The Play’s the Thing--the Playwright Too : How Is It Possible That N.O.T.E. Went Unnoticed?

It is tremendously encouraging that Calendar continues to feature articles on small theater in Los Angeles. At the New One-Act Theatre Ensemble, also known as Theater of N.O.T.E., we are both excited by the opportunities Calendar is providing and frustrated with our exclusion, to date, from these opportunities.

Feb. 14’s article by Barbara Isenberg refers to “a handful of small theaters that do ongoing productions of new work.” N.O.T.E. is amazed not to have been named in this handful, since the entirety of our 12-year history has been dedicated to developing and producing exclusively Los Angeles and world premiere works.

N.O.T.E.’s absence from this article is even more puzzling when we consider that Jonathan Tolins, a company member of N.O.T.E., was one of the more prominently featured playwrights in Isenberg’s article. We have produced two of Jon Tolins’ plays on our stage.

N.O.T.E. wholeheartedly agrees with Oskar Eustis’ assessment in Isenberg’s article of the Padua Hills Playwrights Workshop/Festival as representing “the strongest indigenous branch of L.A. playwriting of the last 20 years.” We are proud at N.O.T.E. to have premiered in the last two years productions of works by Murray Mednick, the artistic director of Padua; Cheryl Slean, the managing director of Padua and a longtime N.O.T.E. member; and Padua artists Leon Martell and John O’Keefe. In April, N.O.T.E. will present two new plays by Padua artists Joseph Goodrich and Susan Champagne. Clearly, any discussion of where in Los Angeles Padua playwrights are being produced must include mention of recent award-winning productions at N.O.T.E.

The most distinctive accomplishment of N.O.T.E. is that we work without an artistic director and have been producing award-winning new works for three years this way.

Future discussions of small theater and new theater in Los Angeles can no longer exclude the New One-Act Theatre Ensemble. We are without question recognized as a vital player in the Los Angeles theater community.