Alexis Scheer & Lindsay Allbaugh
OUR DEAR DEAD DRUG LORD plays at the Kirk Douglas Theater through Sunday, Sept 17.
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In this fierce and feverish comedy, a gang of teenage girls gather in an abandoned treehouse to summon the ghost of Pablo Escobar. Are they messing with the actual spirit of the infamous cartel kingpin? Or are they really just messing with each other?
Intimate in nature yet universal in its ability to explore the need to connect, the play is an unflinching and powerful reminder of what it means to be human. As it races to its startling conclusion, audiences will be left catching their breath. A rollercoaster ride through the danger and damage of girlhood — the teenage wasteland has never been so much twisted fun. This group ends up being a pivotal way for these young women to cope with the grief and lack of control in their lives.
Alexis Scheer’s (Playwright) breakout play is the critically acclaimed “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord.” Other plays include "Laughs in Spanish" (premiering 2023 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts; Kennedy Center's Harold & Mimi Steinberg Award, NNPN Showcase), and "Christina" (O'Neill Finalist, Roe Green Award). Her work has been developed at the Kennedy Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, McCarter Theatre Center, Boston Playwright’s Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, San Diego REP, and more. Alexis is a proud New World School of the Arts alum and holds a B.F.A in Musical Theatre from The Boston Conservatory and M.F.A. in Playwriting from Boston University. She is currently under commission by Second Stage, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Miami New Drama. Television: "Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin." alexisscheer.com
Lindsay Allbaugh (Director), Center Theatre Group Associate Artistic Director, has made CTG her home for the past 17 years. Allbaugh most recently directed the award-winning production of “Cry It Out” by Molly Smith Metzler (Best Production: Ovation Award, LADCC Award, Stage Raw Award) at the Echo Theatre Company as well as “Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties” by Jen Silverman at the Boston Court Theatre. Lindsay was Co-Artistic Director of the Elephant Theatre Company from 2004 – 2014, where she directed and produced countless productions including “100 Saints You Should Know” by Kate Fodor, “Revelation” by Samuel Brett Williams, and “Never Tell” by James Christy. Selected CTG producing credits include — Mark Taper Forum: “Slave Play,” “Archduke,” “Bent,” “Waiting for Godot;” Kirk Douglas Theatre: Creative Producer behind Block Party, “Tambo & Bones” “Good Grief,” “Throw Me On the Burnpile and Light Me Up,” “Endgame,” “Women Laughing Alone With Salad,” “Chavez Ravine,” “different words for the same thing,” “The Nether.”
Our Dear Dead Drug Lord is described as "a rollercoaster ride through the danger and damage of girlhood". And that's exactly what it felt like to watch! Why do you think this play is so important for audiences to see right now?
Alexis Scheer: I mean first off, this is a gorgeous and ferocious production of this play and that alone should be the reason you go see it. But also, this is the kind of play—bold, dangerous, challenging—that most theatres find too risky to produce. A ticket to this play paves the way for other playwrights who dare to tell unconventional stories.
Lindsay Allbaugh: Thank you so much for the kind words. I was drawn to this play because of the brilliant writing that gives an authentic voice to these young women and the complexities of being a young woman in this country. I think the play asks you to see these characters as incredibly layered and dangerous in a way that we don't normally see on stage.
I was blown away by how you worked with the designers and actors to help the space look and feel like 2008 (that's when I was in high school!). How did you work with the current generation of performers to help them understand what it felt like to grow up in the shadow of 9/11?
AS: We talked a lot about how much we couldn't talk about back then—how we didn’t have language that was mainstream enough to articulate and navigate collective and personal trauma—and we embraced the messiness and rawness of that.
LA: We watched a lot of videos, listened to music, and talked about trends, pop culture, and alternative culture. The creative team mostly grew up in that era, so we all had lived experience to draw from. We did have to "unlearn" some of the things we know now- the language and thoughts we had around race, gender, anti-racism, etc...we had to remember that the world was not so in tune with those ideas back in 2008. For example, it would have been very hard to come out in Florida in 2008, especially in a Republican family. Well....it probably still is, to be fair.
Was there anything surprising you discovered in the rehearsal process? Did you stumble upon anything about the script, story, characters or emotional arc that felt new and unexpected?
AS: I’m pretty hard to surprise at this point—I’ve been living with the play since 2017—but let me tell you how absolutely thrilling it is to see these actors land jokes in ways I’ve never seen before.
LA: I felt like I was surprised all along the way. Each actor brought something to the character that was a little unexpected. We also had to do some pretty hefty re-calibration with some of the character work as we got closer to the final production. Seeing it up on its feet, it became clear that we had to mask some of the intentions and vulnerabilities more, and that we had to remember that the top of the play is VERY different than the end of the play and we had to deftly strategize how to get from point A to point B by the end. It was a delicate balancing act of how much information is shown at the top, what each girl discovers along the way, and when each of them buys into the magic and "believes".
Each character's relationship with death is deeper than we initially realize. Is there a personal connection you both have to the show, given the connection between girlhood, death, innocence and the macabre? What were you like as teenagers, and how do you think that influenced the creative direction of the play?
