The Fountain Theatre

PRESENTS

The Los Angeles Premiere of

THE CHILDREN

by

Lucy Kirkwood

with

Ron Bottitta Elizabeth Elias Huffman Lily Knight

Standby: Kathryn Kelley

Directed by
Simon Levy

Executive Producer
Karen Kondazian

Producing Underwriters
Sheila and Alan Lamson
Carrie Chassin and Jochen Haber • Laurel and Robert Silton

Produced by
Stephen Sachs, James Bennett

CAST

* Member of Actors Equity Association
the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States

The Children is presented in 1 hour and 45 minutes with no intermission.

TIME AND PLACE
A small cottage on the East coast of England.
The present.

FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Lucy Kirkwood’s astonishing play poses profound questions about our individual and collective responsibility for the many human-made crises we face on our planet. She has done so through a tightly wound script that is often humorous, full of mystery, and challenges us to face the legacy we will leave to our children.

A haunting image in the play comes when a character brings up a local legend:  you can hear the bells from one of the churches that fell into the sea back in medieval times ringing under the water in the evening. In his poem “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” John Donne tells us how all humans have a connection to one another. Because none of us stands alone in the world, each human life touches another. Each death affects us all. Every funeral bell, therefore, “tolls for thee.” This sense of shared destiny feels very relevant to me as we face the current pandemic and our looming climate crisis. 

The Children is a riveting study of the price we pay when we fail to respond to catastrophes we bring onto ourselves. From the global challenges of nuclear accidents and climate change to the intimacies of the human heart, the fundamental moral question is the same: “What will you do to make the world better for those who come after you?” 

On its surface, The Children is a realistic domestic drama focused on the lives and mysterious tangled relationships of three scientists in their 60s. Three complicated, flawed people with distinct personalities, histories, and circumstances struggling with contradictory impulses, aspirations, and obligations. People growing older, both in marriage and alone, with children and without.  Each faces the loss of their potency and potential over time, even as their desire for such things endures.

Even the title of Lucy Kirkwood’s play is not quite what it seems. We don’t see any children on stage. Kirkwood’s warning is clear. It is the adults who must act. The bell tolls for us. 

- Stephen Sachs

CREW

WHO’S WHO

RON BOTTITTA is delighted to be making his Fountain Theatre debut. His last credits before lockdown were Earthquakes in London at Rogue Machine, and Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis at Son of Semele.  Other productions at Rogue, where he is a company member, include Oppenheimer, Honky (Ovation Nominee for Best Play), The Sunset Limited (LA Weekly Nomination for Best Play), Monkey Adored, and Razorback.  Since 2010 he’s been the monthly host of RMT’s spoken word Rant and Rave.  At LATW: The Sisters Matsumoto, I Love Lucy..., and two tours of Judgment at Nuremberg.  Other LA credits include John Pollono’s Rules of Seconds at LATC, Superior Donuts and Yes, Prime Minister at The Geffen.  At The Odyssey: Loot, Faith Healer (Ovation Nominee for Best Actor), Hir,  Arsenic and Old Lace, Rank and Theatre in the Dark (Ovation Nominee for Best Ensemble) among others.. Recent TV: How to Get Away with Murder, Get Shorty, Elementary, Supergirl and Gray's Anatomy.  Recent Film: Papillon Overboard, Black Panther, Thor: Ragnarok, The Mountain Between Us and Mad Max: Fury Road, the not so recent Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and a boat load of commercials. Training: B.A., U.C. Berkeley, M.F.A., N.Y.U. Life: Dad to Dan and Sasha, Iron Butt BMW Motorcyclist, Aviator. Ron is currently developing a one-man show entitled Hero, about the notorious Cold War British double agent George Blake.  For the Gamers out there: he plays returning cult favorite Capt. Butcher in Call of Duty: Vanguard, released November 5th. 

