LOOKING FORWARD: AMMUNITION THEATRE CO.

LOOKING FORWARD: THE FUTURE OF THE PERFORMING ARTS IN L.A.

INTERVIEW: JULIE BERSANI & MALCOLM BARRETT

Co-Artistic Directors Ammunition Theatre Company 

BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO

Now almost a year into the ongoing pandemic our fond memories of live entertainment seem to be waning—and too much so for my liking. Just like that rare blue moon we saw this Halloween, the ancient ritual of live theatre is now deemed rare and magical—an artifact of the “before times”. Even so, if we take a moment and tune out the din of social media, the news, our own inner anxieties and frustrations, I know we can recall, maybe even find hope in, our memories from the “before times”. The feeling of eagerly sitting in a full theatre as the lights begin to dim. The sound of an orchestra tuning moments before they play a majestic downbeat. The smell of popcorn wafting around a movie theatre like tasty electricity. The restless anticipation of waiting in the wings before making your first entrance on stage. The sound of applause that roars in a venue like thunder that means no harm. You see these memories are not dreams—they were real. And whenever these memories start to get fuzzy all we need to do is take the time to summon them, thus reminding ourselves that they will return.

In the spirit of looking forward, what’s next for live entertainment? Broadway has announced its return for June 2021—well what about L.A. and the rest of the world? When will we be able to appreciate the performing arts in person again? That date remains to be seen. Accordingly, what have performing arts organization been doing since the shutdown? How has this impacted them both now and in the future? In the next couple of weeks, I will be publishing interviews with artistic directors of various performing arts organizations in L.A. and they will answer these questions and many more. In this Tin Pan L.A. exclusive Julie Bersani and Malcolm Barrett, Co-Artistic Directors of Ammunition Theatre Company, tell us about the future of theatre for their organization and the steps they are taking to keep it alive.  

What kind of work and activities is your theatre company doing right now to keep theatre alive?

Julie Bersani: AMMO has been staying very active during this period of isolation. This year marks the first ever Ammo Writer’s Lab, led by our Literary Director and Philanthropic Co-Director Bernardo Cubría. Currently we are excitedly preparing for the Lab’s reading series, which will showcase the work of the participants over the past year. 

AMMO has also been cranking out some really exciting new digital content. It includes a video series produced by members Malcolm Barrett, Karen Sours, Garrett Mercer, and Briana Marin called “In the Wings: Ammo Theatre Stories” which features different members sharing their fondest, and sometimes strangest, memories of the theatre and their vision of theatre post pandemic. “The Risking Space,” a podcast about Art and Discomfort, features company members Karla Mosley and Roxana Ortega and was created with Mischa Stanton. It is now available on Apple Podcasts. We recently presented Bernardo Cubría’s The Token as part of the TogetherLA Festival and are currently working on an AMMO original for the beginning of 2021, which will be announced with the new season on December 6th.

A main tenet of AMMO’s mission is serving the community through art. Since we have not been able to offer our services IRL, we’ve taken our activism into the creative space with a voter advocacy video and a song parody on life in the pandemic. We have also been able to successfully raise funds for Color of Change through our presentation of Pass the Mic, produced with IAMA Theatre and with the TogetherLA Festival. 

Even with the ongoing pandemic and it unforeseeable end, what excites your organization most about the return of live theatre/events?

Julie Bersani: We cannot wait to be in the same room. The electricity of ideas can be lost in a Zoom meeting, especially if that meeting is at 8 PM and you have screen fatigue. The exchange of energy that occurs in our meetings, rehearsals and performances is sorely missed. AMMO is an incredibly loving and supportive company and each member values and appreciates one another in a profound and touching way. The kindness and generosity of spirit of this company is such a gift. And so I think we miss being able to express that in our process and in our work. Creative exploration inside of our company comes with a feeling of limitlessness, which is hard to achieve through the limitation of your computer screen. We know that spirit is still alive and we can’t wait to see what magic it generates when we can all safely work together in the theatre again. 

What was your fondest memory of live theatre by your organization before the pandemic? 

Julie Bersani: One of my fondest members of live theatre was working on our production of DG Watson’s The Tragedy. The Tragedy was a fun, psychedelic show about three talent managers that go on a magic mushroom trip and discover that they’re trapped inside a tragic play. It was the first production we did with a large cast, which allowed a lot of company members to participate. The show itself was such a blast to be a part of, so it created a really open and exciting environment to nurture our collective creativity. There was also quite a  bit of audience participation which kept the show feeling alive and energized each night. 

Once theatre is allowed to open how will the idea of physical distancing have an impact on your future seasons (programming, scale etc.)?

Julie Bersani: We hope to meet the perceived challenge of social distancing with innovative ideas. We believe that these new guidelines offer an opportunity to find creative ways to execute story safely and to its fullest potential. We look forward to finding unique and integrative ways to create a live theatre experience that protects the audience and the actors. 

Following the movement of diversifying theater is the idea of making theater affordable to essential workers a priority? How do you think this can be achieved without driving theatres into the red?

Malcolm Barrett: Most shows coming from non-for-profit theatre are affordable, at least in the beginning. Non-profit theatre is a difficult business model because of that. In ideal, it’s built out of altruism, to serve the community. You struggle for years and you succeed through word of mouth and/or investment from rich friends and family. You’re successful, financially anyway, when you can regularly achieve both. The question of who in the community is being served and whose content is produced, a conversation already being had in communities of color, has fueled the recent eye on diversity, in the predominantly Eurocentric theatre community, following recent protests.  That being said, a majority of essential workers are people of color and that is exactly who our company has aimed to serve, represent and promote since its inception. 

In line with the movement of diversifying theater, how can theaters and educators find ways to take a second look at classics by writers of the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement and other works by BIPOC writers?

Malcolm Barrett: Read them and then perform them. I mean, the term BIPOC has existed in popular culture for like two weeks and everyone’s doing that. Why’s the “treating us equally” thing taking so long?

Do you have any words of hope or advice to the writers’ community that are mostly out of work at the moment or struggling to create?

Malcolm Barrett: The absurdity of the moment we’re all in seems too grand to put into perspective in a single sitting. Most writers I know are are writing but struggle with over-extending themselves. Due to the news cycler, and this administration, there is a pressure to comment on everything. My greatest asset has been patience and craft. And in trusting writers around me to better know how and when to use my voice. That’s why no matter the climate, there are few thing more important than the draft. 

What excites your organization most about its upcoming season? 

Malcolm Barrett: I am extremely proud of my theatre companies ability to pivot. After years, we finally achieved routinely planning an advanced schedule; 2-3 full length shows a year, a writer’s workshop series, philanthropy workshops, and fundraising events with regularity. The pandemic and the shut down threw a wrench into our plans. But after adjusting we’ve thrown a festival with over 30 companies, created a writers lab with upcoming shows, online content, and a new podcast called “Risking Space.” It’s been exciting to see how active we can be without community, even when we’re not in the same room with each other.

The Risking Space

Podcast with Karla Mosley and Roxana Ortega

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-risking-space/id1539231562

OTHER LOOKING FORWARD INTERVIEWS:

caryn desai, Artistic Director/Producer of International City Theatre

Armina LaManna, Founding Artistic Director Imagine Theatre

Doug Haverty Artistic Director The Group Rep