Noise Now
Noise Now is an enhanced commitment to being of service to all audiences. We strive to celebrate underrepresented populations, communities of color, young people, and all others not equitably represented in the theatre.
Our stages have always been a space for healing. Today, connecting over universal human stories has never been more necessary. We look forward to seeing you at the theatre as we rise together and step back on stage.
Mission
Noise Now is an opportunity to expand our family by engaging with our neighboring communities and peer organizations. Noise Now is more than an audience development initiative – it is a commitment to being a great neighbor, to building relationships with audiences and artists, and to demonstrating our eagerness to listen well and respond courageously.
Noise Now is an enhanced commitment to being of service to all audiences. We aim to illuminate and elevate underrepresented populations, communities of color, young people, and all others not equitably represented in the theatre. In addition, we are activating non-traditional or underutilized spaces throughout the A Noise Within campus. We are excited to challenge ourselves, identify how disruptive we can push to be, and commit to making decisions “with” – as opposed to “for” – our audiences.
By expanding our artistry to include dance, music, art installations, non-traditional theatre and beyond, we are opening our home to audiences new to theatre and new to us, in addition to facilitating work that illuminates overlap between our mission and the missions of our collaborators.
By hosting increasingly inclusive events and pursuing partnerships with peer organizations, we aim to expand our reach and diversify our offerings. This is an opportunity to listen to our neighbors, identify who’s not in the room, and hold ourselves accountable to being flexible and working differently where appropriate.
Join us as we re-introduce ourselves, as we go outside our comfort zone, and as we ask how we can be of service to our neighborhood.
Support for Noise Now
Support for Noise Now is made up of program-specific donations from our patrons (acknowledged in our donor listing), with the remainder covered by General Operating funds from the theatre. Noise Now does not rely on foundation, government, or corporate support. If you are interested in supporting the program, please contact us at development@anoisewithin.org!
Our Past Noise Now Events
2025-26 Season
SILENT VOICES
May 31
Building upon TheatreWorkers Project’s belief that “Every human being has a story to tell,”
Silent Voices is a unique, theatrical exploration that weaves together the stories of one of America’s largest, yet unrecognized, workforces: family caregivers. This work-in-progress gives voice to personal narratives and collective experiences, created through dynamic workshops that, in themselves, were a kind of “self-care” for a group of artists who have been, or currently are, caring for loved ones. Join the writer-performers for this next step of their journey, a performance filled with unexpected revelations, humor, and hope, honoring and uplifting the universal voices and stories of family caregivers.
In for me (infamy)
May 13
D-POD
September 7
Presented by TheatreWorkers Project
A homeless inmate with a master’s degree faces forty years in prison. He connects to fellow inmates as they await trial in Los Angeles County Jail’s corrupted Twin Towers Correctional facility. With the help of former convicts he fights for freedom from an unending journey through California’s prison system.
2023-24 Season
TURNING POINTS
June 1
Turning Points was created through a collaboration with The Francisco Homes and funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency.
TheatreWorkers Project is fiscally sponsored by Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA.
In this production of Turning Points, six men on parole from serving life sentences express the genesis and impact of their turning points through poetry and prose. During the Second Act discussion that follows the staged reading, the audience will have an opportunity to reflect on and examine their turning points and dialogue with the cast and creative team.
BEING HUMAN BEING
Tuesday, June 7th
A Staged Reading written and performed by the Lifer: Stories from the Inside/Out ensemble.
Presented by: TheatreWorkers Project, in partnership with The Francisco Homes
Seven men. Seven human beings. Seven lives connected at the intersection of rehabilitation and renewal.
TheatreWorkers Project, in partnership with The Francisco Homes, presents a staged reading written and performed by the Lifer: Stories from the Inside/Out ensemble.
A Staged Reading of The House That Will Not Stand by Marcus Gardley
Saturday, March 22, Sunday, March 23
Presented by: Lower Depth Theatre
Pricing: Tickets for The House That Will Not Stand are Pay What You Choose with price options at $10, $20, and $30. Higher-
priced ticket options help support Lower Depth Theatre and A Noise Within’s Noise Now program.
