2017 | Center Theatre Group

On February 27, 2017, a century of the African-American experience came to life on the Mark Taper Forum stage through the words of August Wilson and the voices of Los Angeles high school students. Since 2011, Center Theatre Group has served as the Southern California home for the national August Wilson Monologue Competition. Each year, over 100 stu...

A Journey of a Century Begins With a Single Student

Pablo Santiago speaks slowly and carefully, pausing between phrases as he considers his words. He brings this same thoughtfulness to his lighting design. Santiago’s unique style has been recognized with the 2017 Sherwood Award for emerging artists.

Pablo Santiago Wins the 2017 Richard E. Sherwood Award

This month, we’re proud to have productions at three theatres—plus a bonus live art theatrical experience—that demonstrate our commitment to diversity in every sense of the word.

Civil Rights, Memoirs, and a World Premiere Playwright

In honor of our revival of Zoot Suit, Richard Montoya of Culture Clash shared with us his reflections on the pachuco and what this play means to him. His father, the pachuco poet and artist José Montoya, was a close friend of Luis Valdez and designed the art that was used in the first Center Theatre Group New Theatre for Now production....

Pachuco: A Conversation of The Americas

This month, Center Theatre Group brings you two productions that broke new ground artistically and in terms of representing different aspects of the American experience onstage.

The Return of an L.A. Classic and a Very Fun Home

The current revival of Zoot Suit marks both "a major social event in Los Angeles history"—the real events the play is based on—and "a major cultural event"—the 1978 World premiere at the Mark Taper Forum was "the first time a Chicano play had been given a mainstage production anywhere in the country, in the world, even," explained Michael Rit...

Passing the Baton of Art and Activism