IAMA THEATRE COMPANY

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IAMA THEATRE COMPANY

IAMA Theatre Company is a Los Angeles-based ensemble of artists. More at IAMATheatre.com For more information, please visit www.youngstorytellers.com. Stay tuned.

IAMA Theatre Company was conceived in 2007 by a group of young actors eager to create new theater in Los Angeles. Working with a shared commitment to exploration and development, IAMA seeks to challenge themselves and their audience by producing original works within a collaborative, multi-disciplinary ensemble. The past 5 years has seen IAMA grow from a fledgling company to “a new creative force

on the local theatre scene (LATimes)”. Fueled by the exciting work of Artist-in-Residence Leslye Headland and her Seven Deadly Plays, IAMA has brought six new, full length works to the stage. Grounded in the struggles of youth, vice, and modern life, Headland’s plays “speak directly to this generation of post-college castoffs (MetromixLA).” As a result of IAMA's collaboration with Ms. Headland and their support of her work, her play “Bachelorette”, the second of the Seven Deadly Plays, and originally developed, produced and premiered by IAMA in 2008, was also developed into a screenplay and was voted as one of the best unproduced scripts in Hollywood on the prestigious 2008 Blacklist. After playing to a sold-out run at Second Stage Theater in New York during the Summer of 2010, Ms. Headland's stage hit has since been picked up by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's production company Gary Sanchez, and the feature film is currently shooting in New York, starring Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan, and Casey Wilson. IAMA’s passion for live performance, commitment to quality, and innovative material has garnered them recognition and rave reviews from StageSceneLA, LA2DAY, MetromixLA, LAWeekly, and The LATimes. Quickly building an enthusiastic and loyal audience, IAMA has carved a niche for themselves in an emerging LA theater community: “In this industry town, where theater is often the byproduct of actors waiting to be plucked for film and TV, IAMA’s devotion to the stage is fully grounded in its counterintuitiveness (MetromixLA)”. Eager to continue to create new theater in Los Angeles and work with new writers, IAMA also began producing IAMAFEST, an annual festival of new, one-act plays. Through the collaboration of company members and professional guest writers and directors all working in the greater LA area, IAMAFEST showcases original works that celebrate this city’s unique culture, explore the urban encounter, and investigate and reveal the sometimes humorous, often dark undertones of an exciting and eccentric Los Angeles. IAMAFEST has been so successful at building new audiences and establishing relationships with new writers, that the annual show is often sold-out for its entire three week run. IAMA is a young company, but is already an active participant in both the theater community and the city at large. Committed to sustaining the future value of theater within Los Angeles, IAMA is an active member of The Young Storytellers Foundation, an arts education and early development program that pairs artists from the entertainment industry with at-risk students in targeted public schools. Under the supervision and guidance of their mentors, the students spend weeks developing short scripts that are then performed for the school and their families by professional actors. For the last three years, IAMA members have participated in the program as both mentors in the schools, and as actors in the students’ final show, encouraging a new generation of writers to love the performing arts, to develop their creativity and confidence, and to pave the way for many stories to come. Ambition and determination are the qualities that IAMA Theatre Company was built on, and the hard work is beginning to pay off. Through the support of donors, loyal fans, an elite advisory board, and now the fiscal sponsorship of the Pasadena Arts Council, IAMA is poised for an exciting new season.

01/14/2025

How do we find our way through dark times? How do we process? When is it okay to work again? To laugh again?

We’re grateful to be able to bring our community of L.A. artists and audiences together to navigate these questions, and kick off the second half of our 2024/2025 season, with our workshop production of Douglas Lyon’s new comedy DON’T TOUCH MY HAIR, playing February 13–24 at Atwater Village Theatre.

DON’T TOUCH MY HAIR will be the final play in Douglas Lyons’ “The Deep Breath Trilogy: New Plays for Black Women.” The trilogy launched with the family play CHICKEN AND BISCUITS on Broadway September 2021, and was followed by the Off-Broadway romantic comedy TABLE 17, which The New York Times described as “something we’ve been missing: a gentle, hopeful good time out in the world, in the company of other humans. This is theater as comfort food, and it satisfies a genuine craving.”

DON’T TOUCH MY HAIR follows lifelong best friends Eemani and Jade as they decompress over a good blunt, not knowing the w**d is laced with something else. As the duo spiral into a hilarious hallucination, they are able to confront the oppressors of the past dead-on.

From playwright Douglas Lyons ➡️ “DON’T TOUCH MY HAIR is dedicated to the dozens of fabulous Black women in my orbit. They constantly inspire me with their light, their spirit, their intelligence, love and friendship. In this play, Black women have superpowers, and one day, America will realize they always have.”

