by Ashley Steed~

(Full Disclosure:  Ms. Steed is a proud new member of Son of Semele Ensemble and is therefore very much biased. That being said, she is partial to anyone who is passionate about the theatre.)

Company:  Son of Semele Ensemble

Neighborhood:  Silver Lake

Address:    3301 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(on the corner of Beverly and Hoover)

Website:  www.sonofsemele.org

Seat capacity:  36

When founded:  2000

Parking:  Street – leave extra time to find a space, there is currently construction.

Handicap accessible:  Yes – let them know beforehand to set up.

Restroom(s):  One – you have to wait till the house is open.

Amenities:  Central heating and air.

Lobby:  Outside courtyard.

Concessions:  Yes and you’re allowed to take it inside the theater.

What’s Nearby:

• Sanjang Coffee Garden:  101 S Virgil Ave – About 2 blocks west of SOSE. The Seafood Ramen and Chicken Curry are SOSE favorites. They have valet parking and are open till 2am.
• Medusa Lounge:  3211 Beverly Blvd – One block east of SOSE – It’s a club with food and cocktails. They also have valet parking and are open till 2am.
• Thai – EastWind:  2801 Beverly Boulevard – About 5 blocks east of SOSE. The curry is a SOSE favorite and the staff there are really nice.
• Tommy’s Burgers:  Beverly and Rampart – About half a mile east of SOSE. They’re famous for their chili burgers and never close.

What’s on:  Slaughter City by Naomi Wallace. Playing Feb 19 – Mar 21, 2010

Dionysus, the son of the mortal woman Semele and the god Zeus, is the Greek god of wine and theatre. He is also associated with ritual madness and ecstasy, which pretty much defines theatre.  And wine.

Son of Semele Ensemble began in 2000 when founder and Artistic Director Matthew McCray wanted to produce a play he had written called Earthlings. Once that was over someone asked, “what’s the next production?” Thus began Son of Semele Ensemble, or SOSE as members like to call it.

“In the early years we were naive and not very seasoned as theatre people,” says McCray. “Young, but passionate. Our knowledge of the ensemble theatre movement was simply young. It was like we were looking to others to show us what to do — looking to regional theaters for the ‘right’ way. As we have produced more and more, I think our work has become more complex in design, content/themes and in our directorial approaches. We have grown more and more seasoned with each new project. In recent years we have begun creating our own work, a process that takes years to complete. These kinds of challenges are sustainable only on the small scale that we produce at, and it is very fulfilling.”

Their mission is to create theatre in new forms and styles that has long-standing impact, to create theatre that will engage with the minds of the audience after the performance has past.

When naming the ensemble, company member Michael Nehring had always been a Dionysus aficionado and really wanted to name the company after him. Although they don’t do Greek plays, McCray feels the name itself does pay tribute to the energy and qualities of Dionysus. The Bacchic ritual was chaotic and frenzied.

“Our work reflects those things,” says McCray. “We deal with extremities. Not with naturalistic themes or even realism.  I think we ride the line between experimental and conventional really well — meaning our work remains somewhat accessible, yet still manages to push the limits of what American theatre often is,” he explains.

“We have always relied heavily on the participation of our members and worked to created systems that encourage equal participation. It is never perfectly equal, but we never list people as members unless they have earned the title. We have always encouraged quality over quantity where artists are concerned.

“Though we began as a dues-paying ensemble, we cut dues out of our budget entirely. We could have kept requiring our artists to pay monthly fees, but we felt it was philosophically wrong.  We always wanted to remove dues and… WE DID IT!  Most importantly, we did it voluntarily. That is something to be proud of, I think.”

Although the 36-seat theatre is small, it has a lot to offer. “We built it ourselves,” boasts McCray. It has many limitations but “is sort-of wonderful if you embrace it.” He admits, “We’ve learned to embrace it, but as our work is growing more complex it is certainly getting more difficult to accomplish it in a space like ours. We are facing more and more logistical challenges with our little space as we grow.”

SOSE has received 17 award nominations, out of which they’ve won 2 Ovation Awards, 4 LA Weekly Awards and 1 NAACP Theatre Award. In 2004, the company was featured in American Theatre Magazine about up-and-coming young ensemble companies. They were also featured in an international journal called TheatreForum. Other recognition includes great reviews in all the major papers in L.A. including a Critic’s Pick in the LA Times last year for The Designated Mourner. “We aren’t doing typical fare, so receiving the kinds of recognition we have is something I’m very proud of,” expresses McCray.

In addition, SOSE has been awarded grants from the city and county of Los Angeles, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Project in Science and Technology and the California Story Fund through the California Council on the Humanities.

When they’re not in production, the theatre is rented out to other artists at a very affordable rate. They also develop their own work and do workshops with playwrights that will one day become productions. In the past, they have hosted workshops with theatre companies such as Complicite and Steppenwolf West.

It’s easy to get involved with SOSE. They’re always looking for volunteers and have had interns through the LA County Arts Commission and informal internships with UC Riverside and Chapman University.

When asked what SOSE’s target audience was, McCray replied:  “The savvy theatre-goer. The thinker. The visual artist. The political activist. The person who is tired of ‘perfect’ theatre and instead would like something rough around the edges.”

Something important to know about SOSE is that they work on an extremely small budget. “People come to our shows and they think we spent a fortune. Believe me, we would love to spend a fortune, but the fact is we have a very small budget. It wouldn’t surprise me if we were one of the smallest-budget organizations running a performance venue in Los Angeles. I was talking to a friend recently and his company’s fee they paid to a director was our entire production budget. It was a funny moment. And I’d love to have more money to pay people and go even farther. But for now we have very little and it is wonderful that people leave our theatre stunted by the visual. SOSE is a place where the passion for the art always wins out over budgetary constraints. Someday we’ll have the money to pay better, but until then, I’m proud of what we can do with our shoestring budget.”

SOSE has always tried to be something different – alternative approaches, exigent material, process-based, etc. “I’m proud that we’ve managed to stay afloat for 10 years doing the kinds of the work we’ve been doing. Someone recently said to me after a performance that it was the best piece of theatre he’d ever seen. Many people may have left puzzled by the work, but he left in awe of it. It was a moment that makes it all worth it. I’m not interested in presenting something that everyone will know how to digest. I’m interested in producing something spicy – something that you have to figure out along the way.”