Ovation Fellows are current students or recent alumni from Los Angeles area universities.  Fellows are paired with a Mentor, currently serving as an Ovation Award voter, and see productions and meet artists around Greater Los Angeles throughout the year.  Their articles, posted on LAStageBlog, are intended to be their personal responses to their experiences, and not as critical reviews or representing the views of LA Stage Alliance.

Ashley Walden is an Ovation Fellow from the California Institute of the Arts.

Innovation at its best…I know plenty of people involved in this production since it is co-produced by the Center for New Performance at CalArts, which I attend. I have witnessed many failed experiences, but THIS ONE WORKED.

Brewsie and Willie directed by Travis Preston exemplifies what a “play” can be when artists including designers, directors, actors, managers and producers are willing to think outside the box and push the limits of what the theatrical performance can mean. There are many ingredients that make this production different from your average play. This adaptation is based on the play by Gertrude Stein, the core group of performers includes the Poor Dog Group, an avant garde ensemble who has garnered acclaim in Los Angeles since their inception, and the location is the top floor of an apartment building with a view overlooking the City of Angels.

When the play begins, you are transported to the end of WWII and into the quarters of GIs who are waiting to return home. As the piece is crafted as a novella, each saxophone solo, song and light dance adds to the atmosphere of the play and advances the storyline.

I was present for each moment of this unique and well-crafted presentation. Although I have not read Stein’s Brewsie and Willie, the plot and intentions were very clear and the themes of loneliness, hopelessness, longing and fear shone through. Additionally, there could not be a more relevant time to produce this piece while the United States military is engaged in war in Iraq and Afghanistan. This piece really hits home while sitting in the heart of one America’s greatest cities.

Going in, I was not sure if Brewsie and Willie was going to be my cup of tea but now I am a believer. If you want something different from your “traditional” theatrical experience or want to take someone to see theater for the first time, this is the show.

Interesting plot-check, handsome talented actors on stage-check, priceless view of the city-check, wonderful production-check. Brewsie and Willie unexpectedly made my night.

Wandering in downtown LA during the evening hours anytime before Aug. 1? Well if you are, you should definitely make your way to the Penthouse of 533 S. Los Angeles St. There you will find Brewsie and Willie and a bunch of their comrades. www.poordoggroup.com/id49.html.