ELIZABETH ELIAS HUFFMAN is the Artistic Director of Chain Reaction Theatre, an international production company currently located in the Pittsburgh area. Elizabeth is a multiple recipient of Portland’s Drammy Awards for directing and she is also an actor, teacher and playwright. Elizabeth has also served as Artistic Director or Co-Artistic Director of four classical theatre companies. The Beacon Project in New York, The Classical Theatre Lab in Los Angeles, her international company ICAP in Los Angeles and The Classic Greek Theatre of Oregon in Portland.  Some of her directing projects include: King John, The Tempest, The Trojan Women, The Revenger’s Tragedy, Mary Stuart, Lion in Winter, The Man of Mode, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Iphigenia in Aulis, Troilus and Cressida, Oedipus the King, Ladies Man, The Rope, Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like it, The Rehearsal, The Roman Actor, Poor Bitos, The Liars, Oedipus El Rey, Watsonville, Some Place Not Here, Night Breath, American Night, The Gift Horse, November, and Amor Añejo. As an actress Elizabeth has appeared in film, television and in regional theatres in the United States and acted internationally. She recently completed work on The Oldest Profession by Paula Vogel for Profile Theatre in Portland.  Other regional theatre appearances include: 9 Parts of Desire (Best Actress award: Raleigh NC), Escaped Alone, Not My Revolution, The Absence of Wanting, We Made Bread, Year of the Rooster, Vanya, Sonya, Masha and Spike, String of Pearls, Evanescence or Shakespeare in the Alley, King Lear, Macbeth, Trojan Women, Hyde Park, Night Breath, The Lucky Chance, Charley’s Aunt, Boston Marriage, Summertime, The Bald Soprano, The Way of the World, and Whale Watchers. Elizabeth guest starred on the series The Librarians, In The Vault, and plays The Headmistress in the upcoming film Who are You People, directed by Ben Epstein, currently in post-production Elizabeth has created an online course Fear of Shakespeare and is a member of SAG/AFTRA, ACTORS EQUITY, SDC & MENA- BIPOC DIRECTOR. For more information, videos and photos please visit: www.elizabethhuffman.com

LILY KNIGHT has appeared on Broadway (Agnes of God, As Is, The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940) and off Broadway (The Holy Terror, The Early Girl, The Fiery Furnace, among many others) and regionally, at Arena Stage, ATL, Boston Shakespeare Company, Baltimore’s Center Stage, Berkshire and Williamstown Theatre Festivals, and more. In LA, most recently, a series of SmartPhone Theatre's zoom plays, HomeFires 1-5 (youtubes available on SmartPhone's website), A Small Fire at The Echo Theatre, where she is a company member, A Delicate Balance at the Odyssey, as well as Three Days in the Country, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Crucible, Peace in Our Time, and The Autumn Garden at Antaeus, where she is also a company member. Lily has toured with Ensemble Galilei and the late, great Neal Conan in First Person: Stories from the Edge of the World and Seeing America, Universe of Dreams, and Anna’s Garden. She's appeared in feature films (among them, The Artist, Touch, Changeling, The Purge: Anarchy, The Amati Girls,The Secretary, Dahmer, AI), on over 50 television shows (most recently, Dead to Me, 911-Lone Star, S.W.A.T., The Resident, The Exorcist, Bosch, How to Get Away with Murder, Once Upon a Time, American Crime, Grey’s Anatomy, Sweet Nothing in My Ear, American Horror Story,True Blood, Big Love, and Medium, to name a few.) She is beyond grateful to be working with all The Fountain Theatre artists.

KATHRYN KELLEY has had the good fortune to appear in classics by Chekhov, Shaw, Ibsen, Beckett, Pinter, Shakespeare, Dumas-fils, and Lorca; in modern works by Williams, Miller, and Wilder; in comedies by Alan Ayckbourn, David Ives, Ken Ludwig, Tina Howe and Yasmina Reza; in Irish works by Conor McPherson, Stewart Parker and Alice McDermott; and in contemporary dramas by John Irving, Maria Irene Fornes, John Osborne, Jane Martin, and Lee Blessing. Ms. Kelley moved to LA in July (thank you, Ron Bottitta). Highlights of her 30 years on Washington DC stages include The Belle of Amherst (Helen Hayes Nomination Outstanding Lead Actress), Glass Menagerie (Helen Hayes Nomination Outstanding Supporting Actress) Diary of Anne Frank (Helen Hayes Nomination Outstanding Production), The Weir (Helen Hayes Nomination Outstanding Production), and All in the Timing (Helen Hayes Nomination Outstanding Production). For Alison in Look Back in Anger, Eva in Absurd Person Singular and Clio in One Shoe Off, she received DC’s Mary Goldwater Award.  A member of Actors' Equity since 1989, she has worked at Round House Theatre (20-year company member), Everyman Theatre, Studio Theatre, Source Theatre, New Arts Theatre, Theatre J, Arena Stage, The Folger Shakespeare Theatre, Theatre of the First Amendment, Olney Theatre Center, The Kennedy Center, SCENA Theatre, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, London’s New End Theatre, and on tour throughout the former Yugoslavia. She also directed new plays for Playwrights’ Forum in DC. MFA, NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

