Skylight Live – August-December (2020)
2020 EVENTS
- Live Stream Director: GARRETT CROUCH
- Original Music for Skylight Live: MICHAEL TEOLI
OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2020
December 3, 3:00pm PT/6:00pm ET
AGAIN WE AWAKEN
- in recognition of World Aids Day
In their sixth collaboration with Skylight Theatre honoring World AIDS Day, the LGBTQ+ troupe traces the dreams, lessons and landscapes that have touched their lives and bridge two global pandemics.
Written and Performed by: QueerWise
Directed by: Michael Kearns
Head writer: Robin Podolsky
"Again We Awaken" is supported in part by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and Spoken Interludes Next, with Poets & Writers through a grant received from the James Irvine Foundation
October 29, 2020, avail. through Nov. 30, 2020
WE THE PEOPLE
A conversation about democracy and our country at a crossroads
Directed by: Cameron Watson
Developed by: Tony Abatemarco, Gary Grossman, Wendy Kout, Jeff Reno and Cameron Watson
Guests: Noah benShea, Congressman Brendan Boyle, Dan Bucatinsky, Mary Chieffo, Michael Chieffo, Jacquelyn Fergusson, Melissa Fitzgerald, Liz Frances, Hutchins Foster, Jorge Garcia, Beth Grant, Allison Janney, Sophie Kim, Sharon Lawrence, Penelope Lowder, Wendie Malick, Allan Miller, Congressman Patrick Murphy, Vico Ortiz, James Naughton, Councilman Mitch O'Farrell, Christina Pickles, Kacie Rogers, Charles Shaughnessy, Michael A. Shepperd, Joe Spano, Desean K. Terry, JoBeth Williams, Haneefah Wood,
and Laura Zucker
What you can expect.
October 22, 3:00pm PT/6:00pm ET
CORPSES & CHUPACABRAS
Friends get together for a virtual role-playing game night, but as things take a deadly turn, they find out the stakes are higher than just the game.
Written and Directed by: Tylre Synclair
Performed by: Dom Bournés, Zacharary Cantrell, Monisha Dadlani, Caribay Franke, Jessica Nicole Garcia, Isaac Jay, Brett O'Brien
October 8, 3:00pm PT/6:00pm ET
ME AND HER AGAINST THE WORLD
Cornelius Johnson, FBI COINTELPRO informant, has a spiritual reckoning in the Egyptian afterlife. It raises memories of the empowering relationship he held with his grandmother, a figure who helped him navigate the difficulties of being a kid during the early Civil Rights movement.
Writer/Performer: Roger Q. Mason**
Director: Lovell Holder
**Resident Playwright
October 1, 3:00pm PT/6:00pm ET
GROCERY STORE ROSES HAVE NO SMELL
A parental reckoning, an LA reunion, a speed bump no one saw coming. Love resumed and love thwarted on a single day in the 6th installment of BENTON WAY.
Writers: Tony Abatemarco, Michael Kearns, Penelope Lowder**
Director: Tony Abatemarco
Performed by: Adam Foster Ballard, Adam Lebowitz-Lockard, Peter Van Norden
Original music for this installment by Patrick Kirst
**Resident Playwright
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2020
September 24, 3:00pm PT/6:00 ET (Performance & Artist Q&A)
Extended streaming through September 30, 2020
WAKE UP CALL
It's never too late to make a better choice.
Writers: Wendy Kout, Jeff Reno
Director: Gregg T. Daniel
Performed by: Charles Shaughnessy, Nancy Travis, Kent Faulcon, Kacie Rogers, Juliana Stephanie Ojeda
Original Music for Wake Up Call: Maritri Garrett
Closing Video Montage: Nick Santiago
September 17, 3:00pm
IN SESSION
Couple’s therapy is never easy, especially when quarantined during a pandemic. Now toss in a Zoom therapist with marital problems...
