THE 6TH ACT
Presents A World Premiere Play!
THE $5 SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
Written by MATTHEW LEAVITT
Directed by JOEL ZWICK
The 99-Seat Skewering begins Friday, February 7
at Theatre 68 in North Hollywood!
“Do we really need a publicist?”
THE 6th ACT presents a world premiere comedy, a heartfelt love letter to all things 99-seat theatre, THE $5 SHAKESPEARE COMPANY, written by Matthew Leavitt (The Boomerang Effect) and directed by Joel Zwick (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” Serrano The Musical). THE $5 SHAKESPEARE COMPANY will open on Friday, February 7 at 8pm and run through Sunday, March 8, 2020 at Theatre 68, 5112 Lankershim Blvd. in Hollywood.
THE $5 SHAKESPEARE COMPANY earnestly and hilariously exposes the trials and tribulations of doing intimate theatre in Los Angeles. Through a fictional down-and-out Shakespeare company in Hollywood, this play examines the significance (and insignificance) of doing 99-seat theatre for little-to-no pay, when there are more people on stage than in the audience, in a town obsessed with film and television. Can art have meaning if it fails to connect to an audience, and likewise can our lives have meaning if we fail to connect with each other?
ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM AND CAST
MATTHEW LEAVITT (Playwright) a life-long Los Angeles native, is an award-winning playwright, director, librettist, and the co-artistic director of The 6th Act. He most recently directed their critically acclaimed production of Hamlet. His play The Boomerang Effect (published by Samuel French) had hugely successful runs at both The Odyssey and The Zephyr Theatres, and has enjoyed productions throughout the US and UK. In 2013, he was commissioned by LA Opera to write the libretto for a new opera Orpheus, with award-winning classical and film composer Nathan Wang. Leavitt have also completed their second LA Opera commission, a new opera The Wreck of the Miranda. Other directing credits include: Double Play at the Stephanie Feury Theatre, Barfly Shakespeare (The 6thAct), Twelfth Night (Village Green Productions), The Taming of the Shrew (Village Green Productions), Arrival (Sci-Fest LA), Human History (Sci-Fest LA), Crossed Currents (JANM Tateuchi Democracy Forum), Ladies of State (Working Stage), Goes The Weasel (Ammunition Theatre Company), as well as assistant director/dramaturg for Romeo and Juliet at A Noise Within.
JOEL ZWICK (Director) Mr. Zwick directed “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time. Recent films include “Fat Albert” and “Elvis Has Left the Building.” Mr. Zwick directed the Broadway production of George Gershwin Alone at The Helen Hayes Theatre. He and Hershey Felder have also collaborated on Monsieur Chopin, Beethoven As I Knew Him and Maestro. Mr. Zwick began his theatrical career at La Mama E.T.C., as director of the La Mama Plexus. He has directed on Broadway, Off-Broadway and Broadway touring companies. Previous New York productions have included Dance With Me (Tony nomination), Shenandoah (Broadway national tour), Oklahoma (national tour) and Cold Storage (American Place Theater). He acted in the original New York production of MacBird. He directed Esther (Promenade Theater, NY), Merry-Go-Round (Chicago and Las Vegas), Last Chance Saloon and Woycek (West End, London). Currently, Mr. Zwick is recognized as one of Hollywood’s most prolific director of episodic television, having the direction of over 650 episodes to his credit. Mr. Zwick has taught drama at Yale University, Brooklyn College, Queens College, Wheaton College, and the University of Southern California. He is a graduate (B.A., M.A.) of Brooklyn College.
LIZA SENECA (Co-Artistic Director, “The 6th Act”) is originally from The Netherlands, but has called Los Angeles home for many years now. An actress, producer, and director, she has appeared on countless LA, NYC, and regional stages. Select theater credits include Ameryka (Center Theatre Group/Critical Mass), The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Cloud 9 at Antaeus, Pericles, Henry VI, Parts 1, 2, & 3, and The Merchant of Venice with the Porters of Hellsgate, Macbeth (Colorado Shakespeare Festival), Pulp Shakespeare (NYC and LA Premieres), Collected Stories (The Group Rep), Matthew Leavitt’s The Boomerang Effect (World Premiere – Odyssey), A Shayna Maidel (ICT), Much Ado About Nothing (Kentucky Shakespeare) and most recently An Evening of Betrayal (The 6th Act). She is a member of both The Antaeus Company and The Porters of Hellsgate. She has been seen on television in recurring roles on The Following and Bucket & Skinner’s Epic Adventures, Grey’s Anatomy, Lie to Me, Monk, Big Love, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and Alias. Her film work includes Night Eyes, Zwartboek (Black Book), and The Drama Club, among others. Her voice can be heard in numerous commercials, industrials, and films, including Ready Player One, Finding Dory and Lego Batman. She is the co-creator and producer of the Bard tribute series This Week in Shakespeare -www.youtube.com/weeklyshakes
The cast of THE $5 SHAKESPEARE COMPANY will feature (in alphabetical order): Kenajuan Bentley (Grimm ) as “Randall,” Emerson Collins (Rent on Fox, Bravo’s The People’s Couch, Del Shores’ Southern Baptist Sissies) as “Everett,” Carolina Espiro (FBI on CBS) as “Elena,” Natalie Lander (The Middle on ABC, Lopez on TV Land) as “Spencer,” Luke McClure (Del Shores’ Yellow, 6TH ACT’s Hamlet) as “Louis,” Cindy Nguyen (Diana of Dobson’s at Antaeus) as “Camille,” Andy Robinson (“Deep Space Nine,” Julius Weezer) as “Chester,” Liza Seneca (Ameryka at The Kirk Douglas, Caucasian Chalk Circle at Antaeus) as “Lillian,” Adam J. Smith (12 Angry Men and Intimate Apparel at The Pasadena Playhouse) as “Jacob” and Jamie Zwick (Time Stands Still at The Lounge) as “Noel.”
The Design Team for THE $5 SHAKESPEARE COMPANY is as follows: Set Design by Chris Winfield; Lighting Design by Chu-hsuan Chang; Sound Design by Nick Neidorf; Costume Design by Ashphord Jacoway. The Production Stage Manager is MacKenzie Smith. THE $5 SHAKESPEARE COMPANY is produced by Matthew Leavitt and Liza Seneca.
SCHEDULE AND PRICING
THE $5 SHAKESPEARE COMPANY will open on Friday, February 7 at 8pm and run through Sunday, March 8, 2020 at Theatre 68, 5112 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood.
Performances are Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 2pm.
Ticket prices are $35.
For tickets, please visit https://fivedollarshakespeare.eventbrite.com
to purchase tickets online or to view complete schedule.
