Entering its 30th year, the Fountain Theatre is announcing a celebratory 2020 season of dynamic premieres and events.
“Thirty years ago, when we first entered this theater and stepped onto its stage, we knew we had found it. A place to call home,” said Deborah Culver and Stephen Sachs, founders of the theater. “Since that April three decades ago, our charming haven on Fountain Avenue has been home to thousands of artists and millions of patrons.”
Season opener “Human Interest Story,” written and directed by Sachs, will open on Saturday, Feb. 15. In this timely drama about homelessness, celebrity worship and truth in American journalism, newspaper columnist Andy Kramer (Rob Nagle) is laid off when a corporate takeover downsizes his paper. In retaliation, Andy fabricates a letter to his column from an imaginary homeless woman named “Jane Doe” who announces she will kill herself on the Fourth of July because of the heartless state of the world. When the letter goes viral, Andy is forced to hire a homeless woman (Tanya Alexander) to stand-in as the fictitious Jane. She becomes an overnight internet sensation and a national women’s movement is ignited.
Slated for spring, the Los Angeles premiere of “If I Forget,” written by Steven Levenson, will be directed by Simon Levy. In this honest portrait of a Jewish family and a culture at odds with itself, a liberal Jewish studies professor reunites with his two sisters to celebrate their father’s 75th birthday. Both political and deeply personal, this play covers themes of history, responsibility and what we’re willing to sacrifice for a new beginning.
Summer brings the Los Angeles premiere of “An Octoroon” by 2016 MacArthur fellow Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. A collision of the antebellum South and 21st-century cultural politics, “An Octoroon” twists a funhouse world of larger-than-life stereotypes into social commentary and satire.
“Escaped Alone” closes out the season in the fall with its Los Angeles premiere. Written by Caryl Churchill, the play features a funny, surreal afternoon of tea and calamity. In a serene British garden, three old friends are joined by a neighbor to engage in amiable chitchat. The women’s talk of grandchildren and TV shows breezily intersperses with tales of terror in a quietly teetering world where all is not what it seems.
The Fountain Theatre is located at 5060 Fountain Ave. For information, call (323)663-1525, or visit fountaintheatre.com.
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