Writer: Meredith Besser
Director: Evie Abat
Performed by: Sibongile Ngako, Jan Munroe, Marcelo Tubert
September 10, 3:00pm
WE WRITE**
Join members of Skylight's professional playwrights lab talking about why they write, what they write about, and writing in this present moment
Writers**: Boni B. Alvarez, Cory Hinkle, Tom Lavagnino, Penelope Lowder
Moderated by: Tony Abatemarco, Co-Artistic Director
**Resident Playwrights
September 3, 3:00pm
FLAPPING & FLYING - The second installment of "Allergic To Walnuts"
Isolation can make you batty.
Writer: Michelle Kholos Brooks
Director: Jenny Sullivan
Performed by: Joe Spano, JoBeth Williams
August 27, 3:00pm
BETWEEN PORTLAND AND PHILLY - The fifth installment of "Benton Way"
Protest, reconciliation while another pair of soulmates intersect
Writers: Tony Abatemarco, Michael Kearns, Penelope Lowder**
Director: Tony Abatemarco
Performed by: Adam Ballard, Dee Freeman, Adam Lebowitz-Lockard, Marlon Sanders
Original music for this installment by Patrick Kirst
**Resident Playwright
August 20, 3:00pm - Special Event, AMERICA ADJACENT
"Boni B. Alvarez brings a rare voice to the stage: Filipino America's"
- Los Angeles Times
Early in 2019, Skylight Theatre presented the world premiere of AMERICA ADJACENT by Boni B. Alvarez. The play eavesdrops on a group of Filipinas who covertly reside in East Hollywood waiting to give birth so their babies will be U.S. citizens. But as the pregnant women get a closer look at the country they’ve heard so much about, they begin to wonder whether the 'American Dream' is all they were led to believe.
Join us for a special dialogue with the writer, director, and cast after watching our archival recording of AMERICA ADJACENT as it was performed before an audience at Skylight Theatre. (reservations required). Our guest moderator is Patricia Garza from Center Theatre Group.
AMERICA ADJACENT
In pursuit of the American Dream, six pregnant Filipina women risk everything. Confined to a one-bedroom, one-bath unit in Hollywood the women do their best to overcome fears of jail and deportation so that their children can have a better life. Playwright Boni B. Alvarez examines the promise of U.S. Citizenship and ask, “How far would you go to give your child a future?”
Playwright: Boni B. Alvarez**
Director: Jon Lawrence Rivera
Performed by: Evie Abat, Angela Baesa, Toni Katano, Hazel Lazano,Samantha Valdellon, Sandy Velasco, Arianne Villareal
Live conversation with the artists moderated by Patricia Garza follows. Have current events changed how they see the play? What would they do differently? You can participate in the Q&A by typing your questions into the chat.
Duration: Approx 2 hours (screening and Q&A)
MORE ABOUT THE PLAY AND ARTISTS
**Resident Playwright
August 13, 3:00pm
ALLERGIC TO WALNUTS
Is love a logical equation or simply about nuts?
An awkward older couple declare their love for each other and, in the course of conversation, discover it’s their first time being loved.
Playwright: Michelle Kholos Brooks
Director: Jenny Sullivan
Performed by: JoBeth Williams, Joe Spano
August 6, 3:00pm
GET ME TO THE ZOOM ON TIME -
- The second installment of "All the Lonely People, A Pandemic Rom-Com"
With everything disinfected, Ellie and Mathew are ready for Father Mac to officiate at their Zoom wedding. Suddenly, a mysterious woman appears. Let us pray...
Writer: Anna Mathias
Director: Ann Hearn Tobolowsky
Performed by: Steve Hofvendahl, Lily Knight, Kavi Ladnier, Rob Nagle,
- Developed at Antaeus Playwright’s Lab
SCHEDULE
Go to current schedule
2020
PRODUCTIONS
READINGS/WORKSHOPS
See additional Skylight LIVE events
See Los Angeles Times article about Skylight Live
(Bottom of March, April, May events page)
Skylight LIVE IN 2020 was supported in part by a grant from the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles
