Archives

2024 Year End Letter!

  Dear Road friends and family: As we come to the end of 2024, we want to take the opportunity to thank all of you for your continued...

Giving Tuesday!

The Road Theatre Company is the first intimate theatre in Los Angeles to fully implement a series of open captioning performances for the deaf and hard of hearing...

The Totality of All Things

The Civil Twilight

Road ShortS Film Fest

The Road ShortS Festival is back! So many short films we split the day in TWO See these Roadies shine on the silver screen Sep 8th, 4pm &...

In Case of Bruising Copy

In Case of Bruising - Triplets Milo, Otis, and Della’s lives are very different from other kids. They’re too big for the third grade, they don’t know when they’ll have food for lunch, and they don’t go home if their father is in a bad mood. They know their Mama spends more time in the hospital than other mothers. They know she is sad again. As Daddy and Mama get worse, each child finds new ways to cope - some safer than others.

In Case of Bruising

In Case of Bruising - Triplets Milo, Otis, and Della’s lives are very different from other kids. They’re too big for the third grade, they don’t know when they’ll have food for lunch, and they don’t go home if their father is in a bad mood. They know their Mama spends more time in the hospital than other mothers. They know she is sad again. As Daddy and Mama get worse, each child finds new ways to cope - some safer than others.

The Totality of All Things

The Totality of All Things - Judith Benson is “teacher-famous” for the award-winning student newspaper she proudly oversees at her small Indiana high school, a program that extols truth and integrity in journalism. But when an anti-gay hate crime occurs one fall, everything Judith believes about inspiring the next generation of reporters, and the definition of truth itself, is called into question.

Nüwa in Fairyland

Nüwa in Fairyland - After getting cast as Puck in his high school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Benji does a deep dive into method acting to prepare for his role. In the enchanted forest of foggy adolescence, he runs into a stranger: the Chinese creator goddess Nüwa.Does she hold the key to his birthplace as a transracial adoptee? Or will Benji never escape Fairyland?

Lifeline

Lifeline - In the aftermath of an unforeseen life-changing event, Patti, a well-meaning mother, decides to become a volunteer for a suicide hotline, where laughter, tears, and a new understanding bridge the divide between people from very different walks of life. 

BLACK BEAR ISLAND

BLACK BEAR ISLAND - When her estranged childhood sweetheart mysteriously dies, Amitra returns home after a sixteen year absence to Black Bear Island, which legend says is haunted by a monstrous man-killing bear. As she searches for the truth, the forest begins to engulf the house and her past begins to collide with the present as her memory starts to unfog. This gothic, magical realistic thriller explores regret, the unreliableness of our own memories, and the paths we choose to become who we are.

Some Other Woman Like Me

Some Other Woman Like Me - Angela, a film editor, returns to her childhood home to persuade her semi-estranged mother Florence, a hoarder, to move into a senior living facility. Florence wants Angela to look for the daughter she gave away for adoption and has enlisted the help of Bob, a mercurial stranger with his own motivations. As the visit unfolds, buried wounds surface, bringing Florence and Angela to a final reckoning, with commentary provided by a talking cat named Blue.

You May Find This Hard to Believe, or Moor’s the Pity

You May Find This Hard to Believe, or Moor's the Pity - An absurdist comedy about a young woman summoned to a forbidding mansion to assume the role of governess to the master's young children. Except that he has no children, and nobody summoned her. She stays--at her peril--while being stalked by a mysterious figure who seems bent on snuffing out her life.

The Patriarch

The Patriarch - The deep Irish roots of a Chicago family are revealed to be rotten when their much-beloved patriarch does what he feels he must to keep his family’s legacy intact. The newest member-to-be finds herself parsing through Chicago heritage and Celtic myth, in an attempt to reconcile the nature of love and power, as she holds the future of the family line in her hands.

