Looking to be a part of something from the beginning? New and upcoming theater writer, Drew Larimore will be having a very polished reading of his new psychological, semi-absurdist drama, THE ANNIVERSARY BOX at the Studio Stage Theatre on Sunday, May 11th at 2 PM. Larimore has been developing the play with Ensemble Studio Theatre- LA in bother their Sunday Best Workshop and their Playwrights Unit.
LA.CityZine sat down with Larimore to ask him a few other questions about his new and upcoming play.
What initially inspired you to write this play?
THE ANNIVERSARY BOX is a play I have been working on since I moved to Los Angeles two and a half years ago. At the time, I wanted to write a play that dealt with science because when I was getting my undergrad I studied evolutionary ethics/psychology in conjunction with writing. (I know - quite the pair!) I was really interested in how scientific knowledge effects and ultimately, changes people, because my perspective had so rapidly changed after studying material by Frans De Waal, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Richard Dawkins and Joan Roughgarden - really groundbreaking and prominent evolutionary ethicists.
How do you feel like your experiences and education have played into the scientific discoveries that are in The Anniversary Box?
This play, in particular, deals with a dysfunctional married couple, Lenny and Claire, who clone lizards via parthenogenesis, the process in which an egg mistakes another for sperm and ultimately creates a clone of the mother. To do this, they have created a “parthenogenesis machine” that supposedly induces this process. The play takes place
on the night of their anniversary where Claire proceeds to tell Lenny she is leaving him for a twenty-two year old college student - the situation getting even more complicated when this student actually comes over, unaware of what’s in store for him. Secrets are spilled and the history of this couple is revealed throughout this ninety-minute play while the parthenogenesis box sits ominously in the corner of the stage, functioning as a fourth character. By the end of the play when the set is in total disarray, we soon learn parthenogenesis is what really holds Lenny and Claire’s marriage together, the scientific process also functioning as a metaphor for their relationship as a whole.THE ANNIVERSARY BOX is a play about people who interpret science as
stability, confuse fact with emotion and call into question marriage,
monogamy and its relationship to their animal nature.
Where do you hope to take this production?
At the moment, this is the first reading of THE ANNIVERSARY BOX and I’m thrilled to have a terrific cast and director. Patrick Varon, who is directing, is really great with dissecting the beginning stages of a new play and helping bring clarity to spots that need it. I’m hoping this reading will help me shape the play so I can take it to its next level of development, be it in Los Angeles or elsewhere. Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA has been quite a big help with developing it both in their Playwrights Unit and monthly Sunday’s Best workshop. I owe them a big thanks for helping me get the play to where it is now.
To read a complete interview and learn more about Drew Larimore, you can check him out on LA.CityZine here.
Or go to the reading of THE ANNIVERSARY BOX
Directed by Patrick Varon
With Jillian Crane, Robert Trebor and Aly Mawji
The Studio Stage Theatre
520 N. Western Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90004
Sunday, May 11th @ 2 PM
(there is a small parking lot behind the theatre, as well as street parking)
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