The Open Fist Theatre is both a 501(c)(3) non-profit theatre company. Originally operating a 99-seat theatre facility in Theatre Row Hollywood located at 6209 Santa Monica Blvd, it is now in residence at the Atwater Village Theatre. The name of the Open Fist Theatre Company comes from two principles: the notion of an open spirit and the fist - a sign of determination and force. The OFTC was founded in 1990 by

Ziad Hamzeh Ziad (also transliterated as Ziyad, Zyad, Zeyad, or Zijad ar, زياد) is an Arabic given name and surname. Given name Actors * Zeyad Errafae'ie, Syrian television actor and voice actor Athletes * Zeyad Abdulrazak, Kuwaiti hurdler * Zeyad ...

(Artistic Director), Michael Denney (Actor/Playwright/Teacher), Tim Pulice (Actor), Brian Muir (Actor) and Kathleen Dunn (Actor/Teacher), all of whom were graduates of the Theater Program of

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

. , Martha Demson has been the company's artistic director for 20 years, taking on the role in 2000. Originally the company was based at 1625 North La Brea in a rehearsal hall once owned by

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

. In 2005 this facility was destroyed to accommodate Hollywood redevelopment and the company moved to 6209 Santa Monica Boulevard - a facility originally operated by the Actors Gang. The Open Fist is notable for its support of both new works and new interpretations of theatre classics in productions typically featuring contemporary production values, ensemble acting, and imaginative direction and design. It has been the site of numerous premiere productions of then-new plays, including

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

's rock opera ''

Joe's Garage ''Joe's Garage'' is a three-part rock opera recorded by American musician Frank Zappa in September and November 1979. Originally released as two separate studio albums on Zappa Records, the project was later remastered and reissued as a triple a ...

'', ''The Room'' by Michael Franco, ''Love Water'' by Jacqueline Wright,

Neil Labute Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best-known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, ''In the Company of Men'' (1997), which won awards from the Sundance Fi ...

's ''The New Testament'', and

Julie Hébert Julie Hébert (sometimes credited as Julie Hebert) is an American writer/director of theater, film and television. Biography Julie Hébert grew up in a small town on the Louisiana coast and many of her plays are set there. After college she moved ...

's ''St. Joan and the Dancing Sickness''. A yearly summer Director's Festival or First Look Festival also features membership-driven new work. The Open Fist has been nominated and received numerous LA Weekly, Ovation, Garland and other awards.

Production history

1990

*''True West'' by

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any write ...

1991

*''Car Cemetery'' by

Fernando Arrabal Fernando Arrabal Terán (born August 11, 1932) is a Spanish playwright, screenwriter, film director, novelist, and poet. He was born in Melilla and settled in France in 1955. Regarding his nationality, Arrabal describes himself as "desterrado", ...

*''Child of God'' by Michael Denney *''Cloud Nine'' by

Caryl Churchill Caryl Lesley Churchill (born 3 September 1938) is a British playwright known for dramatising the abuses of power, for her use of non- naturalistic techniques, and for her exploration of sexual politics and feminist themes.

*''Exit the King'' by

Eugène Ionesco Eugène Ionesco (; born Eugen Ionescu, ; 26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre in the 20th century. Ionesco inst ...

*''Professor George'' by Marsha Sheiness

1992

*''Baal'' by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

*''Dusa, Fish, Stas, and Vi'' by

Pam Gems Pam Gems (1 August 1925 – 13 May 2011) was an English playwright. The author of numerous original plays, as well as of adaptations of works by European playwrights of the past, Gems is best known for the 1978 musical play '' Piaf''. Personal ...

*''Goose and Tomtom'' by

David Rabe David William Rabe (born March 10, 1940) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1972 (''Sticks and Bones'') and also received Tony award nominations for Best Play in 1974 (''In the Boom Boom Room''), 19 ...

*''Poor Murderer'' by Pavel Kahout *''The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant'' by

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema movement. Fassbinder's main ...

*''Tiny Alice'' by

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), '' The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), '' A Delicate Balance'' (1966) ...

1993

*''Blood Moon'' by

Nicholas Kazan Nicholas Kazan (; born September 15, 1945) is an American screenwriter, film producer and film director, director. Early life Kazan was born in New York, the son of Greek Americans, Greek-American director Elia Kazan and his first wife, playwr ...

