A Hit Dog Will Holler (2021)
Written by Inda Craig-Galván
Directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera
Playwrights’ Arena & Skylight Theatre Company present the World Premiere of
A HIT DOG WILL HOLLER
Their hate is on my doorstep.
A social media influencer and a boots-on-the-ground activist form a complex bond of friendship to help each other survive as American racism manifests as a physical form.
This performance contains material that investigates Black experience in this country openly. We stand behind the work of this creative team in delivering it honestly to you. The charged content includes: flight, fight, and freeze traumatic responses to oppression, avoidance, and erasure. We caution you to seek help from a locally available mental health professional or hotline if this theatrical experience stays with you for an uncomfortable amount of time.
SCHEDULE
Live on stage Nov 6 - Dec 12
90mins; No intermission
Performs: Fri/Sat 8:30pm,
Sun 3:00pm,
Mon Nov 15, 22, 29 &
Dec 6 7:30pm
Watch from home. Virtual Performances available
What are Pay It Forward Tickets?
Theater Is For Everyone.
If you need financial assistance contact us at Connect@SkylightTheatre.org
Performs live at
Skylight Theatre
World Premiere
2021-22 Co-Production Season with Playwrights' Arena
Local Box Office: (213) 761-7061
Due to COVID, staff may not be present at all times. Please leave a message
PERFORMANCES
- Black Communities Performance: Nov 14, Dec 6
- ASL Interpreted Performance: Dec 10
- Pay What You Want: Oct 30, Nov 14, 15, 22, Dec 6
"A Hit Dog Will Holler" was developed in workshop with the Humanitas Prize.
Proof of COVID-19 vaccination and masks are required. Guests must be 12 or older. Learn more in our COVID-19 Updates.
BEYOND
CONVERSATION
UPDATE: Beyond Conversation on Sun. Nov 14 & Nov 21 -
Will not take place.
Everyone experiences the play differently. Talking with guests after the first few performances and working with our Sensitivity Consultant, we believe it's important to let our audience have the time to reflect on the play before entering into any discussions.
Please look for our Beyond Conversation events in 2022. We look forward to bringing you more opportunities to chat with special guests and go deeper, go Beyond Conversation.
MEDIA
2021
THE ARTISTS OF A HIT DOG WILL HOLLER
Inda Craig-Galván
writer
- is a Chicagoan who lives in Los Angeles, where it’s warm. Her plays include Black Super Hero Magic Mama (Blue Ink Prize, Kennedy Center Rosa Parks Award, Princess Grace runner up, Geffen Playhouse world premiere), I Go Somewhere Else (Playwrights’ Arena world premiere), Welcome to Matteson! (Kesselring Prize), and The Great Jheri Curl Debate (developed in the East West Players Writers Group). Her work has been developed at the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, Ashland New Play Festival, Ojai Playwrights Conference, OSF’s Black Swan Lab, Orlando Shakes, Geffen Writers Room, and a few others that won't fit here. Inda is also a TV writer on Demimonde, the upcoming HBO series created by JJ Abrams. MFA in Dramatic Writing, University of Southern California.
Jon Lawrence Rivera
director, artistic director Playwrights' Arena
- is the recipient of the first Career Achievement Award from Stage Raw. Directing credits include the following world premieres for Playwrights’ Arena: March: A Parking Lot Play (co-produced with the Los Angeles LGBT Center), Southernmost by Mary Lyon Kamitaki, Baby Eyes by Donald Jolly, I Go Somewhere Else by Inda Craig-Galván, Bloodletting by Boni B. Alvarez (also at Kirk Douglas Theatre), The End Times by Jesse Mu-En Shao, Little Women by Velina Hasu Houston, The Hotel Playwritten by Paula Cizmar, Velina Hasu Houston, Jennifer Maisel, Nahal Navidar, Julie Oni, Janine Salinas Schoenberg and Laurie Woolery (performed in an actual hotel), @TheSpeedofJake by Jennifer Maisel, Circus Ugly by Gabriel Rivas Gomez, Painting In Red by Luis Alfaro, Cinnamon Girl by Velina Hasu Houston and Nathan Wang (also at the 2nd Beijing University International Musical Theater Festival 2014), Dallas Non-Stop by Boni B. Alvarez, The Anatomy of Gazellas by Janine Salinas Schoenberg, Girl Most Likely To by Michael Premrirat, Bonded by Donald Jolly and Euripides’ Helen by Nick Salamone (at the Getty Villa). Other recent work includes: Anna In The Tropics by Nilo Cruz at Open Fist Theater, America Adjacent by Boni B. Alvarez, and Obama-ology by Aurin Squire at Skylight Theatre; The Joy Luck Club by Susan Kim, The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown, and Criers for Hire by Giovanni Ortega at East West Players; Honeymoon in Vegas by Jason Robert Brown and A Class Act by Ed Kleban for Musical Theatre Guild; Bingo Hall by Dillon Chitto, Fairly Traceable by Mary Kathryn Nagle, and Stand-Off At HWY #37 by Vickie Ramirez for Native Voices at the Autry (also at the University of South Dakota) and the landmark Los Angeles Premiere of Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn at SIPA and Kirk Douglas Theatre. Rivera is the recipient of a NY Fringe Festival Award for directing Hillary Agonistes, an LA Weekly Award for directing Sea Change, and 5 Ovation Award nominations.