STAND!
Sunday, Nov 17
Presented by TheatreWorkers Project
On June 9, 2024, Theatre Workers Project (TWP) screened STAND!, a filmed spoken word and movement piece based on writing by residents of CSP-LAC/Lancaster’s A Yard.
Performed by: Deon Whitmore, Ernst Fenelon, Jr., & John Njoroge
Conceived & Produced by: Susan Franklin Tanner
Directed by: Marlene McCurtis
Choreography by: Alexa Kershner
Acting Directed by: James Macdonald
HYMN
February 9-10
Presented by Lower Depth Theatre
Lolita Chakrabarti’s Hymn is a heartfelt and empathetic tale of family and male bonding. This captivating story of two black men who form an unbreakable bond through their journey of self-discovery and grief explores their platonic friendship and the significant role of music in their lives.
2022-23 Season
THE DANCE AND THE RAILROAD
May 19-22
Presented by Artists at Play
A haunting and powerfully affecting work revolving around two Chinese artists and their fellow railroad workers, who stage a strike to protest the inhuman conditions suffered by the Chinese laborers in the American West of 1867.
UNMASKED
May 13
Inspired by visual images of the diversity of Los Angeles County, TheatreWorkers Project will collaborate with formerly incarcerated and justice-impacted members of Cal State LA’s Project Rebound community to develop an original theatre piece based on the participants’ poetry and prose.
TRANS CHORUS OF LOS ANGELES
April 8
The Trans Chorus of Los Angeles for a pre-show performance with excerpts from the Kiss of the Spider Woman musical. The Trans Chorus of Los Angeles is the first all Trans-Identified Chorus in America, consisting of Transgender, Non-Binary, Intersex, Gender-Non-Conforming, and Gender-Fluid individuals. TCLA Celebrates diversity and acceptance in our appearance and vocal presentation so that others can see and feel the joy we share. Through our music, we bring to the world awareness, understanding, power, and victory for the Trans Community.
AN IMPROBABLE FICTION
April 3
Presented by the ANW Resident Artists Reading Series
It’s plague time, and Shakespeare’s characters are out of sorts (and out of work). Several of our favorites Shakespearean characters reunite at The Boar’s Head Tavern to celebrate life and ruminate on the state of the world.
CYCLE OF POVERTY
February 4 & 5
Lower Depth Theatre proudly presents their Cycle of Poverty Reading Festival. Presented over two days, this festival is the culmination of their new Commission Fellowship Program and gives their 2022 cohort the opportunity to showcase the four new full-length plays they have developed under the program. Each of the plays explore the social and racial issues within the cycle of poverty through BIPOC perspectives. Playwright fellows include: Vasanti Saxena, Sage Martin, DeLane McDuffie, and Marlow Wyatt.
The Commission Fellowship Program supports the development of new plays by BIPOC and/or women-identifying playwrights by providing development and financial support to emerging playwrights.
LATINA CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
December 13, 14 & 20
This off-Broadway hit is a timely comedy about those of us who ride the edge between the culture of our immigrant parents and the culture of our home, America. Every ethnicity can relate to the feeling that their parents and families are a little “weird” (that’s a nice word) during the holidays when compared to the traditional American Christmases fed to us on TV. Three comedian friends: Sandra Valls (Showtime’s Latin Divas of Comedy) Maria Russell (Lt. Liz Salazar on TruTV’s Tacoma FD) and Diana Yanez (Margaret Cho’s Sensuous Woman) show us with their personal tales that every family has its own hilarious peculiarities, everyone wants to belong, and everyone, regardless of their background, has a hard time at some point in their life.
THE AMATEURS
November 7
Presented by the ANW Resident Artists Reading Series
An intrepid troupe of pageant players races across medieval Europe, struggling to outrun the Black Death. The arrival of a mysterious outsider sends Hollis, the leading lady, in search of answers that can only be found off-script… and soon the 14th-century plague begins to look like another, more recent one. This wildly inventive and funny new work examines the evolution of human creativity in a dark age: when does a crisis destroy us, and when does it open new frontiers?
