when she receives a strange Fedex package from her grandmother in faraway Korea. Inside are two things: a bona-fide-heart’s-desire wish, and a suicide note. The mystery sends Hannah and her family on a surreal, funny, and poignant journey back to their roots in North/South Korea and the forbidden Demilitarized Zone that divides them. This startling new comedy about mothers, daughters and granddaughters twists together a strange series of events within one little family to explore generational shifts, opposing worldviews, fantasy and reality, and the mystery of human experience.
DANIEL’S HUSBAND
Written by Michael McKeever
Directed by Simon Levy
Produced by James Bennett, Deborah Culver, Stephen Sachs
Starring Bill Brochtrup, Tim Cummings, Jose Fernando, Ed Martin, and Jenny O’Hara
May 1 – July 28, 2019 – Show Closed on July 28th
Southern California Premiere
Michael McKeever’s witty, passionate, and deeply moving play takes an unflinching look at how we choose to tie the knot — or not. Daniel and Mitchell are the perfect couple. Perfect house, perfect friends — even a mother who wants them married. They’d have the perfect wedding too, except that Mitchell doesn’t believe in gay marriage. A turn of events puts their perfect life in jeopardy, and Mitchell is thrust into a future in which even his love may not be enough. Daniel’s Husband is a bold reflection on love, commitment, and family in our perilous new world.
Starring Bill Brochtrup, Tim Cummings, Jose Fernando, Ed Martin, and Jenny O’Hara; directed by Simon Levy.
HYPE MAN: A BREAK BEAT PLAY
Written by Idris Goodwin
Directed by Deena Selenow
Produced by Simon Levy, Deborah Culver, James Bennett & Stephen Sachs
Starring Chad Addison, Matthew Hancock, Clarissa Thibeaux
West Coast Premiere – Winner, 2018 Elliot Norton Award – A music group is on the verge of making it big on national TV when a police shooting of a Black teen shakes the band to its core, forcing them to confront questions of race, gender, privilege and when to use artistic expression as an act of social protest.
Feb 23 – April 14
Low-Priced & PWYW Previews Feb 20-22
Saturdays at 8pm
Sundays at 2pm
Pay What You Want Mondays at 8pm
COST OF LIVING
Written by Martyna Majok
Directed by John Vreeke
Produced by Deborah Culver, James Bennett, Simon Levy, Stephen Sachs
Starring Tobias Forrest, Xochitl Romero, Felix Solis, Katy Sullivan - Understudy: Eileen Grubba
CRITIC’S CHOICE! – Los Angeles Times
The 2018 Pulitzer Prize winning play.
Opening October 20, 2018.
CAST:
Tobias Forrest, Xochitl Romero, Felix Solis, Katy Sullivan
Understudy: Eileen Grubba (November 12, 23 & 24)
ARRIVAL & DEPARTURE
Written by Stephen Sachs
Directed by Stephen Sachs
Produced by Simon Levy, Deborah Culver, and James Bennett
Starring Jessica Jade Andres, Deanne Bray, Adam Burch, Brian Robert Burns, Shon Fuller, Kyra Kotsur, Troy Kotsur, Aurelia Myers, and Stasha Surdyke
inspired by the screenplay for Noël Coward’s Brief Encounter
starring: Deanne Bray and Troy Kotsur
with: Jessica Jade Andres, Adam Burch, Brian Robert Burns, Shon Fuller,
Kyra Kotsur, Aurelia Myers, and Stasha Surdyke
Previews: Wed July 11 – Fri July 13
Opens: Sat July 14 – Sun Sept 30
Fri 8pm, Sat 8pm, Sun 2pm, Mon 8pm
(MUST CLOSE SEPTEMBER 30th – CANNOT BE EXTENDED)
(Kyra Kotsur will perform as Jule the weekend of September 7-10)
THE CHOSEN
Written by Chaim Potok & Aaron Posner
Directed by Simon Levy
Produced by Stephen Sachs, Deborah Lawlor
Starring Jonathan Arkin, Steve B. Green, Dor Gvirtsman, Sam Mandel
EXTENDED AGAIN! – MUST CLOSE JUNE 10th
FRI 8pm
SAT 8pm
SUN 2pm
PWYW Mon 8pm (Limited Availability! Book Early)