CREW WHO’S WHO

LUCY KIRKWOOD is an acclaimed playwright and screenwriter. In 2009, Lucy’s play It Felt Empty When the Heart Went at First But It Is Alright Now was produced by Clean Break Theatre Company at the Arcola Theatre. The play was nominated for an Evening Standard Award for Best Newcomer and made Lucy joint winner of the 2010 John Whiting Award. NSFW premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 2012, starring Janie Dee and Julian Barratt. Chimerica premiered at the Almeida Theatre in 2013 and subsequently transferred to the West End, earning Best New Play at the 2014 Olivier and Evening Standard Awards, as well as the Critics Circle Award and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Other work includes Mosquitoes (presented by special arrangement with Manhattan Theatre Club), which opened at the National Theatre, London, in summer 2017; and The Children, which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2016. The Children opened on Broadway in December 2017, earning Lucy a Tony Award nomination for Best New Play.  The Welkin premiered at the National Theatre in 2020. Her new play about violence against women, Maryland, was performed at the Royal Court Theatre in October, 2021.  

Lucy also writes for screen: she has written for Skins (Company Pictures); created and wrote The Smoke (Kudos/Sky 1); wrote and directed the short film The Briny; and is developing projects with Raw TV, Cowboy Films, Clio Barnard, and Lenny Abrahamson. Her new six-part season Adult Material (Tiger Aspect Productions) and the mini-series of her play Chimerica (Playground Productions) have both recently been greenlit.

SIMON LEVY has been Producing Director of the Fountain Theatre since 1993. The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle honored him with the Milton Katselas Award for Lifetime Achievement in Directing. Recent shows he’s directed at the Fountain include: Daniel's Husband and The Chosen. His stage adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (Finalist for the PEN Literary Award in Drama) is produced widely. It is the only stage adaptation authorized by the Fitzgerald Estate, and is published by Dramatists Play Service, along with his adaptations of Tender is the Night (winner of the PEN Literary Award in Drama) and The Last Tycoon. Prior to coming to Los Angeles, he lived in San Francisco where he was the General Manager of Beach Blanket Babylon, Artistic Director of The One Act Theatre Company, and Executive Director of Theatre Bay Area. He belongs to many theatre, human rights, and political advocacy groups. www.simonlevy.com

Some of NAILA ALLADIN-SANDERS’ credits include Neighbors, for the Matrix Theatre; The Brother’s Size, In the Red & Brown Water, The Ballad of Emmett Till, Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Scottsboro Boys, for the Fountain Theatre; The Color Purple, The Women of Brewster Place, the Musical , and Bash’d; the Gay Opera, for the Celebration Theatre; The Many Mistresses of Martin Luther King for Ensemble Studio Theatre, and Good Bobby for the Greenway Court Alliance and the 59th Street Theatre in NY.

Naila also designed the costumes for HAIR: the Musical at Cal State LA, and worked with the Latino Theatre Company for The Road Weeps & the Well Runs Dry, Premeditation and La Olla. The Magnificent Dunbar Hotel, Ana Lucasta, Bronzeville, The River Niger, A House With No Walls, Permanent Collection, as well as all three parts of The Haitian Trilogy were designed by Naila for The Robey Theatre Co. 

JEN ALBERT is an actor, producer, stunt coordinator and an award-winning Fight Choreographer. Her most recent fight credits pre-pandemic were West Adams at Skylight Theatre, Klingon Tamburlaine with the School of Night (2020 Ovation Award Nomination) and Sucker Punch at Coeurage Theatre, for which she was awarded the 2019 Ovation Award for Fight Direction. She was the first female nominee and the first female recipient of the award in that category. Other fight credits: Theatre of NOTE including Marian, or The True Tale of Robin Hood (Stage Raw Award for Fight Choreography), numerous productions with the Vagrancy and Celebration and every production with the School of Night, including the original stage production of Punch and Judy (LADCC Award for Fight Choreography). Jen also reimagined those same fights for the Punch and Judy movie shot during the pandemic and currently in post-production. Love to Chris, Seti, Theodora and Alexander.

GINA DELUCA received her Bachelor’s at California State University Northridge in Theater Arts, a certificate of completion in Technical Theater at Los Angeles City College, and a Master's in Stage Management at California Institute of the Arts while stage managed productions like The Servant of Two Masters, Top Girls, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Waiting for Lefty. She recently worked on VICE with Centrifuge Arts for the Hollywood Fringe Festival and loves being back at work after a long hiatus from the Pandemic.

ANDREW HAMMER’s vast and eclectic experience in the entertainment industry spans over 25 years. His last set design at the Fountain; Broomstick was nominated for an Ovation award. Among some of his favorite designs, of the many across the US, include; My Fair Lady (Winner, best set design San Diego critics circle award) The Three Musketeers, and Three Sisters. His talents recently led him to his lifelong dream job at Walt Disney Imagineering. There he was the lead Set Decorator for Shanghai Disney’s Fantasyland. One of the many scopes he was in charge of was sculpting the original articles of 100’s of fake candles, and overseeing their manufacture. (Newer versions of his can be seen onstage in this production) Before that he was a paint and color specialist, working on such projects as color designing and painting the Hat Box ghost inside Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion. He had the pleasure of living in Japan to be the Colorist for Universal Studios Japan’s Super Mario Land. An accomplished Scenic Artist, Andy has worked on hundreds of projects for TV, Film, theatre and theme park projects, most recently, Black light painting the Peter Pan attraction going to Tokyo Disney Seas in 2023. Andrew is thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to design for theatre again! He thanks you for your patronage, and hope we can all stay strong and continue to keep live performance thriving.

SHEN HECKEL is a LA based theatre and film professional. A graduate of UCLA Theatre Film and Television School, he has worked on dozens of shows in all aspects of theatre. Credits include; prop design Gem of the Ocean at A Noise Within, Hype Man at The Fountain Theatre, producer and prop design of The Last Five Years and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: The Immersive Experience with After Hours Theatre Company. assistant director Allegiance at East West Players, assistant director Rotterdamn at Center Theatre Group’s Block Party, assistant director Hostage at The Skylight Theatre. He currently works as a props teacher at California School of the Arts and has worked as adjunct professor of scenic elements at CSUN . Shen also works as a set dresser for national television commercials and music videos. For more info please visit http://shenheckel.weebly.com

CHRISTIAN V. MEJIA is a California-based lighting and digital media designer. Exploring creative storytelling techniques in order to reveal the shifting landscapes of human emotion is central to his work. 

His design practice includes theatre, architecture, and immersive entertainment. Christian holds an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. www.christianvmejia.com

MARC ANTONIO PRITCHETT is a working Actor, Director, Fight Coordinator and Session Singer in the Los Angeles area. He is also one of the Artistic Directors at Sacred Fools Theatre Company. Recent sound/music credits include The Mousetrap at Theatre Palisades, The Latrell Show at IAMA Theatre and Sweat at the Chance Theatre. He is represented by Nucleus Talent Management. For additional info visit: www.marcantoniopritchett.com

ANNIE YEE is thrilled to be returning to the Fountain Theatre where she most recently choreographed An Octoroon directed by Judith Moreland.  Other choreography: M. Butterfly at South Coast Repertory directed by Desdemona Chiang, where she won a Scenie Award for Best Choreography of a Play, King of the Yees at Baltimore Center Stage and at ACT Theatre in Seattle directed by Desdemona Chiang, The Golden Dragon at Boston Court Pasadena directed by Michael Michetti, where she won a Scenie Award for Outstanding Choreography of a Play and was nominated for an Ovation Award and Broadway World Los Angeles for Best Choreography, and a Stage Raw Group Award nomination for Production Design, The World of Extreme Happiness at Seattle Public Theater directed by Desdemona Chiang, Made in Bangkok at the Mark Taper Forum directed by Robert Egan and I Don’t Have to Show You No Stinking Badges at Los Angeles Theater Center directed by Luis Valdez.  She was the Chinese dance consultant for Pearl at the Lincoln Center, directed and choreographed by Daniel Ezralow.  For television Annie choreographed the season finale of The Drew Carey Show.  She is a former Los Angeles Laker Girl and Los Angeles Rams Cheerleader.  Annie was awarded an SDC Foundation Observership for Soft Power at the Ahmanson directed by Leigh Silverman.  Annie is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers union.  She thanks her parents Tommy and Nancy Yee who encouraged her to study all types of dance and her loving husband actor Stan Egi.

 FOUNTAIN THEATRE STAFF

JAMES "VENDING MACHINE SANDWICH ENTHUSIAST" BENNETT joined the Fountain team in 2007 and has smiled and whistled, much to the irritation of everyone else, every day ever since. James enjoys chatting, hobnobbing, and wine sipping with all the theatre's many fine friends, family, and patrons. For work, he can be found running the whole stack of theatre activities, whether that's toiling on a pile of paperwork, coiled into a pretzel in the tech booth, or producing fabulous Flamenco shows. He's enjoyed co-producing the Fountain's Rapid Development Series and is looking forward to many more scrumptious seasons to come. He's compelled to the theatre by its immediacy, its intimacy – the visceral impact of being so close to real humans with real sweat and real spit. In a world that's increasingly disjointed, behind glass, and far away – theatre becomes more powerful than ever. Terran Fighting!

BARBARA GOODHILL has been Director of Development at The Fountain Theatre since 2013. Prior advancement positions include Sinai Akiba Academy, Inside Out Community Arts and PS#1 Elementary School. Barbara’s wealth of experience, innovative thinking and dedication have resulted in significant growth in The Fountain’s donor community and strengthened relationships with the funding community. A passionate believer in the power of live theatre to open hearts and encourage empathy, Barbara is deeply committed to The Fountain, its vision, mission and future goals. “Institutions like The Fountain Theatre are vital to the health of a diverse, compassionate society.” Barbara loves the opportunity to meet the many wonderful patrons who form The Fountain Theatre’s family and is always thrilled to receive your calls and greet you at the theatre. Barbara received her B.A. from UC Berkeley and her Masters from UCLA.

JOSE FERNANDO is thrilled to be the Social Media & House Manager for the Fountain. If they look familiar you might have seen them as Trip in the Fountain’s Daniel’s Husband, on The Disney Channel, sleuthing in the New Hardy Boys or across your TV and social media feeds. Don’t be a stranger, say hi! @spacemoneky

LUCY POLLAK has been providing publicity services to the Los Angeles performing arts community for the past 28 years, and is honored to have represented the Fountain Theatre since 2008. Prior to becoming a publicist, Lucy spent ten years as the production manager/staff producer at the Odyssey Theatre, earning an L.A. Drama Critic’s Circle Award, an L.A. Weekly Award, 4 Drama-Logue Awards, and a Women in Theatre Recognition Award.

TERRI ROBERTS wears many hats at the Fountain Theatre, including the care and repair of production costumes; the on-going maintenance of in-house prop and costume stock; coordination of the Fountain Friends Volunteer Program; and serving Fountain patrons as manager of both our brand new (outdoor) concessions station and our charming (indoor) Fountain Theatre café. Terri also works in stage management (production/assistant stage manager on 20 fabulous Fountain shows thus far), and loves every opportunity to also serve as casting assistant, props designer/assistant/set dresser, and coach for actors.

In addition to her work at the Fountain, Terri is also a freelance theatre/entertainment writer. Her works have appeared in Variety, Performances, Back Stage West, Ross Reports, LA Weekly, LA Parent, The Sondheim Review, ShowMag.com, TheaterMania.com and Examiner.com. She also frequently writes for Intimate Excellent, the Fountain Theatre blog.

STEPHEN SACHS is an award-winning playwright, director, producer and the co-Artistic Director of the Fountain Theatre, which he co-founded with Deborah Culver in 1990. He is the author of eighteen plays that have been produced at the Fountain and across the country, in London, and beyond. Sachs was instrumental in the launching of Deaf West Theatre at the Fountain in 1991. He wrote the screenplay for the film version of his play Sweet Nothing in my Ear for CBS starring Marlee Matlin and Jeff Daniels. He inaugurated the Outdoor Classical Theater at the Getty Villa in Malibu in 2006 and directed several premieres of new plays by Athol Fugard in Los Angeles, New York and the UK. As playwright, director, and producer Sachs has received every theatre award in Los Angeles. He was recently honored by the Los Angeles City Council for “his visionary contributions to the cultural life of Los Angeles.”

SCOTT TUOMEY has been Technical Director at the Fountain since its inaugural production of Winter Crane in 1990. He has overseen virtually every Fountain production, on and off site, including their numerous flamenco shows, and has appeared here on our stage in Declarations: Love Letters of the Great Romantics, and the Fountain’s hit productions of Master Class and Joe Turners’ Come and Gone. Scott's talents as actor-singer-guitarist were also seen in the Shakespeare Festival L.A. productions of As You Like It and Twelfth Night at the Globe Theatre in West Hollywood and in the film A Day in the Life of Sunny Paradise.