*''Cinders'' by Janusz Glowacki *''Ms. Julie'' by

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

*''The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria'' by

*''The Last Word'' by Tony Spiridakis *''After the Bomb'' by Roxy Ventola

1994

*''The Little Prince'' by

Antoine De Saint-Exupery Antoine is a French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West Greenland, Haiti, French Guiana ...

*''The Night Angel'' by William Piana *''Vieux Carre'' by

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

*''Hush'' by

April De Angelis April De Angelis (born April 1960) is an English dramatist of part Sicilian descent. She is a graduate of Sussex University who trained at East 15 Acting School. De Angelis began her career in the 1980s as an actress with the Monstrous Regimen ...

1995

*''Etta Jenks'' by Marlene Meyer *''The Flight of the Earls'' by Christopher Humble *''Behemoth'' by Della Vecchia Smith *''The Moke Eater'' by Ken Bernard *''Blood and Stumbo; Falling'' by Beth Burns *''Underground'' by Mark Litton *''The Ghost Diaries'' by Keith Mason

1996

*''A Warring Absence'' by Jody Duncan *''Time Piece; Guernica'' by D. O'Brian,

Neal Bell Neal Bell is an American playwright and screenwriter. Bell has written such plays as the thriller ''Two Small Bodies'', as well as co-writing the screenplay for the ''Two Small Bodies ''Two Small Bodies'' is a 1993 thriller directed by Beth ...

*''Fear and Misery of the Third Reich'' by

*''The God Game'' by

Allison Burnett Allison Burnett (born December 16, 1958) is an American screenwriter, film director, and novelist. Early life and education Allison Burnett was born in Ithaca, New York. He graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois before a ...

*''Journey of the Fifth Horse'' by

Ronald Ribman Ronald Burt Ribman (born May 28, 1932) is an American author, poet and playwright.Much of the information in this article comes from a submission by the subject himself and is archived on the OTRS system as ticke2008073010036244/ref> "As poet-pl ...

*''New York 243'' by J.D. Zeik

1997

*''Salam, Shalom'' by Saleem *''The Servant of Two Masters'' by

Carlo Goldoni Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: *Carlo (name) *Monte Carlo *Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...

*''Titanic'' by

Christopher Durang Christopher Ferdinand Durang (born January 2, 1949) is an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s, though his career seemed to get a second wind in the late 1990s. ...

*''The Vakhos'' by

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

*''Tabooki'' (Serial) by Various Authors *''After Easter'' by

Anne Devlin Anne Devlin (1780 – 1 September 1851) was an Irish republican who in 1803, while his ostensible housekeeper, conspired with Robert Emmet, and with her cousin, the rebel outlaw Michael Dwyer to renew the United Irish insurrection against the ...

*''Buddy Jack'' Adapted by Ron West, Joe Liss

1998

*''Getting Into My Skin'' by Saleem *''Time Lost'' by

Jack O'Rourke Jack O'Rourke (13 July 1928 – 11 April 2008) was an Australian rules footballer who played in the VFL/AFL, Victorian Football League (VFL) in between 1949 and 1953 for the Richmond Football Club. References * Hogan P: ''The Tigers of Old' ...

*''God’s Country'' by

Steven Dietz Steven Dietz (born June 23, 1958) is an American playwright, theatre director, and teacher. Called "the most ubiquitous American playwright whose name you may never have heard", Dietz has long been one of America's most prolific and widely prod ...

*''Sex, Death and Other Annoyances'' by Ron West *''The Accompanist'' by Berberovna/Adapt. Giurgea *''Skin'' by

Naomi Iizuka Naomi or Naomie may refer to: People and biblical figures * Naomi (given name), a female given name and a list of people with the name * Naomi (biblical figure), Ruth's mother-in-law in the Old Testament Book of Ruth * Naomi (Romanian singer) (bo ...

*''We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!'' by

Dario Fo Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. I ...

*''Fall ’98 One-Act Festival'' by Various Authors *''The Notcracker Project'' (with Circle-X Theatre Company) by Various Authors

1999

*''Fall Off Night'' by Allison Gregory *''Widows'' by

Ariel Dorfman Vladimiro Ariel Dorfman (born May 6, 1942) is an Argentine-Chilean-American novelist, playwright, essayist, academic, and human rights activist. A citizen of the United States since 2004, he has been a professor of literature and Latin American ...

