Grace of God by Kristen Lazarian
LOCATION
The Road on Lankershim – THEATRE
5108 Lankershim Boulevard
North Hollywood, CA 91601
(Street parking or paid lot parking at 5125 Lankershim Blvd)
Grace of God
By Kristin Lazarian
Directed by Susan Diol
CAST
GRACE STONE – Tyne Stecklein
SUNNY PERLMAN- Timothy Davis-Reed
DR. ZEB FARMER- Geoffrey Wade
JULIAN MILLER- Philip Orazio
OLIVER LAMB- Taylor Nichols
VICTORIA LAMB- Elizabeth Sampson
JESS VERONA- Kay Capasso
STAGE DIRECTION- Lauren Murphy Yeoman
*Appears courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association
SYNOPSIS
Grace of god is a timely political drama about Grace, a young woman trying to decide her future. She is blindly guided by her televangelist minister and becomes a mole in a hotly contested political campaign. Seduced by power, Grace has to overcome being a pawn in the games men play over a woman’s body, her choices and her own fate.
TICKETS
No reservations or advance tickets. Admission is by donation ($15 suggested).
MEET YOUR PLAYWRIGHT
KRISTIN LAZARIAN is an award-winning playwright who has had her full-length and short plays produced, work-shopped and stage-read at many venues in L.A. including the Geffen Playhouse, Theatre 40, East-West Players, Theatre Geo, the Road Theatre, Pacific Resident Theatre, 68 Cent Crew, and the Blank Theatre. Her plays have also been staged across the United States, including New York City. She has had productions internationally in Holland, England, Australia, and Canada. Kristen’s plays include Push, Love Like Blue, Flesh & Tenderness, Food&Drink, Sophisticated Barflies & Other Short Plays, and more.
In addition to writing plays, Kristen is a screenwriter. She penned the Hay House film, The Shift, based on the spiritual teachings of self-improvement pioneer Wayne Dyer. She currently works as a writer and script consultant on various projects and has works in development, including a film version of Push based on her award winning play.
Kristen is a member of the Dramatist Guild and the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Richard Horvitz and three sons.
MEET YOUR DIRECTOR
SUSAN DIOL’s directing credits: SUCKIN INJUN for the FRINGE Festival.
ROAD readings:KINDLING by Lynn Ferguson, FOOD & DRINK by Kristin Lazarian, THE COLD INSIDE by Jennifer Rowland, WHATEVER YOUR HEART DESIRES by Christine Rosensteel, LOVE THROUGH the CRACKS of TIME by Katherine James, RECYCLING HAZEL by Marcia Blake.
Film Directing Credits: INTERNAL GRAFFITI, THE EASTERN/WESTERN SINGER, I REMEMBER TREES, DEAR SUPERHERO. Susan’s play, THE LIFE & TIMES of AGGIE MCGEE was in the ROAD’s SPF 2016. Acting credits: Over 50 guest star roles on TV-faves: NCIS, Seinfeld, CSI, STAR TREK, QUANTUM LEAP. Theatre: AKTIAG at the ROAD, DEAD MANS CELLPHONE at I. T. C. CAFE SOCIETY at the Odyssey. Broadway-YOU NEVER CAN TELL with Uta Hagan. Kennedy Center, St. Louis Rep., Alaska Rep. Film: Reality, Basement, Your Own Road, The Wrong Mother and Loqueesha. Directors Lab with Michael Nankin. Taught by Jose Quintero. BFA Otterbein College.
An Interview with Playwright Kristin Lazarian
1: What is the name of your play?
grace of god
2: What was your first job in the theatre?
My first job in theatre was at the Pasadena Playhouse. I was the assistant stage manager of a small cabaret type show called Love Guilt & the Meaning of Life, based on the book by Judith Viorst. It was in the small theatre and it starred Bonnie Franklin, Gretchen Wyler and Eileen Barnett. Bonnie used to yell for me to button her sleeves before she’d go on. I remember that vividly. It was an amazing experience. I was just out of college and I was an English major who discovered playwriting my senior year. So I was anxious to learn everything I could about the theatre. Judith Viorst was there every night and she read my writing and really encouraged me. Now looking back I had the special privilege of having all women around me in my first professional theatrical experience in 1990. Everyone was so supportive.
3: Do you ever model characters after real life people?
Sometimes. Although they are usually a mix of people so that no one can say – Hey that’s me. I try to be sneaky.
4: As an artist, what subjects tend to draw your interest?
I write about women. I write about couples. I write about power struggles between men and women. That’s my main creative drive, I think. All of my protagonists are women because I write what I want to see. Our lives are complicated and interesting and difficult and joyful and worth telling stories about. I also love to play with structure. I love the puzzle of playwriting. Of putting it all together—and by doing so creating some fun for the audience.
5: Do you have other passions aside from playwriting?
I have an amazing family. My husband is an actor and I have three sons who make me proud every day. We hike and ski and love the ocean. I really love the ocean. I’m also passionate about progressive politics, which might be obvious from my play – which is the most political play I’ve ever written.
6: Are you currently working on any new projects?
Yes, I’m working on a play that moves between Restoration England and current day Los Angeles. It’s about a production of an Aphra Behn play now and then and all the characters are interwoven and right now it’s a crazy mess but it will come together. It’s about creativity and sexism and whose stories get to be told through history.
7: Here’s a fun question! What is your favorite dessert?
Dark chocolate. Especially the kind with sea salt. That makes it even better.
8: Any acknowledgements or words of encouragement?
I’m so grateful to Susan Diol who is so attentive and thorough and dedicated to creating the best performance of the script. This is the third reading of mine that she has directed and I love her! She’s fantastic. Thank you, Susan! And also to the Road. My first mainstage production at a REAL theatre was at the Road in 1996. It was a collection of my short plays called JOYRIDE and Other Short Plays. I’d been really inspired by David Ives All in the Timing. Not a lot of places were doing short plays at the time so I will always be grateful that the Road took a risk on me.
9: Describe your play in 3 words!
Body as battleground – really it’s women’s bodies as battleground but it’s too many words!