The Echo Theater Company presents the world premiere of A Bella Incarceration. Conceived, written, directed, and performed by Ann Noble. Produced by Chris Fields and Kelly Beech for the Echo Theater Company.
An enclosure representing a jail cell, an inmate uniform, and a pink clown nose is all it takes to tell the story of Bella (Ann Noble), a woman who has been incarcerated for an act of civil disobedience. Once in jail, she asks why people commit rebellious acts to stand up to injustice and abuse. To understand the motivations, Bella has imaginary conversations with women she admires. She talks to journalist Nellie Bly and anarchists Dorothy Day and Emma Goldman.
The fact that Bella is a clown makes sense for the kind of material covered in the story. Clowns have an anarchic spirit, are funny, and in some instances, they display a contradictory sadness that is impossible to resist. Bella goes through all of those emotions and experiences before, during, and probably after her incarceration.
In real life, Ann Noble is also a prison chaplain. Her own stories combined with the ones of those serving time in prison are the basis of the play. The confinement, loneliness, and psychological traumas can break you, make you stronger, or a combination of the two. A Bella Incarceration leaves room for the audience to imagine what was the end of the story. Noble provides some of the details, but the resolution is an audience’s exercise. The play is somehow a soliloquy and a narrative to explore and validate Bella’s motivations and actions. The play is deep, funny, and an opportunity to shed light on the marginalized and disenfranchised.
A Bella Incarceration
Echo Theater Company
Atwater Village Theatre
3269 Casitas Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90039
Performances: July 25 – Aug. 22:
• Tuesdays at 8 p.m.: Aug. 8, Aug. 15, Aug. 22
Tickets: echotheatercompany
Conceived, written, directed, and performed by Ann Noble. Production Design by Ann Loud. Presented by The Echo Theater Company, Chris Fields artistic director.