Tony Kushner Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Lauded for his work on stage he's most known for his seminal work ''Angels in America'' which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. At the turn ...

*''Slippery People'' by Charley McQuary *''The Life of Galileo'' by

*''Escape From Happiness'' by George F. Walker

2000

*''The Abdication'' by Ruth Wolff *''Cowboy Mouth; Lobster Man'' by

, Martin George *''How to Explain the History of Communism to Mental Patients'' by Matei Visniec *''Talk Show From Hell'' by Jean-Noël Fenwick *''The King Stag'' by

Carlo Gozzi __NOTOC__ Carlo, Count Gozzi (; 13 December 1720 – 4 April 1806) was an Italian ( Venetian) playwright and champion of Commedia dell'arte. Early life Gozzi was born and died in Venice; he came from a family of minor Venetian aristocracy, the T ...

*''2000 Directors Festival'' by Various Authors *''Measure 4 Measure'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

*''Three Sisters'' by

Anton Chekov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

*''Bay of Smokes'' by Alena Wilson and Alisa Wilson

2001

*''The Knacker’s ABC'' by

Boris Vian Boris Vian (; 10 March 1920 – 23 June 1959) was a French polymath: writer, poet, musician, singer, translator, critic, actor, inventor and engineer who is primarily remembered for his novels. Those published under the pseudonym Vernon Sulliva ...

*''The Wooden Breeks'' by

Glen Berger Glen Berger is an American playwright and scriptwriter. He has received commissions from the Children’s Theater of Minneapolis, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Alley Theatre, and the Lookingglass Theater. In 2010, he co-wrote the book for '' Spi ...

*''Casanova'' by Constance Congdon *''2001 Directors Festival'' by Various Authors *''Fen'' by

*''Sharon and Billy'' by

Alan Bowne Alan Bowne (1945–1989) was an American playwright and author. He was a member of the New Dramatists. He wrote a number of plays including ''Beirut'', ''Forty-Deuce'', ''Sharon and Billy'', and ''The Beany and Cecil Show'', many of which are av ...

*''The Freedom Ball'' by

Chelsea Hackett Chelsea Hackett (born October 29, 1999) is an Australian kickboxer, mixed martial artist and muay thai fighter competing in the Women's Flyweight division of Professional Fighters League (PFL). Early life Hackett was born in Melbourne and moved ...

*''Exmass'' by Bradley Rand Smith,

Lewis Black Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy routines often escalate into angry rants about history, politics, religion, or any other cultural trends. He hosted the Comedy Central series ''Lewis ...

& Mark Houghtaling

2002

*''Perchance To Dream'' by

Jean-Claude Grumberg Jean-Claude Grumberg (born 1939) is a French playwright and author of children's books. Early life Before becoming a playwright, Jean-Claude Grumberg held several jobs, including working as a tailor. This work provided the setting for his best ...

*''Adult Entertainment'', ''Problem Child'' by George F. Walker *''Flight'' by

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Soviet writer, medical doctor, and playwright active in the fir ...

*''2002 Directors Festival'' by Various Authors *''The Mound Builders'' by

Lanford Wilson Lanford Wilson (April 13, 1937March 24, 2011) was an American playwright. His work, as described by ''The New York Times'', was "earthy, realist, greatly admired ndwidely performed."Margalit Fox, Fox, Margalit"Lanford Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-Wi ...

*''The Andrea and Hep Show'' by Andrea Fears, Hep Jamieson and Ron West *''I Licked A Slag's Deodorant'' by

Jim Cartwright Jim Cartwright (born 27 June 1958) is an English dramatist, born in Farnworth, Lancashire. Cartwright's first play, ''Road'', won a number of awards before being adapted for TV and broadcast by the BBC. His work has been translated into more t ...

2003

*''Songs of Joy and Destitution'' by Charles L. Mee Jr. *''As I Lay Dying'' by

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of ...

, adapted by Edward Kemp *''

Playhouse Creatures ''Playhouse Creatures'' is a 1993 play by April De Angelis, set in the theatre world of 17th century London. It premiered at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 1993 and has since been revived at the Old Vic in 1997, the Dundee Rep in 2007 and the Chich ...