From director Velani ➡️ “Black women have been funny, vulnerable, driven, irreverent and sarcastic throughout history, and that’s kind of ridiculous given everything we’ve been through. Audiences can expect an antebellum satire with hijinks, superpowers, and time travel. And if that sounds ridiculous, I would ask – why can’t our joy be as ridiculous as our oppression?”

We hope to see you back at the theatre in February, where we’ll find ways to laugh through the dark together. Tickets and full press release at

IAMA ❤️ LA. L.A. Wildfire Resources and Community Open Door hours can be found on our website and

01/13/2025

IAMA is holding community open door hours today (Monday) and Tuesday from 10am-6pm at our theatre space at Atwater Village Theatre (T4).

This is for anyone in our community or the greater Los Angeles community to come by and use our facilities— space, bathrooms, power, wifi, printer, etc. Stop by just for five minutes or stay for five hours. Whatever works for you.

- print out documents you need
- fill water bottles
- charge phones
- co-working space
- play a board game, do a puzzle
- stretch
- have a chat or a meeting
- use the bathroom
- just be in community with others

The filters in the HVAC were just replaced last week, so it should be a relatively healthy space to be in, too (as much as anywhere in L.A. is).

Atwater Village Theatre (T4)
3269 Casitas Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90039

01/10/2025

Our beloved city is still burning. Many of us have evacuated or been displaced, some of us have experienced heartbreaking loss, and all of us are witnessing the devastation of our collective home, Los Angeles.

IAMA and Los Angeles have always been inextricably tied to one another. Uplifting, amplifying, and supporting the many voices of our city is a core part of our mission, and our priority. So while the show will go on, and we have very exciting things planned for the second half of our 2024/2025 season, we are taking a moment right now to hold space for our city and each other.

These are the times when community really matters. If you need anything - a place to stay, information, a shoulder to lean on - please reach out, to us and to each other. Our collective community is wide, loving, and resourced. Please also take the time, space, and steps needed to prioritize your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. This is a lot, for those of us in L.A. and those of us outside of the city who love it.

Our 17th season is dedicated to being “in process” and finding ways to laugh through the dark. This seems all too prescient today, but hopefully it will provide a guide for us as well.

We will find ways to process this together, and even laugh through the dark, soon. For right now, please stay safe and take care of yourself and each other. We’ll get through this together.

To local artists and leaders of our local cultural institutions: if you have been impacted, please contact Arts for LA at artsforla.org so that they will know the impact this crisis is having on our local arts ecosystem and so that they can be a connector to others that can help.

➡️ scroll to the last slide for additional resources to help those impacted by the wildfires.

01/08/2025

Stay safe, LA. We ❤️ you.

This is when community matters most. Reach out to each other for help and support, and see below for a list of apps and resources for dealing with the Los Angeles Fires.

🔥 Apps & Resources:

Watch Duty - Real-time updates, evacution orders, shelter information, and map of the fires.

Local News apps - KTLA 5, ABC7, FOX 11, and NBC LA - all providing live updates & information from teams on the ground.

Disaster Distress Helpline (DDH) - National hotline that provides toll-free, multilingual, crisis support service available 24/7 to all residents in the U.S. experiencing emotional distress related to natural or human-caused disasters. Call or text 1-800-985-5990.

SAMHSA.gov - Federal information & resources for physical, mental & emotional distress due to natural disaster at samhsa.gov/find-help/disasters/disaster-types/wildfires.

Notify LA - Sign up for LA emergency text alerts at emergency.lacity.gov to receive critical updates.

Alert LA County - Sign up for emergency alerts specific to Los Angeles County at alert.lacounty.gov.

01/07/2025

🐰🔥THIS CAST 🔥🐰

Check out the cast for IAMA’s Workshop Production of DON’T TOUCH MY HAIR written by Douglas Lyons and directed by Velani Dibba. Running February 13–24 ONLY at Atwater Village Theatre.

🎟️ @

Jasmine Ashanti, Mike Bash, Sarah Hollis, Jenna Anne Johnson*, Michael Rishawn

*IAMA Ensemble Member

01/05/2025

🎭 Are your 2025 actor goals to build your artistic muscles, creative community, and tangible skills necessary to work in the theater and TV/film industries in Los Angeles? Then the IAMA Actors Summer Intensive 2025 might be just what you’re looking for. ✨

📝 Apply at

Dates: June 16 - 29, 2025
Deadline to apply: January 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PST

12/20/2024

🎭 How it’s going ➡️ How it started

Congratulations to Lesley Headland and the entire cast, crew, and creative team of CULT OF LOVE on their Broadway opening & rave reviews! CULT OF LOVE, the final play in Headland’s Seven Deadly Sins cycle, premiered at IAMA in 2018.

