News And Blogs

“I’m trying to hook up my headphones. They’re being a little testy,” says actress Sabina Zúñiga Varela during the first virtual rehearsal of Mojada, one of the three Greek plays Chicanx playwright Luis Alfaro has adapted. “This is going to be part of the process,” replied Juliette Carillo, the director. “Dealing with our little tech...

From the Streets of L.A. to the Digital Stage

When the World premiere of Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo was produced at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in 2009, an exciting artistic partnership between Center Theatre Group and Rajiv Joseph was born. Not only was it Joseph’s first large-scale production at a major regional theatre, but the following year, the show was trasnferred to the Mark Taper...

Scenes from the Vault—Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

With America preparing for its annual 4th of July celebration—albeit in a physically distanced way, perhaps unlike any time before—it must be remembered that the meaning of independence has never been equally applied to all Americans. This point is clearly taking center stage in the national dialogue, especially leading into this year’s Indep...

Exposing America's History Onstage

Two of the most vibrant and wonderful spaces at Center Theatre Group rarely come into view for our audience members but are crucial to the art we put onstage: our costume and prop shop and warehouse in Boyle Heights (known as “The Shop”) and the backstage areas at our venues. These spaces are at their busiest and most exciting when they’re fi...

Shows, Interrupted: Block Party 2020

The set of Pulitzer Prize finalist Dael Orlandersmith’s Until the Flood transports audiences back to the late summer of 2014, when Ferguson, Missouri boiled with unrest after teenager Michael Brown was fatally shot by police officer Darren Wilson. In the aftermath of the incident, the town’s grief was palpable, and on the pavement where Brown d...

Mourning, Minimalism & Motion

Five and a half years ago, Ferguson, Missouri, became the focus of national attention following the shooting of teenager Michael Brown. Until the Flood—onstage at the Douglas January 24 – February 23, 2020—is acclaimed playwright and performer Dael Orlandersmith’s latest solo show, an urgent exploration of the social uprising that succeeded...

Ferguson, Missouri: A Timeline

Dael Orlandersmith starts the conversations her audiences need. In her newest groundbreaking work, Until the Flood—onstage at the Douglas from January 21 – February 23, 2020—that means thinking and talking about Ferguson, Missouri, where in 2014 a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown. After succes...

How Dael Orlandersmith Speaks to People

Some of Samuel Beckett’s most renowned interpreters have appeared on our stages in a number of his iconic works. As Bill Irwin takes the stage of the Kirk Douglas Theatre September 13 – October 27, 2019 in On Beckett, here is a look back at the history of our mainstage Beckett productions....

Samuel Beckett at Center Theatre Group

He’s regularly called a virtuoso, a master of his craft, and even a genius (per the MacArthur Foundation) and a clown prince (by no less than PBS). You’ve seen him in everything from TV shows like CSI and Sesame Street to his Tony Award®-winning stints in plays like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Fool Moon (roles he reprised with Center...

Bill Irwin Makes Beckett Pure Pleasure

How many adults in the United States today identify as trans? What’s the difference between gender identity and gender expression? What does cisgender mean? What’s the best way to find out a colleague, friend, or patron’s gender pronoun?

Building a More Inclusive Company with TransCanWork

There are many key moments in a play’s journey to the stage: the initial idea, the first draft, the first rehearsal, the opening night. In the midst of these typically are numerous workshops, formal and informal, where actors, the playwright, and perhaps a director read and listen to the play aloud to see how it works as a piece of theatre....

Forging Plays, Building Community