The season begins with a historic new works festival the L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival with an all-women cohort of 10 writers in September 2022.
2022 Pulitzer Prize Finalist play “Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord”
Written by Kristina Wong
Directed by Chay Yew
A co-production with East West Players
in March and April 2023
A fresh take on the play “Fetch Clay, Make Man”
Written by Will Power
Directed by Debbie Allen
Produced in association with SpringHill
in June and July 2023
The West Coast premiere of “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord”
Written by Alexis Scheer
Directed by Lindsay Allbaugh
Produced in association with IAMA Theatre Company
in August and September 2023
The 2022-2023 Kirk Douglas Theatre Season was unveiled today as Center Theatre Group Managing Director / CEO Meghan Pressman joined Center Theatre Group’s Associate Artistic Directors Luis Alfaro, Lindsay Allbaugh, Tyrone Davis, Neel Keller, and Kelley Kirkpatrick to share the upcoming programming for the Culver City theatre.
The season will begin with the L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival, which is set to take place over the course of two weekends, September 9-11 and September 16-18, 2022. For the first time in the history of Center Theatre Group’s L.A. Writers’ Workshop, all 10 playwrights in the group will have their work presented at the Douglas. This notable cohort of 10 women writers includes Jami Brandli, June Carryl, Penelope Lowder, Lisa Ramirez, Jessica Ko, Pia Shah, Judy Soo Hoo, Delanna Studi, Julie Taiwo Quarles, and Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera.
A 2022 Pulitzer Finalist, Kristina Wong, will return to the Douglas from February 12 to March 12, 2023 in a co-production with East West Players in “Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord.” Emmy® Award winner Debbie Allen will make her Center Theatre Group directorial debut with Will Power’s “Fetch Clay, Make Man,” produced in association with SpringHill from June 4 to July 2, 2023. Rounding out the 2022-2023 Season is the West Coast premiere of Alexis Scheer’s “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord,” from August 20 to September 17, 2023.
“The Kirk Douglas Theatre presents bold, authentic, and engaging works, and this season our Artistic Team has created a thrilling lineup of innovative artists making work that breaks boundaries and unites people through the power of their storytelling,” said Center Theatre Group Managing Director / CEO Meghan Pressman. “These three vibrant productions, paired with works from the outstanding playwrights in our L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival, center human connection and celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of Los Angeles.”
“We believe that theatre creates the energy that feeds a city, a culture, and a society. This season’s programming at the Douglas focuses on using the art of theatre to broaden horizons and illuminate new perspectives,” the five Associate Artistic Directors stated. “We are grateful to our theatre community for challenging and engaging with us as we set out to honor the commitments to our global majority community. This season, we have also intentionally partnered with like-minded organizations on each production, as we believe that collaboration is vital to our L.A. theatre ecology.”
The L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival includes a variety of stories from women playwrights ranging from female magicians, the exploration of American singer/songwriter and activist Nina Simone, the kinship of teachers, trademarking African culture, as well as Cherokee circular storytelling, to name a few.
Center Theatre Group’s 2019 Dorothy and Richard E. Sherwood Award winner Kristina Wong returns to the Douglas with a co-production with East West Players of her Pulitzer Prize-Finalist play, “Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord.” In this solo show — directed by Chay Yew and with additional support from the Skirball Cultural Center — the COVID-19 pandemic takes a twist with a sewing squad that borders on a feminist utopia or a doomsday cult all with the goal of fixing the U.S. public health care system while in quarantine one mask at a time from a Koreatown apartment. Wong explores and reflects what we have been through and imagines what we want to become with hilarity and generosity.
Produced in association with SpringHill, Will Power’s “Fetch Clay, Make Man” brings together two unlikely celebrities: boxer Cassius Clay (better known as Muhammad Ali) and Hollywood star Stepin Fetchit. Set in the 1960s at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, these two drastically different people combine young and old to discover how public personas shape themselves and how legacies are determined. Tony Award® nominee and Drama Desk Award winner Debbie Allen will stage this powerful production.
An abandoned tree house, an Ouija board, and a group of teenage girls set the scene for a wild and twisted exploration into the young minds of women where mystery and magic collide in the West Coast premiere of “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord” by Alexis Scheer, directed by Center Theatre Group Associate Artistic Director Lindsay Allbaugh and produced in association with IAMA Theatre Company. This fierce comedy shares a riotous perspective of the danger and damage of formative years, as Miami-based girls summon the ghost of Colombian drug cartel leader Pablo Escobar.
Tickets and subscription packages for the Kirk Douglas Theatre 2022-2023 Season will be on sale at a later date. Tickets — $10 for a reading or $30 for a Festival Pass — are now currently on sale for the L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival and are available at CenterTheatreGroup.org.
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