ADDED SATURDAY MATINEES, 3PM, May 26th and June 9th
NO PERFORMANCES on May 11-14
Previews: January 17-19; Opened January 20, 2018
FREDDY
Written by Deborah Lawlor
Directed by Frances Loy
Movement and Dance Director Cate Caplin
Produced by James Bennett, Stephen Sachs, Simon Levy for the Fountain, & by Leslie Ferreira, Louie Piday for LACC Theatre Academy
Starring Marty Dew Mel England Alexandra Fiallos Jamal Hopes Tristen Kim Katie McConaughy Jackie Mohr Lamont Oakley Connor Clark Pascale Justice Quinn Savannah Rutledge Brianna Saranchock Trenton Tabak Jesse Trout Susan Wilder
The world premiere of a new play by Deborah Lawlor
SEPT 27 – OCT 14, 2017
Presented off-site at the beautiful Caminito Theatre
Los Angeles City College
855 N. Vermont Avenue, LA. 90029
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS’ BABY DOLL
Written by Stage Adaptation by Pierre Laville and Emily Mann, based on Tennessee Williams' screenplay
Directed by Simon Levy
Produced by Deborah Lawlor & Stephen Sachs
Starring Daniel Bess, Karen Kondazian, Lindsay LaVanchy, Steve Hofvendahl, George Roland
West Coast Premiere of a new stage adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ BABY DOLL.
RAVE REVIEWS!
EXTENDED through OCT 30!
MY MAÑANA COMES
Written by Elizabeth Irwin
Directed by Armando Molina
Produced by Stephen Sachs
Starring Richard Azurdia, Pablo Castelblanco, Peter Pasco and Lawrence Stallings
Four busboys in the kitchen of an upscale restaurant learn the hard way how to deal with pay cuts that could jeopardize their dreams for a better life, their dignity and their friendship. Fast-paced, hip and funny, the play brings to colorful life the camaraderie, sharing of dreams, competition and traitorous backstabbing that climaxes with a powerful dramatic turn at the end.
Runs April 16 – June 13
MY NAME IS ASHER LEV
Written by Aaron Posner
Directed by Stephen Sachs
Starring Jason Karasev, Anna Khaja, Joel Polis
EXTENDED UNTIL MAY 18TH!
Thursdays-Saturdays, 8pm; Sundays, 2pm
Los Angeles Premiere. Adapted by Aaron Posner from the beloved, best-selling novel by Chaim Potok (The Chosen) and set in post-war Brooklyn, the powerful story of a Jewish boy’s struggle to become an artist at any cost, against the will of his parents, community and tradition. A recent hit Off-Broadway. Winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play and the John Gassner Playwriting Award.
HEART SONG
Written by Stephen Sachs
Closed 8/25/13
Ovation Nomination – Best Season. Outstanding! -Los Feliz Ledger
ON THE SPECTRUM
Written by Ken LaZebnik
Closed 4/28/13
Ovation Nomination – Best Season. Rave! -The Hollywood Reporter
IN THE RED AND BROWN WATER
Written by Tarell Alvin McCraney
Closed 2/24/13
Los Angeles Times: Best in Theater 2012 – Best of Los Angeles Theatre 2012
THE BLUE IRIS
Written by Athol Fugard
Closed 9/16/12
2012 Ticketholder Awards (Runners-Up): Top 10 Play Productions, Best Actor, Best Playwright
CYRANO
Written by Stephen Sachs
Closed 7/29/12
LA Stage Times: Highlights of 2012 Theater. L.A. Drama Critics Circle Awards : Best Production
EL NOGALAR
Written by Tanya Saracho
Closed 3/11/12
RAVE! -LA Times. Critic’s Pick! 5 Stars! – BroadwayWorld.com
BAKERSFIELD MIST
Written by Stephen Sachs
Closed 12/18/11
LA Weekly: Top 10 Theatre Experiences, 2011. StageSceneLA: Best New Plays 2010-2011
A HOUSE NOT MEANT TO STAND
Written by Tennessee Williams
Closed 5/22/11
2011 Ticketholder Awards (Runners-Up): Best Production. StageSceneLA: Outstanding Production/Comedy
THE TRAIN DRIVER
Written by Athol Fugard
Closed 1/30/11
StageandCinema.com: Best of 2010. StageHappenings.com: Top Productions 2010.
