HOT 'N' THROBBING
Written by Paula Vogel
Directed by Carly D. Weckstein
co-produced with Watts Village Theatre Company
"The Illyrian-Watts ensemble takes us on this difficult journey with skill and taste... Hot ‘N’ Throbbing is a stark, real drama; the Illyrian-Watts production is focused, often funny, finally horrible and heartbreaking. It’s not easy to be part of this modern — and, alas, timeless — tragedy. But it’s worth it. If we don’t do this with our theatre, what are we doing?"
- Mark Hein, Theatre Ghost
“Weckstein has bravely brought together disparate elements of the text”
- Vanessa Cate, Stage Raw
"Then we are left with a hint of an aftermath no less complex and disturbing than the rest of the play--all brought to life by an amazingly truthful cast. Really, this kind of material involves the emotional equivalent of slicing open a vein to write a deeply held secret onto a placard. Director Carly D. Weckstein evidently excells at creating the kind of "safe" space for actors to unsheathe so bravely. She did it in the previous two plays of hers I've seen."
- David McDowell-Blue, Zahir Blue Theatre Blog
OTHELLO
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Carly D. Weckstein
"Othello is a rich text, full of polarities. It can be a play about love vs. jealousy … or honesty vs. deceit … or passion vs. reason, chaos vs. order. Or race, as it so often is in America. Because of its richness, Othello can be confusing. On the page or the stage, we need a focus, a thread to find our way through it all. The lllyrian Players’ current Othello is the most tightly focused I’ve ever seen. And therefore one of the best. Director Carly Weckstein and her troupe have seized on the little “vs.” that sits almost unnoticed at the heart of all the polarities, and revealed that as the story behind the story."
- Mark Hein, Theatre Ghost
“The concept is modern and gritty; an expansive black and white world compressed into a small black box theatre with a single striking image on the back wall, conjured as if it were a ghost moon over the River Styx… Weckstein's modern interpretation of the story engages the audience by focusing its efforts on strong character choices and allowing the actors to run with them… This is a company with a unique point of view, passionate in its response to the material, and willing to dive into the darkness to examine the less noble parts of a man -- much like one William Shakespeare.”
- Ellen Dostal, Shakesepare in LA, Broadway World
"Director Carly D. Weckstein does much more than weave a story of individual passions and error. We see in this production an entire world, masked and sheathed in black and white. A world where color--especially blood red--must be washed away as soon as possible."
- David McDowell-Blue, Zahir Blue Theatre Blog
ODESSA
The World Premiere at The Hollywood Fringe Festival
Written by John Tyler McClain
Directed by Carly D. Weckstein
LA Weekly's Top 7 Fringe Shows
Combined Artform's Pick of the Fringe
Lemon Lounge LA Pick of the Fringe
"Well written and performed genre , ODESSA is a great example of using Fringe Festival restrictions to your creative advantage. Illyrian Players are now on my watch list for LA Theatre.”
-Cindy Marie Jenkins, Lemon Lounge LA Picks for Fringe 2014
"Odessa succeeds because — like absurdist master Samuel Beckett — McClain strips away almost all the surface details and underlying structures of the world we know. He leaves us with only a handful of people, and a handful of randomly saved — or abandoned — objects...
Odessa succeeds also because each actor — under the hand and eye of Carly Weckstein — finds and delivers a breathing human from the scraps she or he is given. And each character has a definite arc, which we feel, however shaky our mental grasp of it may sometimes be."
-Mark Hein, Theatre Ghost
"As far as the cast goes, the fact they come across so vividly as human beings makes for the basic, highest praise I can give."
-David McDowell Blue, Zahir Blue Theatre Blog
"...despite threatening to be unremittingly dark, under Weckstein’s direction the script evokes surprising humor and even a glimmer of redemption."
-Jenny Lower, Stage Raw/LA Weekly
"Alana Cheuvront’s simple but eloquent costumes, Corwin Evans’ scrappy dramatic scene/light design — and the brilliant evocation of new-growing plants — all locate and propel the emerging story."
- Mark Hein, Theatre Ghost
99 WAYS TO FUCK A SWAN
Written by Kim Rosenstock
Directed by Caitlin Hart
Check out what the audience had to say...
