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At Cal State L.A.’s John Lion fest, professionals take reins of four student premieres
Los Angeles, CA -- Under the professional direction of some of Los Angeles’s top-notch theatre directors, this year’s John Lion New Plays Festival at Cal State L.A. will premiere four one-act plays written by Cal State L.A. student playwrights: Seventeen, Ten Minutes, Underground, and What A Wonderful World.
The Festival will be presented at the University’s State Playhouse May 1-3 and May 8-10, running Thursday and Friday nights at 8 p.m. with special Saturday showtimes, May 3 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and May 10 at 3 p.m. only.
Each performance will include productions of all four plays:
Seventeen – written by Francisco Garcia, directed by Laurie Woolery
In this coming-of-age story, young Latino skateboarders growing up together in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles struggle as they come to terms with who they are and what they soon will become.
Ten Minutes – written by Benjamin Caron, directed by Jon Kellam
Amid rumors that the United States will be attacked by a foreign nuclear force, four people, fleeing to their homes, are trapped in an elevator—and they might only have ten minutes to live.
Underground – written by Concetta M. Verna, directed by Bill DeLuca
It’s 1940 Poland and the Nazi’s are searching for traitors. A young husband and wife must face doing the right thing.
What A Wonderful World – written by Obed Silva, directed by José Cruz González
A couple returns to New Orleans’ 9th Ward a year after Hurricane Katrina with hopes of rebuilding. Sitting on an old paddle boat tied up to a street sign that reads “No Parking Any Time,” they reminisce and contemplate what has happened.
According to González, Cal State L.A. theatre arts professor and director of the John Lion festival, “Since 1997, the Festival has premiered more than 60 new plays written by our undergraduate and graduate students.”
There have been many ‘success’ stories, said González, as some of the plays have been published and several of the Festival’s student participants have developed careers as playwrights.
This annual New Plays Festival at Cal State L.A. was named to honor John Lion’s achievement in theatre and education. Lion, who died in 1999, was producing director of the American College Theatre Festival at the Kennedy Center. Prior to his tenure at the Kennedy Center, Lion was founder of the Magic Theatre in San Francisco, which made him an icon of the American Theatre. During his residency there, the “Magic” received 10 Obie Awards, scores of Bay Area Theatre awards, and the Margo Jones Award. Lion also wrote on diverse theatre topics and served on prestigious panels, including the National Endowment for the Arts and Rockefeller Council.
WHAT:
JOHN LION NEW PLAYS FESTIVAL 2008
WHEN:
Two Weekends: May 1-3 & May 8-10, Thursday & Friday evenings at 8 p.m.; Saturdays, May 3, 3 p.m. & 8 p.m., and May 10, 3 p.m. only.
WHERE:
STATE PLAYHOUSE, CAL STATE L.A. – Eastern Avenue exit of the San Bernardino (10) Freeway, at the intersection of the 10 and 710 freeways.
TICKETS:
General admission, $15; students and senior citizens, $8.
PARKING:
Public permit dispenser parking is available at 50 cents per hour in Lot 5 or upper level of Parking Structure C.
INFO:
Reservations—call the Cal State L.A. Box Office, (323) 343-4118.
Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 200,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu
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