Director, Production and Development

Ruskin Group Theatre produces 3 to 4 full scale plays and/or musicals per calendar year, as well as several monthly offerings and studio productions. We have always been committed to the development of new work, and to the support of new artists. We have produced at least one world premier a year, and have recently established a playwright's lab that has begun to consistently offer work that reaches our main stage. As well, we are committed to paying our artists, as a baseline, the equity rate for 99 seat and under theatres in Los Angeles. It is an extremely modest rate of pay, covering only gas to and from rehearsal, yet it allows us to respect their work, encourage them in continuing it, and provide them with the knowledge that they have a home in which to continue to become better at their mode of expression.

In the past year, we produced a smash hit new country musical, "Sneaky Ole Time", with both a very accomplished musical composer (Paul Overstreet), and writer (Steve Mazur). This year and a half project in development, and five month run of the musical, has provided many phenomenal artists without the same exposure, or the same level of achievement as yet in their careers, an opportunity to be seen, hone their skills, and develop sound artistic practices. In the new year, this play will be moved to a larger venue in Southern California, taking all the artists along, as it gains exposure and eventually makes its way to the American south. Ruskin Group Theatre explores the very nature and meaning of human experience; the human condition. Our work strives to provide the world with new classics that will help to illuminate who we are as a human race. Our artists strive to make a place for themselves, to find a voice that resonates within, and to proclaim to the world: "This is truth". We are creating the great works of today and tomorrow; developing the great artists of today and tomorrow.

Certainly the artists themselves will benefit from our continued ability to offer them some pay for their work. But in the larger picture, that ability is the spark that leads to the fire of genius. In the coming year, we plan to produce at least one new play from our playwright lab, and have nearly completed negotiations on the U.S. premier of a new Scottish play. These projects will require teams of artists to bring to life, and each will present its own production and budget challenges. It is never a certainty that every artist will be paid, yet each year, we have scraped to find the funds to do it. This grant will give us the ability to backstop that need, and to approach our productions with the confidence that we can continue to treat our artists with the respect their hard work deserves.