DONNA SIMONE JOHNSON (Dru – Shared Role)
actor
- is an award-winning actor, director, choreographer, producer and Co-Artistic Director of Watts Village Theater Company. Credits include: I Go Somewhere Else(Playwrights Arena), Bring Down The House (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Broken Fences (NAACP Award, Best Lead Actress, Road Theatre), Dracula (Actors Theatre Louisville), The Bluest Eye (Virginia Stage), Bloodbound (The Guthrie), Joe Turners…(NY Resident Acting Co), The Cherry Orchard (Theatricum Botanicum) as well as Son of Semele, Rubicon, Antaeus, Shakespeare Center LA amongst others. TV & Film: The Inspectors; 9-1-1; Teachers; Agent X; NETFLIX'S “Super Drags"(recurring) and most recently HBOMax’s “Bertie The Brilliant.” MA, Dance: New York University, MFA, Acting: CalArts.
Due to personal commitments, Donna Simone Johnson is leaving “A Hit Dog Will Holler”. Her last performance was Nov. 15, 2021.
KACIE ROGERS (Dru – Shared Role)
actor
– Two-time NAACP Award winning actress, Kacie Rogers, received her classical training at AMDA College and Conservatory of the Performing Arts. You can find Kacie on screen in her leading role in the feature film, LowLow available on Amazon Prime and iTunes. She’s also had the opportunity of working with several prestigious theatre companies in the Los Angeles area including The Robey Theatre Co., Brimmer Street Theatre Co., The Road Theatre Co., Circle X, Theatre40, the Bootleg Theatre, Theatricum Botanicum, Greenway Court, The Getty Villa, Sacred Fools Theatre Co., The Skylight Theatre, IAMA, Inkwell Theatre.
Kacie Rogers will perform the role of Dru from Nov 19 - Dec 12.
CHERI VANDENHEUVEL (Gina)
actor
- won Best Actress in the L.A. Stage Raw Awards playing Reda in I Go Somewhere Else at Playwrights Arena. She is an alumnus of The Second City-Detroit Mainstage where she taught, wrote, and performed sketch comedy. Los Angeles credits include Alice in Low Hanging Fruit at the Zephyr Theater and Sophie in Flyin’ West at International City Theatre. Regional credits include the Alabama Shakespeare Festival; King Lear, Around the World in 80 Days, To Kill A Mockingbird, Macbeth, Merry Wives of Windsor and The Trojan Women, 16th St. Theatre in Chicago and Idaho Shakespeare Festival. She has her B.F.A. from The University of Detroit and M.F.A. from The University of Missouri-Kansas City.
DESIGNERS
SCENIC DESIGN: Jan Munroe
LIGHTING DESIGN: Matthew Richter
COSTUME DESIGN: Mylette Nora
PROJECTION DESIGN: Nicholas Santiago
SOUND DESIGN: Howard Ho
PROP DESIGN: Lily Bartenstein
PRODUCTION STAFF
PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER: Crystal Hui
REHEARSAL STAGE MANAGER: Ben Altman
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Tyree Marshall
SENSITIVITY CONSULTANT: Ann James
COVID COMPLIANCE OFFICER: Cedes Sifuentes
CASTING DIRECTOR: Raul Clayton Staggs
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: Christopher Hoffman
SCENIC PAINTING: Orlando de la Paz
SCENIC PAINTING ASSISTANT: Marygold Martinez
ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNER: Hayden Kirschbaum
PUBLICIST: Judith Borne
SOCIAL MEDIA: Rebecca Tessier
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Guillermo Perez
VIDEOGRAPHER: Seth Dorcey
Skylight's Artistic Development, Community Engagement Programs and Ticket Initiatives are made possible through the generous support of our Individual and Foundation donors, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, and the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.
Funding has also been provided by the California Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
PRODUCTIONS
SPECIAL EVENTS
REVIEWS
Well acted… an UNEXPECTED TWIST. The actors endow their rolls with textured individuality. Tackles the private toll on Black women activists. Craig-Galván has been quickly garnering NATIONAL RECOGNITION. - LA Times
SPARKS FLY... Two MASTERFUL ACTORS in perfect sync under Jon Lawrence Rivera’s INCISIVE direction… If the season opener is any indication, it looks to be an EXCITING YEAR AHEAD for Skylight Theatre Company and Playwrights’ Arena. - WOW! - StageSceneLA
CHECK OUT THIS WORK. Slyly letting the audience in on the truth... I Was Deeply Effected By It... exquisitely-crafted... the ENERGY NEVER FALTERS
- Broadway World
MESMERIZING. Playwright Inda Craig-Galván has built A POWERFUL PIECE OF ART... looks to be like AN EXCITING 2021-2022 SEASON AT THE SKYLIGHT”
- Larchmont Buzz
OUTDONE THEMSELVES... There's much to be said for a strong polemic that boosts the social conscience
- OnStage Los Angeles
TALENTED ACTORS buzz and hum... This controversial play... RESONATES with very practical, HIGHLY VISCERAL, and culturally realistic language and viewpoints. KUDOS. - Splash Magazines