Info

Bottom's Dream is dedicated to presenting innovative new works with strong verbal components that explore new theatrical forms and the unique dynamic of heightened language in performance. Our goal is to produce new works by American writers with bold voices and poetic imaginations. We present local, regional, national and world premieres of plays that would not necessarily be given productions in mainstream theatres. That's the official line. What we really do is: We produce one major show a year, sometimes two - no "season." Our philosophy is to stay small and stay alive. We use the historic Ivy Substation as our home base, but we don't want to be landlords or bound to any one building. We look for plays and writers with unique voices. This is key for us. In production, we focus on giving the writing the best possible environment to be seen and heard. We tend toward writers for whom "real" is a theatrical and poetic notion. We look for plays that challenge traditional forms as well as build on them. Smart and funny - about the world we live in. Very important concepts. We co-produce a reading series with Sun & Moon Press and we often read plays there before we produce them. Bottom's Dream and Sun & Moon Press publish the plays we read or produce as part of their American Theater in Literature series. We tend to use some of the same actors and designers but there is no formal "company." Basically, we are run by Mitchell Gossett and Jim Martin, co-artistic directors, and Melissa Berger, associate producer. We usually have more than a passing relationship with the writers whose work we do (Mac Wellman, Erik Ehn, Ruth Margraff, to name a few). We listen closely to writers we know about other writers we should be looking at for production and readings. We do not usually red unsolicited or non-referred scripts. We are a founding theater of The RAT Conference and The Big Cheap Theater Roundtable. We take a leadership role in national and local theater community issues. We love collaborating (with theatres from other cities especially). We love commissions, we love working with the same people over time and we love touring. We are an uncompromising niche for new work of a non-traditional, verbally oriented type in Los Angeles.