OPUS
Written by Michael Hollinger
Closed 9/26/10
Back Stage Garland Awards: Best Production. LADCC Awards nominations: Best Production.
THE BALLAD OF EMMETT TILL
Written by Ifa Bayeza
Closed 5/30/10
OVATION Awards: Best Production. Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards: Best Production.
SHINING CITY
Written by Conor McPherson
Closed 12/19/09
LA Times: Top 10 Production of 2009. LA Weekly Awards: Revival Production of the Year.
COMING HOME
Written by Athol Fugard
Closed 8/29/09
NAACP Award Nominations: Best Production. 2009 OVATION Nominations: Best Production.
PHOTOGRAPH 51
Written by Anna Ziegler
Closed 5/31/09
StageSceneLA.com Awards: Best Production. Back Stage Critic’s List: Best Production.
GEM OF THE OCEAN
Written by August Wilson
Closed 2/22/09
LADCC Awards: Production of the Year, Director, Actor
THE ACCOMPLICES
Written by August Wilson
Closed 9/14/08
LADCC Awards: Production of the Year, Director, Actor
AND HER HAIR WENT WITH HER
Written by Zina Camblin
Closed 6/15/08
RAVE! -LA Times. Critics Pick! -Back Stage West. GO! LA Weekly.
VICTORY
Written by Athol Fugard
Closed 3/23/08
LA Times: Best of 2008. 2008 Ticketholder Awards: runner-up Best Production.
THE MILK TRAIN DOESN’T STOP HERE ANYMORE
Written by Tennessee Williams
Closed 11/18/07
Winner 2008 Back Stage West Garland Award for Direction. Nominated for 2 L.A. Weeky Awards.
TAKING FLIGHT
Written by Adriana Sevan
Closed 8/27/07
Critics Pick! -Back Stage West. Critics Pick! -San Diego Union Tribune
SOJOURN AT ARARAT
Written by Gerald Papasian and Nora Armani
Closed 7/29/07
Pick of the Week! -LA Weekly
MISS JULIE
Written by August Strindberg
Closed 5/6/07
Selected: 50 Best Productions of 2007, LA City Beat. OVATION Award for Supporting Actress.
MASTER CLASS REVIVAL
Closed 1/7/07
TAXI TO JANNAH
Written by Mark Sickman
Closed 12/6/06
An excellent cast and an impressive production! -The Hollywood Reporter
THE GIMMICK
Written by Dael Orlandersmith
Closed 10/1/06
Winner of the L.A. OVATION Award for Best Solo Performance. Critics Choice -LA Times.
LITTLE ARMENIA
Written by Lory Bedikian, Aram Kouyoumdjian, & Shahe Mankerian
Closed 9/3/06
Critics Choice! -CityBeat. Insightful! Appealing! -LA Weekly
JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE
Written by August Wilson
Closed 7/21/06
L.A. OVATION Awards: Best Production and Best Director. Winner of 2 NAACP Awards.
WHAT I HEARD ABOUT IRAQ
Written by Simon Levy
Closed 1/28/06
ReviewPlays.com Best of 2006: Runner-up, Best Director. 2005 Entertainment Today Ticketholder Awards Runners-Up: Top Plays of 2005
ACTS OF DESIRE
Written by Yussef El Guindi
Closed 12/18/05
Reccomended! -LA Times. Critics Choice -Back Stage West.
YELLOW MAN
Written by Dael Orlandersmith
Closed 8/28/05
LADCC Awards: Best Production. L.A. Weekly Awards: Production of the Year.
MASTER CLASS
Written by Terrence McNally
Closed 7/25/04
LA Ovation Award: Production of the Year. Beverly Hills Outlook Theatre Award: Stage Actress of the Year
DAISY IN THE DREAMTIME
Written by Lynne Kaufman
Closed 5/23/04
Back Stage West Honorable Mention: Best Production. Beverly Hills Outlook Theatre Awards: Top Five Stage Productions of the Year