The bomb may have dropped out there, but the party's just getting started in here. The REPO division, L.A's newest theater company, teams up with Bootleg Theater to present the world premiere of a multimedia collaboration between writers, directors, actors, musicians and visual artists, all riffing on the theme of doomsday. At once savagely funny, terrifying and sexy, Doomsday Kiss opens at the Bootleg Theater in Downtown Los Angeles for a four week run April 17 through May 10.
In Doomsday Kiss, four interwoven plays, an art installation and musical performances combine to examine the complicated relationships between people facing certain annihilation. The central character is Randal Maxit, a has-been designer of the apocalypse desperate to atone for his sins. A lobby exhibition of Maxit's life's work (developed by artists from various mediums) offers a reference point before entering the theater.
"Each of the four plays stands alone, but interweaving small details creates echoes that develop and illustrate a deeper universal truth," says REPO division artistic director Andrew Hopper. "Faces in a photo from decades past in one play are seen again, in the present, on a Cruise ship during a Fun Day at Sea, and the storm that ruins that same Fun Day will nourish a natural environment waiting to take over an office park. Our goal is to create human synergy via storytelling. Like beautiful music, we are reliant and elevated by the variety of parts played by individual elements."
Hopper directs Niamh McCormally, Gray Palmer and Annie Weirich in the opening play, "Who is Randall Maxit" by Clay Hazelwood, which starts and stops throughout the evening, bookending the other pieces. Maxit has invited the neighborhood over for a mystery party. Throughout the night, two conscience-massaging angel/demons invade his subconscious and conjure up the memories that drive the play to its climax.
In "You Might Be Waking Up" by Sharon Yablon, a group of co-workers find themselves trapped in their office after a mysterious disaster, while Mother Nature begins misbehaving outside. Gordon Vandenberg directs, and Shaughn Buchholz, Hank Bunker, Mickey Swenson and Tina Van Berkelaer star.
A bewildering event leaves Michael Dunn, Jessica Hanna, Ben Messmer and Alina Phelan stranded on the deck of a cruise ship contemplating their predicament and the future. Adrian Alex Cruz directs "Fun Days at Sea" by Eva Anderson.
Amber Skalski directs Alana Dietze, Lily Holleman and Jacqueline Wright in "The Classroom" by Wesley Walker, in which a teacher in a remote country schoolhouse has made striking claims about her abilities to permanently improve the temperament of young children.
Artist Sandy Rodriguez curates the lobby installation by visual artists Ron Dotson, Jorge Javier Lopez, Derrick Maddox, Rigo Maldonado, Anne Martens, Guadalupe Rodriguez, Rebeka Rodriguez, Brian Scott, Allessandro Thompson, Armando H. Torres, Vincent Villafranca, Victor Wilde and Scott Winterrowd.
Musicians Toni Senatore and Cody Cameron will perform in the lobby, setting the tone of the evening while the audience waits for the house to open.
Production design is by Cosmo Segurson, lighting design is by Brandon Baruch, and Caroline Duncan designs the costumes.
The mission of REPO division is to bring together artists from disparate backgrounds and disciplines to create new and exciting work.
Located in a 1930s warehouse (formerly a bra factory), Bootleg is a space where Los Angeles artists of all mediums can come together to create brave, boundary-pushing, artistically outstanding theatrical events.
Doomsday Kiss runs Fridays, Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 7 pm, April 17 through May 10. Tickets are $25. The Bootleg Theater is located at 2220 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90057. Cash bar. For reservations and information Call 213-389-3856 or visit www.bootlegtheater.com.