The Ragged Claws

The Ragged Claw - The Ragged Claw - After Alec, the adopted son of a power couple, questions his mother's politics, family hurt tumbles out, unstoppable, like the tsunami heading for Manhattan. Ragged Claws follows a family struggling to stay together in a world that's falling apart. Through parallel stories of people adapting to extraordinary circumstances, the play examines the value of history and art in a time of crisis. What is worth preserving when life becomes precious? Who is qualified to give the past a fair rendering?

You Welcome

You Welcome - The Feast of the Seven Fishes, Nochebuena, and an All-American happy meal kinda holiday? A young Italian couple living in Argentina, Emilia and Ario were just beginning the journey that would come to define their life, their language, and their family. Two daughters and one American dream later, Emilia and Ario find themselves immigrants yet again in a tiny two-room garage apartment in Rochester, New York. The play follows three generations over six decades and four very different Christmas Eves as the family comes to terms with how their lives (and language) fit within the box that is American “normal.” 

burn for You

burn for You - A blistering August in upstate New York. No rain in 3 months. And the little daughter of Lila, a young worship leader at a charismatic church, doesn’t wake up one morning. Lila’s estranged sister Franny, a lesbian who fled the church seven years prior, returns home for the first time for what she thinks is a funeral; only to find that her sister and the church she left behind are determined to pray for the toddler’s resurrection—no matter how long it takes. A play about incongruous faith, sisters, and what happens when we pray for something dead to come back. 

Incredible Finds, Inc.

Incredible Finds, Inc. - Maria, an exploited factory worker, convinces her colleagues to go on strike, in a battle against their company’s dehumanizing strategies. Her efforts are undercut by a rat in the union, who happens to be her childhood best friend. 

THE POINT

THE POINT - Murph and Scanlan join love birds Lugo and Teenie for a debaucherous party deep in the Massachusetts woods. At first, they miss the underlying tension between the couple but then realize that the night is about to take a deadly turn… THE POINT is a dark and comedic thriller based on a true story - a murder in the woods amongst 'friends'. Set behind the “Tofu Curtain”, an invisible county line that divides the quaint college town of Northampton from the run-down factory town of Holyoke, Massachusetts, THE POINT examines the rise of economic inequity and corresponding violence and opioid epidemic in Small Town America. While North Hampton boasts Smith College, neighboring Holyoke is infamous for having one of the largest heroin and Fentanyl trades in the New England area.

The Life You Gave Me

The Life You Gave Me - A son tries to save his mother. She has other ideas. So do two mysterious strangers who watch the play—and ask the son to tell the story again and again until he gets it right, whatever right might be.

L’HÔTEL

L’HÔTEL - L’HÔTEL is a dark comedy about what happens when a religiously conservative and traditional Cuban-born mother and her progressively modern American daughter go on a bonding trip to Paris and get trapped in a luxury hotel room with a helpful and handsome Algerian-Parisian bell boy as terrorists attack the city. Soon, the women's fluctuating morals, misleading prejudices, violent need to survive, and closely guarded secrets come to light. The play takes place in one room, one day, with three actors and three languages.

1980 (Or Why I’m Voting For John Anderson)

1980 (Or Why I'm Voting For John Anderson) - "1980 (Or Why I'm Voting For John Anderson)" is a comedy about class, race, and the politics of hope. In 1980 it seemed that unknown congressman, John Anderson, might have a shot to be a contender for President. In a Boston campaign office, four very different (and very lost) people come together with a dream that their long-shot candidate will change their country and their lives.

Otherkin

Otherkin - Lucas is in the process of adopting a child from overseas with his husband, Darren, when he meets his estranged 14-year-old daughter, Marcy. During their reunion, Marcy, who goes by Olive, unveils that she is Otherkin and identifies as a dragon who has been recently called upon by strange forces to prepare for humanity's end. With Armageddon on the horizon and new racial/identity tensions springing up within his own marriage, Lucas and his husband must come face to face with their pasts, future, views of identity and family, and possibly even the end of human times as they know it.