12/19/2024

We couldn’t be more PROUD of the IMPACT IAMA has had this year! ⭐

A️nd the numbers don’t say it all: We expanded our education and play development programming, provided over $10,000 in student scholarships and childcare stipends, and produced the world premieres of three astonishing new plays. And this year, our new play pipeline extended its reach all the way to Broadway with two IAMA developed plays celebrating their Broadway premieres!

But, we couldn’t do what we do without ✨you✨!

We are $15,000 away from our end of year fundraising goal. If you’d like to support artist development, including playwright commissions and emerging artist scholarships for our 2025 Actors Summer Intensive, please consider making an end of the year, tax-deductible donation.
➡️

Our deepest gratitude, and we’ll see you back at the theater in 2025! 😊

12/16/2024

🎟️🐰TICKETS NOW ON SALE for DON’T TOUCH MY HAIR Join the new play process and witness this workshop production come to life!

Written by Douglas Lyons
Directed by Velani Dibba

February 13-24, 2024

ABOUT THE SHOW

Lifelong best friends Eemani and Jade decompress one afternoon over a good blunt. Unbeknownst to them, the blunt is laced with much more than w**d — spiraling the duo into a hilarious hallucination that allows them to confront the oppressors of the past dead-on. IAMA first presented a virtual reading of Douglas Lyon’s play (under the title Invisible) in collaboration with New York City’s Queens Theatre’s Fly On The Wall Series, part of IAMA’s ongoing tradition of partnering with like-minded companies to develop and produce new work.

WHAT IS A WORKSHOP PRODUCTION?

Workshop Productions live in the space between a staged reading and Opening Night of a world premiere production. With workshop productions, the focus is on process instead of product and YOU, as our audience, are a key part of that process.

Our playwrights will continue working on the play, making edits, and writing new pages until closing night, based in part on audience response. Meanwhile, our creative team will explore design ideas, focusing on one area of design especially and how it can aid in bringing the play to life. This new model of production allows the show to significantly change from opening to closing night, so we encourage you to come more than once to see how your feedback has helped it evolve.

Tickets @

12/12/2024

✍️✨ Weekend 2 of IAMA’s 7th Annual New Works Fest. Tickets are selling fast for BEAUTIFUL BLESSED CHILD & CARE LESS, get them before they’re gone. FOURSOME & THE PLAYGROUND are Sold Out ‼️ Join the waitlist n person only 30 minutes before showtime at the box office.

12/09/2024

🎭 IAMA Actors Summer Intensive 2025 - Now Accepting Applications! 🎭

The IAMA Actors Summer Intensive is a two-week program for emerging, early-mid career actors that focuses on building the artistic muscles, creative community, and tangible skills necessary to work in the theater and TV/film industries in Los Angeles.

📝 Apply at

Programs and master classes featuring IAMA Ensemble Members and industry experts, including (Scandal, Inventing Anna), (The Bear, Never Have I Ever), (The Girls on the Bus, Dead to Me), (NYPD Blue, Joe Picket), (Ghosts) and other guest artists!

Dates: June 16 - 29, 2025
Deadline to apply: January 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PST

12/04/2024

✍️✨ IAMA’s 7th Annual New Works Fest kicks off tomorrow! Don’t miss your chance to see one of LAist’s favorite theatre events of the year and a Los Angeles Times Best Bet!

Don’t miss Saturday night standouts HIT MACHINE (or, TRUE WES) by Jonathan Caren with original music by Ben Harper or CARE LESS by Chloé Hung, featuring the Los Angeles directorial debut of East West Players new AD Lily Tung Crystal!

Festival begins off tomorrow night with GRIEF WORLF by Hannah Kenah and runs through Dec. 15th.

🎟️ @

12/03/2024

Support IAMA this ✨ Support live theatre and working artists! As a small, non-profit theatre, your tax-deductible gift of any size will make an enormous difference in the future of IAMA.