'' by

*''2003 Directors’ Festival'' by Various Authors *''The Andrea and Hep Show 2: More Faster More Furiouser'' by Andrea Fears, Hep Jamieson and Ron West *''The Cosmonaut’s Last Message to The Woman He Once Loved In The Former Soviet Union'' by David Greig

2004

*''Abingdon Square'' by

Maria Irene Fornes Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

*''The Devils'' by

Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

, adapted by Elizabeth Egloff *''Roberto Zucco'' by

Bernard-Marie Koltès Bernard-Marie Koltès (; 9 April 1948 – 15 April 1989) was a French playwright and theatre director best known for his plays ''La Nuit juste avant les Forêts'' (''The Night Just Before the Forests'', 1976), ''Sallinger'' (1977) and ''Dans la ...

*''Birdbath'' by Leonard Melfi *''2004 Directors’ Festival'' by Various Authors *''Lydie Breeze'' by

John Guare John Guare ( ;; born February 5, 1938) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is best known as the author of ''The House of Blue Leaves'' and ''Six Degrees of Separation''. Early life He was raised in Jackson Heights, Queens.Druckman, ...

*''The Andrea and Hep Show 3'' by Andrea Fears, Hep Jamieson and Ron West

2005

*''The Chekhov Machine'' by Matei Visniec *''Papa'' by John DeGroot *''General Admissions'' by

Mark Banker Mark John Banker (born January 15, 1956) is an American football coach. Banker is currently the safeties coach at Washington State University. He was previously the assistant head coach and inside linebackers coach at the University of Hawaii. Pre ...

*''The Threepenny Opera'' by

*''Speaking in Tongues'' by Steven Bovell

2006

*''Papa'' (Revival) by John DeGroot *''2006 Directors’ Festival'' by Various Authors *''The Time of Your Life'' by

William Saroyan William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''The ...

*''How to Explain the History of Communism to Mental Patients'' by Matei Visniec *''

Autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...

'' by

Neil LaBute Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best-known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, ''In the Company of Men'' (1997), which won awards from the Sundance Fi ...

*''Beautiful City'' by George Walker

2007

*''Macbeth'' by

*''Travesties'' by

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

*''The Idiot Box'' by Michael Elyanow *''Do Do Love'' by

Laura Richardson Laura Richardson (born April 14, 1962) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2013. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She previously represented the 55th district in the California State Assembly for ...

*''The Room'' by Michael Franco *''Eenie Meanie'' by Teresa Willis *''Seven Santas'' by

Jeff Goode Jeff Goode is an American television writer and playwright, perhaps best known as the creator of Disney Channel's '' American Dragon: Jake Long'' and the author of the stage play ''The Eight: Reindeer Monologues''. Goode has written a number o ...

2008

*''The Dead'' by

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

*''Blue Night in the Heart of the West'' by James Stock *''Comedy of Errors'' by

*''deLEARious'' by Ron West *''

’s

'' Adaptation by Michael Franco and Pat Towne

2009

*''Light Up The Sky'' by

Moss Hart Moss Hart (October 24, 1904 – December 20, 1961) was an American playwright, librettist, and theater director. Early years Hart was born in New York City, the son of Lillian (Solomon) and Barnett Hart, a cigar maker. He had a younger brother ...

*''Devil With Boobs'' by

*''Love Water'' by Jacqueline Wright *''First Look Festival'' by Various Authors

Awards and nominations

{, class="sortable wikitable" style="font-size:90%;" , - ! style="background:#EEDD82;", Awards ! style="background:#EEDD82;", Production ! style="background:#EEDD82;", Nominations ! style="background:#EEDD82;", Wins ! style="background:#EEDD82;" class="unsortable", Notes , - , , ''

Travesties ''Travesties'' is a 1974 play by Tom Stoppard. The play centres on the figure of Henry Carr, an elderly man who reminisces about Zürich in 1917 during the First World War, and his interactions with James Joyce when he was writing ''Ulysses'', ...

'' , 1 , 0 , , - , , ''deLEARious'' , 2 , 0 , , - , , ''

'' , 4 , 0 , , - , {{sort, 2009 Ovation Awards , ''Light Up The Sky'' , 1 , 0 ,

Current and past affiliated artists

Matthew Fox Matthew Chandler Fox (born July 14, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Charlie Salinger on ''Party of Five'' (1994–2000) and Jack Shephard on the drama series ''Lost'' (2004–2010), the latter of which earned him ...

References

External links

Official Open Fist Theatre website
Theatre companies in Los Angeles