Skylight Theatre Company’s 40th season celebrates the World Premiere of No Place Like Gandersheim. Written by Elizabeth Dement. Directed by Randee Trabitz. Produced by Gary Grossman for Skylight Theatre Company. Associate Producer: Tyree Marshall.
Roz (Jamey Hood) has written a sex comedy to be performed by the nuns at her abbey. Mother Superior Berga (Shannon Holt) and nun Madlen (Lauren Gaw) are excited about their performance. It’s their opportunity to experience something they cannot do in real life. It is now time to present the play to the Roman Emperor. How will he react?
Playwright Elizabeth Dement explores the historical role of women in different periods. As a time-warping journey story, Roz experiences the frustrations of living in a male-dominated society. Roz lives as a nun in medieval Germany, as a successful Hollywood TV writer in the present, and as an aspiring writer pitching a project in the future to 75-year-old Vita (Charrell Mack), who thanks to advanced treatments, looks way younger than her real age.
In all of the three periods, Roz is supported by other women. However, that support is also limited. In the case of Mallory, a funny and superb Shannon Holt, her position as the head of the studio is contingent to hitting all the quadrants to satisfy the investors and advertisers. As Roz’s show is hitting only one of the quadrants, Mallory decides to cancel it. It is in Hollywood as a TV writer that Roz also experiences another aspect of womanhood. She is the mother of Thea, her teenage daughter. The play presents the challenges of parenthood, specially for working writers, who live with the constant anxiety of getting their shows canceled in very short notices.
The stage design and the lighting create a fantastic mood that enhances the time periods depicted in the story. Director Randee Trabitz translates the script into a hilarious and touching production that presents the reality and the frustrations that women have suffered throughout history. At the end, Dement and Trabitz ask the question: Has anything changed for women?
No Place Like Gandersheim
Skylight Theatre
1816 1⁄2 North Vermont Ave.
Los Angeles, CA. 90027
Parking information: https://skylighttheatre.org/plan-your-visit/
Opening: 8:30pm Saturday, May 20, 2023
Schedule: 8:30pm Saturdays, 3:00pm Sundays, 7:30pm Mondays
(No performance on Monday, May 22 & Monday, May 29)
Closing: June 25, 2023
Tickets: skylighttix.org
Written by Elizabeth Dement. Directed by Randee Trabitz. Produced by Gary Grossman for Skylight Theatre Company. Associate Producer: Tyree Marshall. Cast: Lauren Gaw, Shannon Holt, Jamey Hood, Charrell Mack. Creative Team: DeAnne Millias (Scenic Design), Shannon Barondeau (Lighting/Video Design), Mylette Nora (Costume Design), Alma Reyes-Thomas (Sound Design), Joyce Hutter (Properties Manager), Victoria Hoffman (Casting), Cedes Sifuentes (Production Manager).
