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An oasis for those who love classic stories. Los Angeles Times
Behind the Scenes
  • A Noise Within

    RA Spotlight: Sound Design with Robert Oriol

    What made you want to pursue composing and sound design? Was there a concert, composer, or even show that influenced you? In 1993 a playwright friend of mine had written a play as part of an evening of Halloween-themed shorts at a fire-trap in Santa Monica called the Burbage Theatre. He asked me if I’d…

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    The Imaginary Invalid: Becoming Claude

    Have you met Claude?  Watch how ANW Resident Artist Rafael Goldstein  transforms into the wacky character for our production of Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid. Then, read on to learn about how Rafael prepared for this role and how working as an actor has improved his makeup skills.  Describe the process of creating Claude. I found…

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    Asked and Answered: The Maids

    Thank you to everyone who has filled our post-show surveys this season! We really enjoy reading all your thoughts and comments. We’ve gotten so many interesting  questions about The Maids that we thought we’d let the cast answer a few for themselves.  What did you take away from your character? Did you relate to her…

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    RA “Spotlight”: Lighting Design with Ken Booth

    Can you guess how many shows Ken Booth has designed for ANW? The answer is a whopping 47! Here, we ask Ken about how he first got involved in lighting and what it was like designing The Imaginary Invalid and The Maids this fall!  What made you want to originally pursue lighting design? I always…

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    The Secret Life of Jars: From the Recycling Bin to Center Stage

    While watching The Imaginary Invalid, it’s near impossible to ignore the plethora of jars sprawled across the stage. Many patrons have asked about where the jars came from and, more importantly, what exactly are the substances inside. We pulled aside our extremely talented prop master, Dillon Nelson, to resolve your concerns and satisfy your curiosity. Tell us…

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    A “phone call” with Martín Carrillo

    Ever wonder how we get that phone to ring on stage in The Maids? (Spoiler alert – Monsieur isn’t actually calling from prison). There is a complex process of wiring that makes the phone ring until you pick it up! Sound designer Martín Carrillo (who previously worked on Antigone and Romeo and Juliet) shares more about this…

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    The Cast of Arcadia‘s Field Trip to the Huntington

    by Chloe Bates, Marketing and Events Assistant A few weeks ago, the cast of Arcadia and a few ANW Staff members took a field trip to the Huntington Gardens and Library to learn more about the 1800’s English countryside in which Tom Stoppard’s play is set. We are so excited to share the amazing pictures and stories from…

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    Open House 2016 Highlights

    A huge thanks to everyone who showed up at our Open House event last Saturday, September 17! Though the doors-wide-open, behind-the-scenes-peek was envisioned to be a special treat just for our our 25th Anniversary Celebratory season, its success is inspiring us to make it an annual event. For those of you who may have missed it,…

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    The 1947 “Failure” of Jean Genet’s The Maids

    Genet is on record describing The Maids as a “failure.” Why? Christopher Lane, in his article “The Voided Role: On Genet”, supposes that the “failure” of the play is encoded in its message, or we might say, in its poetics…. Lane writes that “Genet’s interest in his characters’ fantasies and identifications interrupts what might seem an obvious oscillation between master and…

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    Jean Genet based The Maids on a real murder case from 1933

    Christine and Léa Papin were real-life sisters who came from an abusive, dysfunctional, poor family. As adults, the two were extremely close and may have had an incestuous relationship. They worked as maids for the Lancelin family for many years, but one night in February 1933, they brutally murdered their employer, Madame Lancelin, and her daughter, Genvieve, in their home….

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