Your gift supports:
∙ Livable artist wages
∙ Development of new works and emerging artists
∙ Arts education and audience outreach programs
∙ Our mission to amplify diverse voices & stories, on stage and off

➡️ Donate here: iamatheatre.com/support

12/02/2024

✨✍️ Closing out IAMA’s 7th Annual New Works Fest: THE PLAYGROUND written KJ Cuitiño Bjorge and directed by Margaux Susi*

Featuring Laila Ayad*, Stefanie Black*, Lauren Lopez, Katie Lowes*, Amy Rosoff*, Courtney Sauls*, Isabel Stallings, Tracie Thoms, Sarah Utterback*

🎟️ On Sale Now @

*IAMA Ensemble Member

12/01/2024

✨✍️ Check out the cast for CARE LESS written by Chloé Hung and directed by Lily Tung Crystal

Featuring Kim Goza, Kelvin Han Yee, Tina Huang*, Terry Li*

🎟️ On Sale Now @

*IAMA Ensemble Member

11/30/2024

✨✍️ Check out the cast for FOURSOME written by Matthew Scott Montgomery* and directed by Tom Detrinis*

Featuring Adam Faison, Bailey Humiston*, Chris Renfro, Matthew Scott Montgomery*, Calvin Seabrooks

🎟️ are SOLD OUT ‼️ Join the waitlist in person only 30 minutes before showtime at the box office.

*IAMA Ensemble Member

11/29/2024

✨✍️ Check out the cast for BLESSED BEAUTIFUL CHILD written by Daria Miyeko Marinelli and directed by Reena Dutt

Featuring Ima Djie, Hazel Lozano, Sharon Omi

🎟️ On Sale Now @

11/27/2024

✨✍️ Check out the cast for BARUCH HASHEM written by Joshua Levine and directed by Stefanie Black*

Featuring Alex Alcheh*, Cory Benjamin, Cara Greene Epstein*, Arye Gross, Samantha Miller, Valerie Perri, Christine Woods*

🎟️ On Sale Now @

*IAMA Ensemble Member

Address

3269 Casitas Avenue
Los Angeles, CA
90039

Website

http://www.iamatheatre.com/

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🤨🎭 What is a workshop production? ➡️ Let IAMA’s Artistic Director Stefanie Black fill you in on this exciting model of producing! Workshop Productions live in the space between a staged reading and Opening Night of a world premiere production. With workshop productions, the focus is on process instead of product and YOU, as our audience, are a key part of that process. Join us for the world premiere workshop production of Douglas Lyons’ (@chocolatehipster) new comedy DON’T TOUCH MY HAIR February 13 – 24 and later in the spring Abigail Miller’ (@theonlyabbymiller) darkly comic TRAUMA PLAY May 22 – June 2. IAMA ❤️ LA. L.A. Wildfire Resources can be found on our website and #LinkInBio.

✨🎭 Here’s to an incredible 2024 at IAMA! Thank you to the over 250+ theatre artists, 6000+ audience members, and countless supporters who made this year such a success! You can still support live theatre before the year is out by donating to help us reach our end of the year goal! As a non-profit theatre, your tax deductible gift of any size will make an impact for the future of IAMA. ➡️ Donate at #LinkInBio

Happy Holidays from IAMA! 🎁 We’re grateful to you for sharing community with us this year. We’ll see you back at Atwater Village Theatre in 2025 for the world premiere workshop productions of DON’T TOUCH MY HAIR & TRAUMA PLAY! 🎭✨ 📸 World Premiere of THE BODY’S MIDNIGHT with Boston Court Pasadena // Photo by Brian Hashimoto

🐺💥 Only TWO WEEKENDS remain to see the “very special theatrical experience,” THE VERY BEST PEOPLE! Tickets are selling fast: visit Angelina’s Public House this Thursday thru Sunday 🍻 Tickets @ #LinkInBio

🐺💥 @larchmontbuzz is right, THE VERY BEST PEOPLE really does have it all 🩸❤️‍🔥 See for yourself NOW – October 27 🎟️ Tickets @ #LinkInBio

Want to know ~exactly~ what you should be doing this weekend? Tickets for THE VERY BEST PEOPLE are selling quick! Be on the right side of history and get your tickets now at the link in bio 🎟️🐺 #iamatheatre #linkinbio #lathtr

Safety first! Previews start tonight! Be sure to get your tickets for THE VERY BEST PEOPLE” now before you get on Fanny’s bad side 🐺👑 🎟️ link in bio

Only a few more days until you can visit Angelina’s Irish Pub 🍻🐺Grab your tickets for THE VERY BEST PEOPLE at the link in bio 🎟️ #iamatheatre

The big day is almost here! 🤩 Get to know the ~very best~ characters a little bit better - find out if you’re buying what they’re selling 😉. Get your tickets for “The Very Best People” now - link in bio 🎟️

Angelina’s is almost ready to open - “The Very Best People” previews start this week! 🎟️ link in bio