AS: I’ve been working professionally in this industry since I was 9, so I was a really self-serious theatre kid who felt a lot of agency and desperately wanted to be seen as an adult and have adult experiences. At the end of the day, I was just writing the play teen-Alexis needed… a darkly elevated articulation of the last true moments of girlhood.
LA: I immediately saw pieces of myself in this play. I think I always felt a desperate desire to have more control, or power in my life. I don't have the grief or loss at such a young age in the same way these girls did - but I did have my own insecurities and was very aware of the unbalanced gender roles. This play had me thinking so much about my high school days and all the amazing friends I made in the theatre department. We were a rag-tag group of delicious weirdos and we found each other - much like these girls did.
What do you think drives each of these characters to participate in a seance? How does their relationship to the Dead Leader's Club connect to their own 'coming of age' moment? Why do they need to have this experience, individually and as a group?
AS: These are characters who are desperate to be heard, absolved, unburdened, and liberated. And their individual hunger feeds the entire group, making them more powerful together.
LA: Why does anyone participate in a seance? It's interesting, because I think more people that we realize reach out to mediums, tarot card readers, psychics, astrology, etc. It's an ancient practice. You want to believe that there is something else after this life, you want to hope beyond hope that love doesn't die along with mortal flesh. You are looking for answers and for a sign from the ancestors that you are on the right path? In this play, beyond those general curiosities, there is a deep driving desire to relieve some sense of grief (and/or shame) that they are each experiencing. My experience is, when you feel so deeply weighed down by loss, you are willing to do many things you never thought you would consider.
How do you think girlhood in America has changed from 2008 to today? Looking back on your own childhoods, do you think girls in 2023 are experiencing a different kind of 'girlhood' or is there anything that feels universal or constant?
AS: The phones and social media are the most obvious things. The addiction to technology and the demolition of privacy feels detrimental. But there are some good things. Younger generations are more progressive and inclusive. They are more politically engaged—which on one hand is awesome, but on the other hand totally depressing that they have to be this way because of how badly older generations are failing them. But I guess the things that will always be constant are the unwieldy hormones, parents who don’t fully understand you, and homework.
LA: I think every generation is going to feel like their experience of "girlhood" is different than those that come next. There is more access to information, much more pressure to perform an online presence, and perhaps more of a disconnection because of these things? But ultimately, I do think young woman on the verge of womanhood still have to fight against centuries of patriarchy. We live and operate in a world with systems that were built by and for men. It took centuries to make, it will take centuries to dismantle. But plays like this, written by women like Alexis Scheer, and performed by these crazy talented actresses give me hope for the future of all the girls in the world. To quote the play: We will not be good. We will be loud, loud, loud. Have things and not be had. Make the world in our image and take what's ours. (slightly modified to the collective vs. the singular).
Cast: Ashley Brooke as Zoom, Samantha Wynette Miller as Squeeze, Coral Peña as Kit, and Lilian Rebelo as Pipe, with additional roles played by Aliyah Camacho and Juan Francisco Villa.
Creative Team: Jordan Bass (Casting Director); Veronica Sofia Burt (Movement/Intimacy Coordinator); Marcedés Clanton (Production Stage Manager); François-Pierre Couture (Set Designer); Elena Flores (Costume Designer); Azra King-Abadi (Lighting Designer); Margaux Susi (Associate Director); Veronika Vorel (Sound Designer).
Production photos by Craig Schwartz.
IAMA Theatre Company Designated by Playbill as “one of 20 regional houses every theatre lover must know,” IAMA is a Los Angeles-based ensemble of artists and non-profit theatre company, committed to invigorating live performance for a streaming generation. Through cutting-edge, cool and hyper-modern stories, IAMA is invested in the immediacy of production and strives to bring audiences out of their personal space and into a shared experience. IAMA was built on ambition and determination while ensuring a steadfast commitment to equity and inclusion on and off stage. Los Angeles is one of the most diverse metropolitan areas in the world and our work reflects the new voices and changing attitudes that continue to shape our city, state, country and world. The award-winning company has seen many plays developed and premiered at IAMA travel to Off- Broadway, Second Stage, and the Roundabout Underground, then go on to be performed regionally and internationally. IAMA members have been featured in numerous critically acclaimed TV shows and films as well as in a vast array of theatre and live performances all over the country, including Off-Broadway and Broadway. IAMA has been dedicated to developing new plays and musicals by emerging and established playwrights since 2007.
Center Theatre Group, one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles’ leading not-for-profit theatre company, which under the leadership of Artistic Director Snehal Desai, Managing Director / CEO Meghan Pressman, and Producing Director Douglas C. Baker programs seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1,600 to 2,100-seat Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the country’s leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics, and circumstances to serve Los Angeles. Founded in 1967, Center Theatre Group was led by Founding Artistic Director Gordon Davidson until 2005 when Michael Ritchie was the artistic director until his retirement in 2021; Snehal Desai was appointed the organization’s next artistic director in 2023. Center Theatre Group has produced more than 700 productions across its three stages, including such iconic shows as “Zoot Suit;” “Angels in America;” “The Kentucky Cycle;” “Biloxi Blues;” “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992;” “Children of a Lesser God;” “Curtains;” “The Drowsy Chaperone;” “9 to 5: The Musical;” and “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.” CenterTheatreGroup.org