“A story may not be able to change the world, but it shapes our perception of it. In our post-modern, post-fact moment, whoever controls our stories, controls our realities. So it’s up to us to take that power back - to tell stories that challenge the dominant status quo, offer groundbreaking perspectives, and rehearse new futures. And to revel in the process. The exuberant counter-narratives that make up our season traffic in provocation, playfulness, and purpose to make resistance irresistible.”- Elizabeth Dinkova, Artistic Director
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THE DRAGON
by Evgeny Shvarts Adapted by Jesse Rasmussen & Yura Kordonsky Directed by Elizabeth Dinkova Sept 25-Oct 19, 2025 Terrorized by a wicked dragon, a town gets a chance for freedom with the arrival of a confident and cocky Sir Lancelot (yes, distantly related). Sounds simple enough, right? On the surface a supernatural fairytale, this subversive play written (and banned) in Stalinist Russia offers a scorching satire of authoritarian regimes and the mechanisms they use to control people. In a sharp new adaptation centering immigrant actors, The Dragon is a witty allegory that exposes the dangers of tyranny - and would be even more fun if it were not so disturbingly relevant. AN IMPORTANT PLAY that can still speak to us today” – British Theatre Guide “The Dragon has a great deal to say about propaganda and its construction of alternate reality” - CATO Institute |
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TAMBO & BONES
by Dave Harris Directed by Ashleigh King Feb 12-March 8, 2026 “You thought you was gonna sing a song about racism and change the world” – Bones Tambo and Bones find themselves in a fix: they’re trapped in a minstrel show. And it’s damn hard to know what’s real and what’s not. The escape plan? Get famous…cash in…and get even. This time-traveling hip-hop fantasia from slam poet turned playwright Dave Harris dares to say the quiet part out loud, wrestling with America’s racist past and present and exploding its post-racial future. “will make you second-guess everything you do in a theater…Tambo & Bones gets the highest possible marks” - TheaterMania “…INVENTIVE AND IMMERSIVE, constantly shape-shifting to both unsettle and surprise us.” —Indulge Magazine Playwrights Horizons, Inc., New York City, and Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles, CA, produced the Co-World Premiere of TAMBO & BONES in 2022 TAMBO & BONES is the recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award TAMBO & BONES was developed at the Ojai Playwrights Conference (Robert Egan, Artistic Director/Producer) TAMBO & BONES was developed with support from SPACE on Ryder Farm and The Black Swan Lab at Oregon Shakespeare Festival |
NEW WORKS IN ACTION
Spooky Action Theater’s New Works in Action Program is an incubator for new theatrical experiences by generative artists - playwrights, composers, performers, creators. We offer developmental workshops, staged readings, and one-night-only opportunities to take a new work to the next phase of its evolution. Sign up for our newsletter to hear first about these unique opportunities to actively participate in the creative process.
Information about individual tickets and on-sale date is forthcoming.
Spooky Action Theater’s New Works in Action Program is an incubator for new theatrical experiences by generative artists - playwrights, composers, performers, creators. We offer developmental workshops, staged readings, and one-night-only opportunities to take a new work to the next phase of its evolution. Sign up for our newsletter to hear first about these unique opportunities to actively participate in the creative process.
Information about individual tickets and on-sale date is forthcoming.


