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World premiere of 'Tree' at [Inside] The Ford
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The world premiere of Tree by Julie Hébert is presented by Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA at [Inside] the Ford previewing November 6 and opening November 7, the first offering in a curated season of new works from three L.A.-based theater companies. Jessica Kubzansky directs Chuma Gault, Sloan Robinson, Tessa Thompson and Jacqueline Wright.
"Three generations divided by race, culture and time connect when a white Southern woman discovers old love letters leading her to an African American half-brother. As America debates whether the election of Barack Obama has rendered our nation 'post-racial,' Hébert's provocative, poetic and powerfully moving new play asks: How can we move past racial differences and find a common language?"
Hébert, who grew up in the deep South during the turbulence of integration and the official and unofficial repeal of Jim Crow laws says, "I have a good friend, from a small town in south Louisiana near where I grew up. We share that culture and have much in common, but because she is African American her experience growing up was vastly different from mine. This play is an attempt to have a deep, true conversation between people who are linked in many ways, but separated by race."
"The language is lyrical, rich and infused with the cadences of French Louisiana," notes Kubzansky. "Tree is about investigating the past and its impact on the future. It's about the sandwich generation - what happens when you end up taking care of other people's lives instead of your own? It's about discovering in the middle of your life that there’s another person on the planet who might just 'get' you enough to push you to face yourself."
Currently a co-executive producer for the CBS series Numb3rs, Hébert’s career started in San Francisco with the Eureka Theater, the Magic Theater and Intersection for the Arts. She then went on to work throughout the country with the Los Angeles Theater Center, San Diego Rep, Steppenwolf, Provincetown Playhouse, Circle Rep, La MaMa and many others. Her plays include Ruby's Bucket of Blood, which she also adapted into a film for Showtime starring Angela Bassett. Julie wrote the screenplays for All-American Girl: The Mary Kay LeTourneau Story (USA), and Lying Awake (HBO) adapted from the novel by Mark Salzman. In 2002, Julie received a Peabody Award for In Their Own Words, a documentary film of interviews with survivors of the 9/11 attacks in New York.
Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA is one of Los Angeles’ premier developmental and producing theaters and an offshoot of the renowned New York company that developed many of the most accomplished voices in the American theater, including Christopher Durang, Richard Greenberg, David Mamet, Marsha Norman, José Rivera, Shel Silverstein, John Patrick Shanley and Wendy Wasserstein. EST-LA develops and produces new work by established and emerging playwrights.
The 2009-10 Season at [Inside] the Ford is supported by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and the Ford Theatre Foundation, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Tree is presented with the support of the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Tree previews 8 p.m. Friday, November 6, performs 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 3 and 7 p.m. Sunday, November 7 through December 13. There will be one Wednesday evening performance on December 9 at 8 pm. Thursday November 26 (Thanksgiving) will be dark. Two previews take place on Thursday, November 5 and Friday, November 6, both at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20, $12 seniors and full-time students with ID, previews and all Thursday evening performances are Pay-What-You-Can. Call 323-461-3673 or visit www.FordTheatres.org.
[Inside] the Ford is located in the Ford Theatres complex at 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East in Hollywood, just off the 101 Hollywood Freeway across from the Hollywood Bowl and south of Universal Studios. On-site, non-stacked parking is free.
Send questions, comments and suggestions to columbuscommunications@yahoo.com.
Photos by Ed Krieger—(top right) Chuma Gault and Tessa Thompson; (middle left, from left) Chuma Gault, Sloan Robinson and Jacqueline Wright.
For more information www.FordTheatres.org.
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