Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum

Theatricum Botanicum is a nonprofit arts education organization and an outdoor repertory theatre nestled in the Santa Monica mountains, providing low-cost access to quality arts programming to the underserved areas of Los Angeles.

Why do we exist?

Theatricum’s mission is to elevate, educate and entertain audiences of all ages by presenting thought-provoking classics, socially relevant plays and education programs in a beautiful, natural outdoor sanctuary for the arts. By passing on a sense of history to young people and adults alike, we inform their present and inspire their future. A true renaissance theater, we offer at affordable prices a diversity of programming from Shakespeare and other great classics, to poetry to folk music and to the development of future playwrights - all to help understand the world we live in and to embrace our shared humanity.

We meet a variety of needs. For actors and theatre artists, we provide a place to hone their craft, develop as teachers and to have quality employment in their chosen field. For students and audience members of all ages, we unlock the mysteries of heightened language and invite each individual to engage and be transformed by the material. For Los Angeles residents and visitors, we act as the stewards of a historic property, which we make more accessible and sustainable each year. We, in turn, are active in our communities as civic volunteers, audience members, board members, and caretakers of the elderly.

What have you accomplished?

Theatricum was chosen as 1 of 36 theatres nationwide to participate in the NEA's Shakespeare In American Communities Initiative (2004-2007). As an LAUSD and LA County Arts Commission Preferred Arts Provider, Theatricum’s education programs (including American history and folk music) serve over 12,000 students annually (classroom and field trips) throughout 84 Los Angeles school districts.

Theatricum is one of 36 theatres nationwide chosen for the National Endowment for the Arts Shakespeare in American Communities initiative. Additionally, the Academy of the Classics trains aspiring thespians of all ages in camps, intensive seminars, classes and professional internships.
 
Theatricum’s 299-seat outdoor amphitheatre is one of the few mid-size houses, operating with an Actors’ Equity contract, in the Los Angeles area. Theatricum productions consistently receive critical praise.

Artistic Director Ellen Geer has received numerous awards including the prestigious Margaret Harford Award for Sustained Excellence from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle and the LA Weekly Career Achievement Award for Artistic Director, Ellen Geer.
Since 1979, we have seen amazing accounts of students’ personal growth, inspiration and change as a result of our many educational programs.  Adults have completely rearranged their lives (even changed professions!) to pursue long buried dreams of acting Shakespeare, after completing our Intensive Shakespeare Seminar. Countless children, through our summer drama camps, have overcome great obstacles of insecurity and shyness to blossom into vibrant, confident young people. 

Two rewarding stories include a 9-year old boy and a 15-year old girl whose lives were transformed by our programs. When he was a baby, the boy was burned in a fire. Physically scarred and emotionally shut down, he was isolated and simply refused to speak in class. His homeroom teacher expressed concern that he might not be able to handle the intense involvement with his peers that summer Shakespeare camp required. But the boy took on as much as he could and was active in fencing, Elizabethan dance, mime, singing and Shakespeare classes.  At first, he was tentative and scared, but our teachers nurtured and challenged him.  The culmination of the 5-week camp was a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This same young boy stood on the stage of our 299-seat amphitheatre and bravely performed Puck’s final speech. His teacher reported that in the fall, he was a different child in the classroom. He no longer withheld himself or his voice.

The teenaged girl had been shuffled from foster home to foster home, before finding her way to our High School Intensive Shakespeare Seminar.  She arrived and immediately isolated herself from the other teens.  She dressed all in black and her purple and black hair hung down over her face. Yet over the 5-week program, she immersed herself in the process and channeled her emotions through different roles.

As Joan LaPucelle in Henry VI, she channeled her anger. Through Twelfth Night’s Olivia, she discovered her femininity and sense of humor.   The heightened language and epic story lines, combined with music and movement, allowed her to experience life from a different perspective and to safely process her own conflicted feelings.  She experienced her true power and felt pride in working with others in a dedicated fashion.  At the final performance, this young lady wore her hair in an elegant ponytail adorned with a crown of fragrant flowers. Later that year, we learned that her Los Angeles foster parents had decided to officially adopt her and would give her a stabile home life.

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