In Case of Bruising

In Case of Bruising - Triplets Milo, Otis, and Della’s lives are very different from other kids. They’re too big for the third grade, they don’t know when they’ll have food for lunch, and they don’t go home if their father is in a bad mood. They know their Mama spends more time in the hospital than other mothers. They know she is sad again. As Daddy and Mama get worse, each child finds new ways to cope - some safer than others.

15th Annual Summer Playwrights Festival

10 Days! 23 plays! #SPF15 Festival Director – Cherish Monique Duke Festival Producers – Frank Collison & Krishna Smitha Associate Producer – Haowen Luo 罗浩闻 THE ROAD THEATRE COMPANY and Taylor Gilbert,...

Annual Summer Playwrights Festival

Details on our next Summer Playwrights Festival will be released later this year! Thank you for your continued support and interest! SUPPORT Support for this program was provided...

If You See a Hyena

If You See a Hyena - A husband and wife navigate a debilitating illness as they adjust to their new home.

USE AS DIRECTED

USE AS DIRECTED - While waiting at the pharmacy, a curious reporter convinces some eccentric patients to participate in a public survey about their private lives.

The Artemis Cult

The Artemis Cult - Mona's planned afternoon at a museum for Kieran's birthday turns into a game of "guess my life" with the patrons and Neanderthals. Secrets emerge of their evolving relationship, touching on self-discovery, and acceptance.

H-O-R-S-E

H-O-R-S-E - On Bill and Mary's 15th Anniversary, they are pulled into learning something about each other while playing a kid's basketball game called H-O-R-S-E 

The Previous Incident Versus a Recent Development

The Previous Incident Versus a Recent Development - A Man and a Woman have grown so far apart during their long marriage that for years, each has lost track of what the other has been doing; they are completely unaware of each other's activities and accomplishments. They even communicate as "he" and "she," rather than "I" and "you". Instead of dialogue, they talk the stage directions. When their estranged daughter phones to tell them she's about to have a baby, this shocking, unexpected news restores normal communication and starts to bring them back together.

Think It Through

Think It Through - A mythical clurichaun is captured by a lawyer and a priest in a northside Chicago tavern. How can she... or they... escape?

Robbin, from the Hood

In this reimagined, classic tale, corporate greed dominates the deceptive game of capitalism, until 17-year-old math genius, Robbin Woods, discovers how to level the playing field. Sometimes you...

UC4 New Play Slamfest

JUNE 10, 2024 7:30 CORNCHIP By Elise Wien Directed by Liz Herron Featuring: Allan Wasserman, Carole Goldman, Naomi Rubin, Brian Graves and Michelle Gillette “Week after week, Nana,...

Sleeping Giant

WEST COAST PREMIERE PREVIEWS: January 14th – 16th  OPENING: Friday January 17th – February 23rd Fridays & Saturdays 8pm Sundays 2pm When a firework-filled marriage proposal goes awry,...

UC4 New Play Slamfest

JUNE 10, 2024 7:30 CORNCHIP By Elise Wien Directed by Liz Herron Featuring: Allan Wasserman, Carole Goldman, Naomi Rubin, Brian Graves and Michelle Gillette “Week after week, Nana,...

LA County Arts Internship Program for Undergraduates!

OTHER SIDE OF THE HILL PROD., INC. – FESTIVAL PRODUCTION INTERN  LA County Arts Internship Program for Undergraduates living or studying in LA County! This is an excellent...

One Night Only Screening Event Reykjavík by Steve Yockey

Winner of Swedish International Film Festival and EdiPlay International Film Festival. Reykjavík by Steve Yockey was also selected for the Burbank International Film Festival and USA Film Festival. An...

Giving Tuesday is November 27th!

Dear friends of the Road It is that time of year again: when we get to say thank you for your support, taking these theatrical journeys with us,...

Road ShortS Film Fest

The Road Theatre company, long known for supporting and producing some of the finest original theatre in Los Angeles, is hosting its first Film Festival on Sunday Dec....