Garage Theatre Marches Into the Center

When the COVID-19 pandemic deprived local audiences of live theater for more than six months, the Center’s Cultural Arts department launched an innovative live theater series: Garage Theatre.

The Center went rogue—and underground—with the world premiere of MARCH, an original political drama of peril and liberation performed in the unique, experimental space of the underground parking structure located below the Center’s Anita May Rosenstein Campus in Hollywood.

The socially distanced production combined the immediacy of live theater with the security of a drive-in theater. With a minimal set and creative lighting, audio for the 45-minute play was broadcast directly into people’s cars via a private FM radio system.

“We were selling out the shows and had to extend it for an additional weekend,” said Cultural Arts Director Jon Imparato. “We were pioneers in presenting live, original theater during this pandemic, and we were the first in the country to produce an original play in a garage. Now, many of our theater friends are following suit!”

Beginning October 17, the cast performed two performances every Saturday and Sunday night in front of an audience seated inside a maximum of 16 cars. The play’s final performance occurred on November 15.

The ensemble included MJ Brown, Amir Levi, Coretta Monk, Chad Christopher, Alex Budin, Diego de Los Andes, Brandon English, Roland Ruiz, MARDOZA, and Matthew Clark. To secure their health and safety, all rehearsals and performances required daily temperature readings, minimum six-foot distancing, and wearing face masks and face shields at all times.

The play, conceived by and directed by award-winning director and Playwrights’ Arena founder Jon Lawrence Rivera, takes place some 25 years in the future where an authoritarian society is in the grips of a pandemic. In this world of mortal danger, three Trans/Gender Non-Conforming people sought a safe place to hide from the military.

“We were hungry to do this play, which people had to drive to see, because we thought we wouldn’t see live theater until 2021,” said Rivera. “With actors performing live right in front of them, the audience never stepped out of their cars—but they made the bold act of going somewhere else.”

The show’s three leads— Brown, Levi, and Monk—contributed their own personal stories as trans or non-binary people to the script, which they were able to deliver in monologues at the beginning of the play.

“It’s rare to have trans and non-binary people in the forefront and to actually get to tell our stories and not be put in a gimmicky side role,” observed Levi. “And to be able to see faces and connect with them, it was a way of not feeling alone.”

While some of the cast had participated in online virtual theater during the pandemic, none had expected to be part of a live production in 2020.

“It was so invigorating,” said Brown. “Once the pandemic hit, everything went dark. Just the prospect of being able to act in person with other actors even though we were socially distanced was exciting. It was a new frontier.”

Monk said she felt challenged, creative, and safe from the first rehearsal to the final performance.

“I loved that we had a mask and shield because I wanted to feel protected,” she said. “We got such great feedback from the audience, and it was such a great show to perform.”