The Magic Car by Lisa Kenner Grissom
LOCATION
The Road on Lankershim – GALLERY
5108 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91601
(Street parking or paid lot parking at 5125 Lankershim Blvd)
The Magic Car
By Lisa Kenner Grissom
Directed by Brian Graves
CAST
DAD – Allan Wasserman*
STU – Brian Majestic
*Appears courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association
SYNOPSIS
A baseball game gone awry sets the stage for an elderly father and middle-aged son who must contend with shifting roles.
TICKETS
No reservations or advance tickets. Admission is by donation ($15 suggested).
MEET YOUR PLAYWRIGHT
LISA KENNER GRISSOM is a LA-based playwright and filmmaker/producer. Her award-winning short film Tattoo You, based on her award-winning one-act, screened at film festivals nationally and internationally. Full-length plays include: Four Chambers (Off-Road Production; Winner: Jean Kennedy Smith Award, KCACTF; Finalist: O’Neill National Playwrights Conference), Motherland (Finalist: Princess Grace Playwriting Fellowship; Inkwell Theatre Workshop 2018). Lisa twice attended The O’Neill Playwrights Conference as a Kennedy Center Fellow. Her work has been presented/developed at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Chalk Rep, Clurman Theater, Inkwell Theater, The Kennedy Center, Manhattan Theatre Source, Moving Arts and The Road Theatre Company. Orginally from Boston, she is a proud member of the Dramatist Guild, Playwrights Union, Chalk Rep’s Writers Lab and Antaeus Playwrights Lab. www.lisakennergrissom.com
MEET YOUR DIRECTOR
BRIAN GRAVES is thrilled to be returning to direct in The Summer Playwrights Festival. A graduate of the famed Asolo Conservatory, Brian has performed in approximately thirty L.A. productions in the last decade. Since joining The Road Theatre Company last year, Brian has appeared in the alternate cast of Through The Eye Of A Needle, the Off Road production of Four Chambers, several Word readings, and five of the new plays featured in SPF8. You can catch Brian in the upcoming films, Good Grief, James Joyce’s The Sisters, and Spreading Darkness. For more information visit: www.briangravesonline.com . Love to Peanut!
An Interview with Playwright Lisa Kenner Grissom
1: What is the name of your play?
The Magic Car
2: What was your first job in the theatre?
The first short play I wrote was produced at the Stella Adler on Hollywood Blvd. It was thrilling to see my words come to
life for the first time. I was immediately hooked.
3: Do you ever model characters after real life people?
Real people often provide inspiration, but then they morph into fictional characters who tend to take over. Loudly.
4: As an artist, what subjects tend to draw your interest?
I tend to explore social issues through the lens of intimate relationships. I often write about strong female characters and complicated families, and I’m drawn to themes of identity and legacy. But sometimes, inspiration comes from a conversation I just had with a random stranger.
5: Do you have other passions aside from playwriting?
Live music and art. Hiking and nature. Travel. I’m also an animal lover so watch out – I might offer to dog-sit your adorable puppy.
6: Are you currently working on any new projects?
I’m working on a revision of my full-length play Motherland, which is about the impact of inherited trauma on three generations of women. In the fall, I plan to start a screenplay that takes place on the night of a 20th high school reunion.
7: Here’s a fun question! What is your favorite dessert?
That’s a hard one because I have a well-developed sweet tooth. In the winter, anything with chocolate. In the summer, cobbler and ice cream.
8: Any acknowledgements or words of encouragement?
Special thanks to Moving Arts for inspiring the writing of this play as part of The Car Plays. And of course to The Road for supporting playwrights and new works.
9: Describe your play in 3 words!
Heartfelt, moving, true.