Written by Paula Vogel
Directed by Carly D. Weckstein
co-produced with Watts Village Theatre Company
"The Illyrian-Watts ensemble takes us on this difficult journey with skill and taste... Hot ‘N’ Throbbing is a stark, real drama; the Illyrian-Watts production is focused, often funny, finally horrible and heartbreaking. It’s not easy to be part of this modern — and, alas, timeless — tragedy. But it’s worth it. If we don’t do this with our theatre, what are we doing?"
- Mark Hein, Theatre Ghost
“Weckstein has bravely brought together disparate elements of the text”
- Vanessa Cate, Stage Raw
"Then we are left with a hint of an aftermath no less complex and disturbing than the rest of the play--all brought to life by an amazingly truthful cast. Really, this kind of material involves the emotional equivalent of slicing open a vein to write a deeply held secret onto a placard. Director Carly D. Weckstein evidently excells at creating the kind of "safe" space for actors to unsheathe so bravely. She did it in the previous two plays of hers I've seen."
- David McDowell-Blue, Zahir Blue Theatre Blog
OTHELLO
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Carly D. Weckstein
"Othello is a rich text, full of polarities. It can be a play about love vs. jealousy … or honesty vs. deceit … or passion vs. reason, chaos vs. order. Or race, as it so often is in America. Because of its richness, Othello can be confusing. On the page or the stage, we need a focus, a thread to find our way through it all. The lllyrian Players’ current Othello is the most tightly focused I’ve ever seen. And therefore one of the best. Director Carly Weckstein and her troupe have seized on the little “vs.” that sits almost unnoticed at the heart of all the polarities, and revealed that as the story behind the story."
- Mark Hein, Theatre Ghost
“The concept is modern and gritty; an expansive black and white world compressed into a small black box theatre with a single striking image on the back wall, conjured as if it were a ghost moon over the River Styx… Weckstein's modern interpretation of the story engages the audience by focusing its efforts on strong character choices and allowing the actors to run with them… This is a company with a unique point of view, passionate in its response to the material, and willing to dive into the darkness to examine the less noble parts of a man -- much like one William Shakespeare.”
- Ellen Dostal, Shakesepare in LA, Broadway World
"Director Carly D. Weckstein does much more than weave a story of individual passions and error. We see in this production an entire world, masked and sheathed in black and white. A world where color--especially blood red--must be washed away as soon as possible."
- David McDowell-Blue, Zahir Blue Theatre Blog
ODESSA
The World Premiere at The Hollywood Fringe Festival
Written by John Tyler McClain
Directed by Carly D. Weckstein
LA Weekly's Top 7 Fringe Shows
Combined Artform's Pick of the Fringe
Lemon Lounge LA Pick of the Fringe
"Well written and performed genre , ODESSA is a great example of using Fringe Festival restrictions to your creative advantage. Illyrian Players are now on my watch list for LA Theatre.”
-Cindy Marie Jenkins, Lemon Lounge LA Picks for Fringe 2014
"Odessa succeeds because — like absurdist master Samuel Beckett — McClain strips away almost all the surface details and underlying structures of the world we know. He leaves us with only a handful of people, and a handful of randomly saved — or abandoned — objects...
Odessa succeeds also because each actor — under the hand and eye of Carly Weckstein — finds and delivers a breathing human from the scraps she or he is given. And each character has a definite arc, which we feel, however shaky our mental grasp of it may sometimes be."
-Mark Hein, Theatre Ghost
"As far as the cast goes, the fact they come across so vividly as human beings makes for the basic, highest praise I can give."
-David McDowell Blue, Zahir Blue Theatre Blog
"...despite threatening to be unremittingly dark, under Weckstein’s direction the script evokes surprising humor and even a glimmer of redemption."
-Jenny Lower, Stage Raw/LA Weekly
"Alana Cheuvront’s simple but eloquent costumes, Corwin Evans’ scrappy dramatic scene/light design — and the brilliant evocation of new-growing plants — all locate and propel the emerging story."
- Mark Hein, Theatre Ghost
99 WAYS TO FUCK A SWAN
Written by Kim Rosenstock
Directed by Caitlin Hart
Check out what the audience had to say...
HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE
Written by Paula Vogel
Directed by Carly D. Weckstein
"...the production, together with Weckstein’s impressive revival of Caryl Churchill’s Cloud Nine last year, is quickly establishing Illyrian Players as one of L.A.’s top interpreters of contemporary classics."
- Bill Raden, Stage Raw Featured in their Top Ten
"Daniels offers an indelible portrayal of a victim and predator as Li’l Bit navigates her seven-year journey through pedophilia... Her inherent physical sensuality is neither emphasized or avoided. It is simply there."
- Julio Martinez, Arts in LA
"Weckstein’s staging is firmly founded on the remarkable talents of Shafer, whose knife-edged portrayal of Peck strikes a profoundly unsettling balance between sympathetic compassion and the hint of something “off” just beneath the surface"
- Bill Raden, Stage Raw
"The Illyrian Players...are giving full, chilling life to this modern classic...it’s the artists Weckstein has chosen who shape its core, sustaining it throughout... How I Learned to Drive is, as Weckstein has said, an important play. It needs to be performed often, as our culture begins the long ascent from patriarchy toward humanity. And the Illyrian Players, under [Weckstein's] direction, are performing it with the artistry, power and immediacy it deserves.
- Mark Hein, Theatre Ghost
"Vogel definitely wrote the play to challenge our own assumptions about sexual consent, abuse, addiction, etc., but it is also Carly D. Weckstein’s direction that steers us into a much grayer realm than the black and white or good and evil world you might assume things like molestation or pedophilia to lie. In other words, Carly, and her talented cast, made everyone so human."
- Nina Harada, The Chamberpot
CLOUD 9
Written by Caryl Churchill
Directed by Carly D. Weckstein
"Director Carly D. Weckstein's accomplished revival forgoes the niceties of a full production design ...while her pitch-perfect ensemble...delivers both the play's riotous burlesque and its potent poignancy with equal aplomb."
- Bill Raden, LA Weekly
LORD BLACKBERRY'S APOCALYPSE
Written & Directed by Caitlin Bower
"...but the story's depth, led by Shafer's tortured, riveting performance, overcomes the structural problems. Illyrian Players founder Carly D. Weckstein sneaks up on the audience with her delicate portrayal of Nicky, the androgynous object of Dan's desire. As devoted assistant Simor, Kelsey Ritter captures the troubling efficiency of the servant who outstrips his master."
- Jenny Lower, LA Weekly
MACBETH
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Carly D. Weckstein
"If the measure of a Macbeth may be found in its witches, then director Carly D. Weckstein's tantalizing, satanic-scented take on the Bard's blood-soaked tale of vaulting ambition is nothing less than inspired. Among the many brilliant conceits packed into her richly atmospheric and reverse-gender-cast staging, Weckstein weaves her trio of writhing and toothless apparition..."
- Bill Raden, LA Weekly
"The Illyrian Players' version of Macbeth steers clear of safe choices. This version, set in a post apocalyptic leather lover’s paradise and steeped in punk music, is perhaps most notable in their choice to play with the idea of gender... Zack Hamra’s portrayal of Lady Macbeth is both poignant and subtle, once again begging a debate over gender roles. Especially when Hamra’s subtlety is placed next to the dramatic, braggadocio-esq acting style of Macbeth, played by Lindsay LaVanchy. Now what is THAT saying about gender performance? In any case, The Illyrian Players’ dedication to pushing the audience to ask questions pays off as I left the theatre having a lively discussion with my friends who I came with.
And after all, isn’t that what the theatre is all about?"
-Kathy S. Yamamoto, LA Theatre Blogger
TWELFTH NIGHT
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Carly D. Weckstein
"The production was funny, of course, but also profoundly moving and genuinely, refreshingly new in vision. ...I felt Ms. Weckstein’s gender-bending casting brought new dimension to the text and, perhaps, more clearly illuminated what may have been Shakespeare’s original intention: to expose sexual role-playing in our daily lives. She had a clear vision for the play and made bold, fearless choices to bring that vision to life. I am looking forward to following Ms. Weckstein’s career.
I expect great things."
- Sheri Lee Miller, Bay Area Director/Actress/Theatre Educator