MARABELLA
September 12
Presented by ANW and Artists at Play
Marabella has been hiding away in Pacoima with her newborn son. When the wife of her baby’s daddy suddenly dies, Marabella maneuvers to claim what is rightfully hers. Inspired by Euripides’ Medea, Marabella is a study in how much a woman in willing to sacrifice for the adoration of a man.
2021-22 Season
LATINA CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: AN AMERICAN COMEDY OF LATINA PROPORTIONS
December 14 & 15
This Off Broadway hit is a timely comedy about those of us who ride the edge between the culture of our immigrant parents and the culture of our home, America. Every ethnicity can relate to the feeling that their parents and families are a little “weird” (that’s a nice word) during the holidays when compared to the traditional American Christmases fed to us on TV. Three comedian friends: Sandra Valls (Showtime’s Latin Divas of Comedy) Maria Russell (Lt. Liz Salazar on TruTV’s Tacoma FD) and Diana Yanez (Margaret Cho’s Sensuous Woman) show us with their personal tales that every family has its own hilarious peculiarities, everyone wants to belong, and every one, regardless of their background, has a hard time at some point in their life. Learn more about Latina Christmas Special.
RASA KALAA: A BHARATA NATYAM MARGAM
December 5, 6, & 7
Presented by MKM Bollystars
Come experience Rasa (essence/sentiment) in Kalaa (performing arts) through a traditional dance repertoire. Indian classical dance has historically been a form of theatre and dance in India. A Bharata Natyam (South Indian classical dance) “Margam” is a curated compilation of pieces that both entertain and elevate through an artistic experience of pure percussive dance and theatrical story-telling that embraces mythology, drama, and the human experience. In a Margam, a solo dancer performs numerous compositions, plays multiple characters, and deftly moves between pure dance and theatrical narrative. Learn more about Rasa Kalaa: A Bharata Natyam Margam.
BLACKJACK
October 29, 30, and 31
Presented by Griot Theatre
A movie in the making: part theatre, part film set, join a live studio audience and witness a film being made onstage. In the spirit of Hamilton, get a glimpse behind the scenes as this play is turned into a feature film.
Set in the Black Jack neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri, during the early nineties, the play follows Heru as he arrives at the family home of his sometime-girlfriend, Khet. While Khet struggles to define her relationship with Heru and navigates the failing health of her grandfather, Heru raises suspicion with his late-night visits to East St. Louis. The arrival of a mysterious visitor propels the play toward its tragic conclusion. Based on the Isis/Osiris story from Egyptian mythology, Blackjack invokes humor and tragedy to explore the nature of identity and family – both the family into which we are born and the family we choose. Learn more about Blackjack.
2020-21 Season
SONNETS FOR AN OLD CENTURY
April 12 – May 9
Written by José Rivera
Directed by Jonathan Muñoz-Proulx
Through a sophisticated and theatrical audio odyssey, Sonnets for an Old Century invites you to stroll through the beaches of Puerto Rico, waft through the windows of a quiet Seattle neighborhood, and take flight from a mythical tower high above the sea. Oscar-nominated writer José Rivera weaves a tapestry of poetic, magical meditations in this highly produced sonic journey exploring yearning, connection, and community. We’ll journey into the whimsical worlds of bedtime tales, marinate in the salty-sweet memory of migrant family members in the fields, and assemble our ancestors from Africa, the Caribbean, and the Canary Islands to ask the burning questions of our past. Learn more about Sonnets for an Old Century.
Diversifying the Classics presents LA Escena
November 12 – 16
Diversifying the Classics is delighted to present the second edition of Los Angeles’ Festival of Hispanic classical theater, LA Escena 2020. Since launching our biennial celebration in 2018, we have been planning for this new opportunity to present Hispanic classics, from inventive productions of the original texts to translations and adaptations inspired by the Golden Age. This special-edition, largely virtual festival includes artists from Mexico City, Madrid and Málaga in Spain, as well as New York and Los Angeles in the US, all exploring new directions in theater practice across a number of platforms.