Tim Halligan

Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum will open its 2024 summer repertory season with two productions by the Bard. Learn how to purchase tickets.

Ellen Geer’s new compilation of Shakespeare's best-known history plays does nothing to address the misogynistic, xenophobic views that have led to Margaret of Anjou’s historical presentation (or any other woman’s) as a stereotypical villain. But in other ways, it succeeds in illuminating Margaret as what she actually was - a force to be reckoned with.

Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum will continue its 50th Anniversary Summer Season with Queen Margaret’s Version of Shakespeare’s War of the Roses, a new edit of Shakespeare’s best-known history plays — Henry VI Parts I, II and III and Richard III — compiled by artistic director Ellen Geer.

Fans of Shakespeare, alfresco theater, old time rock’n roll and just plain fun— pack a picnic and head up to the spectacular, one-of-a-kind outdoor venue at Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum, where the 2022 repertory season, sponsored by the S. Mark Taper Foundation, opens with two buoyant comedies.

Two beloved plays by William Shakespeare are set to welcome audiences back to the spectacular outdoor venue at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum this summer.

A celebration of one of the greatest novels ever written and a triumph of theatrical imagination. Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum presents Moby Dick-Rehearsed by Orson Welles.

Theatricum Botanicum takes on Shakespeare's stinging drama CORIOLANUS this summer on its outdoor stage in Topanga Canyon and offers an intriguing look at the cynicism of politics and power. The work includes a massive cast of 45. Some are seasoned veterans and many are young actors in the early stages of their careers, including a sweet Geer granddaughter (Quinnlyn Scheppner). Together they bring forth the early days of Rome when democracy was in its infancy and mob mentality could turn the tide in the blink of an eye.

A parable of mass hysteria that draws a chilling parallel between the Salem witch hunts of 1692 and McCarthyism, which gripped America in the 1950s, The Crucible by Arthur Miller remains eerily timely in today's climate of fake news. Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum, its own history firmly rooted in the McCarthy-era Hollywood blacklist - when actor Will Geer and his wife, Herta Ware, created the theater as a haven for blacklisted actors - opens a new production of Miller's modern classic onJune 30. Theatricum artistic director Ellen Geer, Will's daughter, is at the helm, with family members Thad Geer,Willow Geer and Melora Marshall featured in the cast.

William Shakespeare'sCoriolanus, a tragedy based on the life of legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus, opens the summer season at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum on June 2.

Internationally recognized Shakespeare specialist Rob Clare directs one of the Bard's most popular and delightful romantic comedies, filled with shrewd observations about life, love and human nature. Antaeus Theatre Company presents a fully partner-cast production of As You Like It, opening July 27 and July 28 (one opening for each cast) at the Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center in Glendale. Low-priced previews begin July 20.

Internationally recognized Shakespeare specialist Rob Clare directs one of the Bard's most popular and delightful romantic comedies, filled with shrewd observations about life, love and human nature. Antaeus Theatre Company presents a fully partner-cast production of As You Like It, opening July 27 and July 28 (one opening for each cast) at the Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center in Glendale. Low-priced previews begin July 20.

William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice opens the summer season at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum on June 3.

William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice opens the summer season at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum on June 3.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Extended through May 14: The Antaeus Theatre Company inaugurates its new home in Glendale with a fully partner-cast production of Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece.

Antaeus Theatre Company inaugurates the newly completed Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center, the company's new home in the City of Glendale, with a fully partner-cast production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. Opening nights (one for each cast) are set for March 23 and March 24, with low-priced previews beginning March 16. Cameron Watson directs Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece that was the playwright's personal favorite.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum presents TOM, a world premiere stage adaptation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' that offers a new look at the power of Stowe's most famous novel and at the true grit of its title character. Written by artistic director Ellen Geer and featuring folk music of the period, TOM joins the repertory season at Theatricum's spectacular outdoor amphitheatre in Topanga on June 18. BroadwayWorld has an inside look at the production - scroll down for photos!

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum presents TOM, a world premiere stage adaptation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' that offers a new look at the power of Stowe's most famous novel and at the true grit of its title character. Written by artistic director Ellen Geer and featuring folk music of the period, TOM joins the repertory season at Theatricum's spectacular outdoor amphitheatre in Topanga on June 18.

A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed classical repertory theatre, presents two free, staged readings this fall: Are You Now or Have You Ever Been by Eric Bentley, directed by Apollo Dukakis, on Wednesday, November 11 at 7 pm; and, on Monday, November 16 at 7PM, in partnership with East West Players, The Recognition of Shakuntala by Kalidasa, translated by W. J. Johnson, directed by Jonathan Munoz-Proulx. Both readings are performed as part of Words Within, A Noise Within's ongoing series of free play readings by resident artists. Both readings take place at A Noise Within, 3352 East Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107.

Members of the 'Pro99' movement of Actors' Equity Association have issued an open letter to AEA's newly elected president, Kate Shindle, in response to her victory and to her inaugural address as president of the national union for actors and stage managers. The open letter is signed by over 400 Equity members (listed below), including such notable names as Ed Asner, Francis Fisher, Sally Kirkland and Alfred Molina. The 'Pro99' movement formed in late 2014 in opposition to AEA's rollout of a new plan that will effectively force 'intimate theaters' in Los Angeles to pay Equity actors minimum wage, go 'non-union' or even close - despite an overwhelming vote against the plan by 66% of the Los Angeles membership on an advisory referendum. 'Pro99' members around the nation, who take their name from the current AEA '99 Seat Plan' that allows members to volunteer in smaller venues, oppose AEA's new promulgated plan. They are requesting that Equity leadership put a moratorium on the plan until local members' voices can be heard, and that the union work with its members to develop an alternative plan that will more realistically address the needs of the Los Angeles theater community.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum continues its 2015 "Americana" season with August: Osage County, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play by Tracy Letts that unflinchingly - and uproariously - exposes the dark side of the Midwestern American family. Mary Jo DuPrey directs for a June 20 opening.