LOS ANGELES — The Echo Theater Company has announced another electrifying three-play season for 2025 that will provoke, entertain and surprise audiences — and further solidify the Echo’s reputation as, per the Los Angeles Times, “the most vital center for offbeat drama in Los Angeles.”
The new season opens on March 22 with the world premiere ofFlight. Written by Golden Globe and Princess Grace Award-winning writer Kate Robin and directed by Echo artistic director Chris Fields, Flight will star Peri Gilpin as a retired schoolteacher who hopes to use her recently acquired pilot’s license — and her husband’s Cessna — to better humanity. When she picks up a 16-year-old girl at a small airport in Florida, their mission is unspoken but perilous. Connecting through compassion and humor, they become unlikely allies in a struggle for justice and freedom. March 22 through April 28 (previews begin March 19).
Next up, Andi Chapman directs the West Coast premiere of ’Berta, ’Berta a “fictional origin story” by Angelica Chéri, who was inspired by a prison chain gang song that began on Parchman Farm, Mississippi State Penitentiary. After committing an unforgivable crime, Leroy is granted one final wish: a chance to make amends with his long-lost lover, Berta. Their reunion swells from a quarrelsome conjuring of the past to an impassioned plot to escape their impending fate. July 19 through August 25 (previews begin July 16).
The world premiere of For Want of a Horse by trans playwright, screenwriter and comic book writer Olivia Dufault will close out the season in September. Calvin loves Bonnie, but in order to proceed forward, he has to open up their relationship to include his new romantic partner, Q-Tip. One complication: Q-Tip is a horse. Echo associate artistic director Elana Luo is at the helm of thisintimate, comedic and complicated look into the world of zoophilia. September 20 through October 27 (previews begin September 17).
Founded in 1997, the Echo Theater Company has gained a reputation for producing and developing exhilarating new work. Under the artistic leadership of Chris Fields, the company has championed playwrights for more than a quarter century, producing and commissioning numerous world premieres and introducing Los Angeles to playwrights David Lindsay-Abaire, Adam Rapp and Sarah Ruhl among others. The Echo has won countless Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Ovation, LA Weekly and Stage Raw awards, and is frequently cited on end-of-the-year “Best of Lists” including by the Los Angeles Times and NPR affiliate KCRW 89.9 FM. The company was anointed “Best Bet for Ballsy Original Plays” by the LA Weekly and was a recipient of a “Kilroy Cake Drop” to honor its efforts to produce women and trans writers. KCRW declared that “Echo Theater Company is on a fierce journey,” and Los Angeles Times theater critic Charles McNulty wrote, “Artistic directors of theaters of all sizes would be wise to follow the [lead] of the Echo’s Chris Fields, who [is] building audience communities eager for the challenge of path-breaking plays.” In 2023, the Echo was honored with the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle’s prestigious Margaret Harford Award for Excellence in Theatre. Last season’s productions of Dido of Idaho by Abby Rosebrock and Clarkston by Samuel D. Hunter each garnered numerous awards and were named to multiple end-of-year “Best of 2024” lists.
All Echo Theater Company performances take place at Atwater Village Theatre, located at 3269 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90039.
To purchase individual tickets and to take advantage of the “Early Bird” subscription rate (through February 17) of only $50 for all three premieres, go to www.EchoTheaterCompany.com.