EST-LA and Circle X to Offer Joint Season in 2011

Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA and Circle X Theatre Co. will offer a joint season in 2011 at the Atwater Village Theatre.

EST-LA will kick off the season with a world premiere by Oscar-nominated writer Nicholas Kazan, who reinvents Franz Wedekind’s Lulu with Mlle. God (January 29-March 26). Scott Paulin will direct the production, which stars Annika Marks.

In April, the two companies open the centerpiece of their shared season: two new plays by Tom Jacobson, set to run concurrently. Circle X commissioned Jacobson’s The Chinese Massacre (annotated) (April 16-May 22), is a fact-based chronicle of the first race riot in Los Angeles history, when 19 Chinese men and boys were lynched by vigilantes. EST-LA presents House of the Rising Son (April 23-May 29) directed by Michael Michetti, a subversive New Orleans romance that pays homage to the writing style and life of Tennessee Williams.

The fourth and final offering in the season will be a revival of Circle X’s acclaimed 2009 production of Battle Hymn by Jim Leonard – significantly rewritten and featuring a new ending (July 9 – August 13). John Langs will direct the production, which will feature the original cast.

In addition to the four mainstage productions, the two companies will offer late-night programming in February and March: EST-LA’s Crack Whore Galore (February 3 – March 5) and Circle X’s Violators Will Be Violated (February 18-March 19).

For more information, visit www.ensemblestudiotheatrela.org and www.circlextheatre.org.