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truly adventurous theater
"An impressive range and a nimble touch reminiscent of the young Tom Stoppard"
Terry Morgan in Daily Variety
Works
House of the Rising Son
(4 men) When Trent brings Felix home to New Orleans to meet his father and homophobic grandfather, the familys demons come slithering into the light. Watchful ghosts, sinister hustlers, and a myriad of parasites lead Felix on a Southern Gothic journey to St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. Winner of two Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards. Available at Broadway Play Publishing, Inc.
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Captain of the Bible Quiz Team
(1 actor of any gender) A young Lutheran minister returns home to rural Minnesota for Christmas and finds an epiphany. Winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Award. Available at Broadway Play Publishing, Inc.
The Twentieth-Century Way
(2 men) is the true story of two actors who hired themselves out to the Long Beach Police Departmen tin 1914 to entrap "social vagrants" in public restruooms. Thirty-one men were arrested, and the ensuing scandal led to an ordinance against "oral sodomy" in California. Winner of the Pen Center West Award for Drama. Available at Broadway Play Publishing, Inc.
In the Press
Walking to Buchenwald
It’s hard to define the tone of playwright Tom Jacobson’s excellent new play, a deceptively simple story of a gay couple taking one of their aging parents on their first Grand Tour of Europe. Featuring the playwright’s brilliant ear for nuance and ambiguity, it’s funny, with quirky incidents punctuated with irony and humor. But there’s also an underlying sadness, which comes from an awareness that life inevitably slides into decline, whether it’s a nation that seems to have turned into a country of madness, or the luckiest of individuals. One thing’s for sure: Walking to Buchenwald is a thoughtful, moody piece that mixes bittersweet warmth with a sense of encroaching darkness.
The play is partially double cast, with a presentational style similar to last year’s Captain of the Bible Quiz Team, which featured different actors in the same lead role. Here, two male performers playing a gay couple (Chris Cappiello and Justin Huen, the “Die Herren” cast) alternate with two female performers playing the same characters as a lesbian couple (Amielynn Abellera and Mandy Schneider, the “Die Damen” cast).
2017
STAGE RAW REVIEW
In the
Works
In July 2024 Open Fist Theatre Company will premiere a new trilogy of plays for
a diverse ensemble of five actors:
The Bauhaus Project I: Weimar (5 actors, any gender) Five struggling Southern California art students create a dramatic presentation on the founding of the famous Bauhaus school in order to save themselves from being kicked out.
The Bauhaus Project II: Dessau (5 actors, any gender) Defunded by the city of Weimar, the Bauhaus moves to Dessau and becomes the most influential art school in history.
The Bauhaus Project III: Berlin (5 actors, any gender) After Hitler shuts down the Bauhaus, some of the faculty emigrate to Los Angeles, where scores are settled between the founder Walter Gropius, his ex-wife Alma Mahler and composer Arnold Schönberg.
For any media inquiries, please contact Lexikat Artists:
Contact
Tom Jacobson
(213) 663-6451
Tom's plays are available for download on the New Play Exchange.
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