Skylight Live – June-July (2020)

2020 EVENTS
Scroll down for past performances.
- Live Stream Director: GARRETT CROUCH
- Original Music for Skylight Live: MICHAEL TEOLI

JULY 2020 EVENTS

July 30, 3:00pm - Special Event, WEST ADAMS

"Penelope Lowder has her finger firmly on the pulse of American culture. "
- Los Angeles Times

Earlier this year we performed WEST ADAMS, the 2020 LA Times Critics Choice play about the absurdity of racism. Some thought it went too far, others felt it didn't go far enough. Since the death of George Floyd conversations have changed.

Join us for a special dialogue with the writer, director, and cast after watching our archival recording of WEST ADAMS as it was performed before an audience at Skylight Theatre.

WEST ADAMS

A story about the absurdity of racism.

With a hostile takeover of a neighborhood block party and altruistic dreams of gentrification, Penelope Lowder’s newest play, set in LA's historic "WEST ADAMS" district suggests that perhaps reshaping a newly adopted neighborhood in your image isn’t as lofty as one might think.

MORE ABOUT THE PLAY ARTISTS

Playwright: Penelope Lowder**
Director: Michael A. Shepperd
Performed by: Allison Blaize, Andrés M. Bagg, Clayton Farris, Jenny Soo
Talk moderated by: Lee Sherman

Live Conversation about the play, racism, and the current moment follows.

2 hours with artist talk
**Resident Playwright

July 23, 3:00pm

DEAR AUNTIE D
“Dear Auntie D" is a conversation (based on their actual emails) between a 95 year old woman and her beloved niece, who is deprived from seeing her. A sadly relatable tale these days, albeit with humor and history attached.

Writer: Michele Willens
Director: Risa Brainin
Performed by: Ann Gee Byrd, Karole Foreman

July 16, 4:00pm [SPECIAL TIME for this performance]

SQUARE ONE... the fourth installment of BENTON WAY
When the past becomes a minefield, can love move forward?
In this 4th installment of BENTON WAY, personal histories reveal the roots of racial tension that Matt & Lionel must struggle to overcome.

Writers: Tony Abatemarco, Michael Kearns, Penelope Lowder**
Director: Tony Abatemarco
Performed by: Adam Ballard, Dee Freeman, Adam Lebowitz-Lockard
Original music for Square One, Benton Way by Patrick Kirst
-- Watch previous installments this page and next
**Resident Playwright

July 9, 3:00pm

The Weekend I Thought I Had COVID
In the wee hours of a horrific morning, a man with Covid symptoms gains personal insight.

Written and performed by: Dan Frischman
Director: Gary Grossman

JUNE 2020 EVENTS

July 2, 3:00pm

A scene from LAVENDER MEN, An Emancipation Play
Sneak a peek into the historical fantasia of Taffeta, a self-proclaimed "fabulous queer creation of color,” as she invades the private world of Abraham Lincoln to confront issues of LGBTQ+ inclusion and visibility that still challenge us today.

Writer: Roger Q. Mason**
Director: Lovell Holder
Performed by: Roger Q. Mason, Greg Nussen, Nich Witham
**Resident Playwright

June 25, 3:00pm

THE SEX SEANCE
Before a "sexy-time Zoom call," a lesbian couple must first banish a ghost haunting one of their apartments.

Writer: Henry Alexander Kelly
Director: Bruce Lemon Jr.
Performed by: Jasmine Meadows, Carene Rose Mekertichyan

Friday, June 19th, 6:00pm

Juneteenth Special Event (June 19th)

The Juneteenth Theatre Justice Project

On Friday, Juneteenth, (June 19th), theatre communities around the country will provide their response to the current moment – the civil uprising that has come as a reaction to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others before them – with simultaneous free readings of Vincent Terrell Durham’s bold new play, "Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids".

Read more

June 18, 3:00pm

ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE - A pandemic Rom-Com
In a small village in England, social distancing endangers a pastor’s already struggling Church, and an eager couple who have finally found each other. Will love or disinfectant triumph?

by Anna Mathias
Directed by Ann Hearn Tobolowsky
Performed by: Steve Hofvendahl, Lily Knight, Rob Nagle
- Developed at Antaeus Playwright’s Lab

June 11, Thursday 3pm

PRELUDE TO A PROMISE
In "Prelude to a Promise," the third installment of BENTON WAY, current events come close to threatening the love that began on Zoom. Can two men--one black, one white--survive bigotry, panic, and despair?

Writers and Directors: Tony Abatemarco & Michael Kearns
Performed by: Adam Ballard, Adam Lebowitz-Lockard
-- Watch previous "Who's Zoomin' Who" & "Benton Way", Videos this page

June 4, 3:00pm

Special Event
BLACK LIVES MATTER - "Say Their Names"
Join us in honoring some of the many black lives that have been unjustly murdered simply because of the color of their skin. Say their names with us. There is power in their names and in remembering them.

Watch here

SCHEDULE

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