Write Act
Repertory was established in August 1998, incorporating as a non-profit
corporation in January 1999. In September 1999, Write Act Repertory moved
into the parish hall of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Hollywood.
The company produced several shows & full workshop
productions including Sex A La Carte (August 1999); Old Sins,
Long Shadows by Ellen Byron (October-November 1999); Devil’s
Consort by Gene Franklin Smith (March-May 2000); The Last Laugh
by Arnold Margolin and Mady Julian (October-November 2000); Murder at
FabSonic by David Couper, an interactive murder mystery, (August
2000); Angel’s Flight, a musical by Clyde Derrick (April-June
2001); two one-act plays, Looking for Bernice and Sex and Violence
by Diane Grant (May-June 2001); the World Premiere adaptation of
Charles Dickens’ Bleak House by Gene Franklin Smith (November
2001-February 2002); Transports of the Heart by Clyde Derrick and
Gene Franklin Smith (November -December 2002); A Patriot for Me by
John Osbourne (March -May 2003); and Human Sex And...An Evening of
One-Act Plays including Human Relations by Ned Racine and
Sex and Violence by Diane Grant (April - May 2003).
In the summer of 2003, Write Act Repertory added
entertainment veteran John Lant, as the Producing Artistic Director. That
year the organization’s members converted the temporary and shared space
into the exclusive 99-seat Equity waiver proscenium stage and permanent
home of Write Act Repertory which continues today, with the help of St.
Stephen’s and Father Jamie Edwards-Acton.
That season, Write Act Repertory produced mainstage plays,
several one-act festivals, a monthly reading series, Writer and Director
workshops, Actor Labs, and the company’s inaugural festival, while
refurbishing the venue with new theatre seats, new production offices and
a new paint job.
Although the Write Act Repertory Company is not directly
affiliated with St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, the company organizes and
participates in community events and programming for children, the
neighborhood and adult outreach, including The Gower Gulch Project with
Councilman Eric Garcetti, Jubilee Consortium Programs, and the Delaney
School of Fine Arts. Keeping within our company mission to enrich the
lives of the Los Angeles multi-cultural community through our innovative
programming, Write Act Rep continues to be one of the leading forces in
Los Angeles Theatre working along several prominent non-profit programming
organizations.
Since being in the permanent space, Write Act Rep has
produced Milelage: Spotlight Series – cycle of original
plays by Matthew I. Swaye (November-December 2003), Murder, Mayhem and
Macabre a cycle of original plays by Steve Keyes, Matt Johnson
and Matthew I. Swaye (November-December 2003), The Trial by Franz
Kafka (March-June 2004), World Premiere of A Dog’s Life by Diane
Grant (August-September 2004), Cymbeline by William Shakespeare
(September-November 2004), Progression: An evening of original
one-acts by Harry Victor, Kelly Younger, Matthew I. Swaye and Douglas
Leal (September-October 2004), World Premiere of Teshuvah by Clyde
Derrick (November 2004-Febuary 2005), World Premiere of The Divine
Madness of Isabella by Wendy Gough (February-March 2005), Star
Trek, Indiana by Ben Livingston (February-April 2005), World Premiere
of The Devil’s Bride by Joan Silsby (November-December 2005),
Four White Socks - Next Step Project by Graham Barnard ( April
2006), Diner- An evening of original one-acts by Gretchen Jacobs And
Joan Silsby (June 2006), Absence of Angels - Next Step Project by
Johnna Adams (June-July 2006), Spotlight Series with Joan Kessler: An
evening of original one-acts by Joan Kessler ( August 2006),
Los Angeles Premiere of Uncle Vampire by Edward Mast
(October-November 2006), West Coast Premiere of The Justice Box by
Michael Robert David (October-November 2006), The Devil’s Bride by
Joan Silsby (December 2006-January 2007), Compass Points: Spotlight
Series of New Directors a cycle of original plays by Wil Manus,
Joan Silsby, Jim Blanchette and Lisa K. Wyatt (December 2006-January
2007), Peril:Noir & the Bad Seed a cycle of original plays
by Lorenzo Buford, Hindi Brooks and Harry Shannon ( March 2007), West
Coast Premiere of Loosely Lysistrata by Stewart Zuckerbrod
(July-August 2007), A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William
Shakespeare (September-November 2007), Juana - Next Step
Project by Paul Casey (December 2007), Reservations for Two
(May 2008), Company of Wayward Saints (June-August 2008), The
Divine Madness of Isabella (August 2008), Gruesome Hotel
(October 2008), World Premiere of the Freeway Series…Of All Places
(November-December 2008), World Premiere of Blues for Central Avenue
(February-March 2009), Best in Show (February 2009), Measure for
Measure (April –May 2009), Freeway Series…Keep the Ball Rolling
(June-August 2009), and the currently running World Premiere of How
Katrina Plays (August-October 2009).
Write Act Repertory has in-house writer’s labs, director’s
labs, improv labs and special events labs culminating into productions
throughout our season past groups included Improvable Cause and
The Dead Beat Poet’s Society developed and performed at Write Act Rep
exclusively.
In addition Write Act Rep has co-produced or housed the
following productions; Hollywood Civic Light Opera’s inaugural musical
HOLLYWOOD, HOLLYWOOD!, Interact’s Boarding House &
Interactivity 2007, Dungeon Masters, the multi-nominated musical and
Ovation winner It Came From Beyond, and XM Radio’s Hit show –
New Frequency Theatre of the Mind.
The 2009-2010 Season will include open houses, the
announcement of our 11th Season, three mainstage productions,
and the continuation of our newly created Freeway Series, featuring
greater Los Angeles playwrights not in the Write Act Repertory membership,
our World Premiere of Quoth the Raven: Edgar Allan Poe, and
the World Premiere of Just a Song at Twilight by Willard Manus. We
are introducing of Book, Music & Lyrics Seres featuring the talented
groups 3rd Degree Burn (sketch), 2 Drink minimum
(improv), Urban Legends (spoken word), Traffic Jam (featuring hot
local musical acts).
Additionally the announcement and submission policies of
the new solicited scripts of the Love your Craft Series, a cycle of
submitted works dealing with or adaptations of HP Lovecraft.
Write Act Rep is always looking and open to new ideas and
people to help keep the dream alive of great Los Angeles Theatre. So if
you are interested in becoming involved please contact us.
Write Act Repertory’s current and
past Honorary Board of Advisors is composed of numerous theatre and film
luminaries; Sir Ian McKellen, Debbie Reynolds, Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde
Pierce, Hayley Mills, Michael Gambon, Joanna Kerns, Liz Torres, Cybill
Shepherd, Nicholas Meyer, Jim Miller and Donna DeSeta.
