Susan Rubin and Charles Degelman founded Indecent Exposure Theater Company (IETC) in 1988. From its beginnings as an independent political cabaret, this edgy weekly show grew into a regular Friday night feature at the Los Angeles Theater Center (LATC).
IETC went on to produce critically acclaimed, multiple award winning, original plays at LATC from 1990 to 1998, regularly commissioned and co-produced by the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. On each of her new works for the stage, Indecent Exposure Theater Company (IETC) Artistic Director Susan Rubin has collaborated coast-to-coast with theater’s best-known theater artists and directors including Anne Bogart, David Schweizer, Rob Prior, Ken Roht, Chay Yew and Mark Bringelson.
After its decade-long residency at Los Angeles Theater Center, IETC branched out to produce work in other venues from New York Theatre Workshop to Baltimore Center Stage. Currently, Indecent Exposure Theater Company is regularly co-produced by and performed at Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles.
LIANA AND BEN
A desperate woman. A Faustian deal. A myth, shattered. Liana and Ben, a twisted, sexy retelling of a classic tale.
LIANA AND BEN is a twisted, sexy, modern take on Faust. Our story begins with a not-so-chance encounter between a beautiful young woman and a dark, enigmatic stranger. Ben makes Liana an offer: he will keep her young and beautiful for 250 years if she can prove to him that humanity is worth saving. Now, Liana’s time is almost up and Ben demands his proof. They travel forward and backward through history in search of hope – questioning their very existence, the nature of their own mythology and the foundations of good & evil.
The World Premiere of LIANA AND BEN ran at Atwater Village Theatre in Los Angeles on February 18.
LA TIMES: Prove humans are worth salvation? In ‘Liana and Ben,’ that’s not so easy
EVE 2
Everything the Old Testament doesn’t want you to see!
EVE 2 is a sensual, surreal dream of a play that takes on the story of Eve and Adam. Only this time, they both work at a hospital morgue that has lost power in a massive electrical outage. Strangely, the loss of power coincides with Time and Space colliding, and in this brief moment, All Things Are Possible. Eve and Adam realize who they really are, and Eve (though terrifying punishment surrounds her at every step), becomes determined to change the end of her story as told in the Bible. Genesis was never like this! What if Eve had been allowed to eat from the Tree of Knowledge? Wouldn’t we all really be better off?
The World Premiere of EVE 2 ran at Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles August 10 through September 8, 2013.
LA WEEKLY: Susan Rubin’s New Play eve2 Is Like Eden Meets The X-Files
BITCH, ABOVE THE LINE, & THE STRANGE STORY OF SELENA
The three plays in this trilogy paint a penetrating and disturbing picture of our current culture: From corporate greed to family dysfunction – from well-meaning racism to questions of social identity.
LA TIMES: “Wit…imagination…fantastic….”
BACKSTAGE WEST: “The production is enormously seductive…”
LA WEEKLY: “Susan Rubin’s dark comedy abandons logic, probability and common sense to provide a zany roller-coaster ride combining voodoo, kinky sex, weapons of mass destruction, sibling rivalry and Washington intrigues.”
STAGESCENELA.COM: “Ever wonder what happens in the high-rise Hollywood offices and private Beverly Hills bedrooms where movie deals are made? Well, wonder no more because playwright Susan Rubin takes you there in her hilariously biting new satire Above The Line, now getting a spiffy world premiere production at the Bootleg Theatre.” (“Best Production/Comedy”)
THOMAS HAMPTOM REVIEWS: “A rollicking good time.”
IMMORTALITY
Michael Kostroff was nominated for an Ovation Award for his role as MICHAEL
LA WEEKLY: “Rubin’s story, which is loosely adapted from Simone de Beauvoir’s novel All Men Are Mortal, begins and ends during rehearsals for a Broadway musical called Blood Rites. This fictional production is no Cats, however, but a special-effects extravaganza that examines humanity’s appetite for destruction — a violent yet politically airbrushed history lesson about great moments of conquest, slavery and slaughter.”
LA WEEKLY: “A highly original play of ideas… an intriguing parable about the state of theater, human nature and our perception of history… a truly original work that deserves attention.”
CLUB TERMINA
LA TIMES: “Arresting and moving…a bizarre olio of comedy, camp and wrenching emotionalism.”
LA WEEKLY: “Funny and moving!”
DRAMA-LOGUE: “Utterly charming and enchanting…”
THE DAILY NEWS: “Diagnosis: laughter…risque musical vignettes and a double shot of black comedy!”
BACKSTAGE WEST: Critic’s Pick
THE TRIAL OF PERSEPHONE
The Greek gods now live in Manhattan, and Hades is Lord of Wall Street. A play fore-shadowing the OWS movement, by cleverly placing Zeus, Hera, Demeter, Hermes, Hades and Persephone in current day New York City. And then letting all Hell break loose.
The Trial of Persephone was work-shopped at New York Theatre Workshop, directed by David Schweizer, music by David O. It was directed by Anne Bogart in a workshop at The Road Theater, and Los Angeles Theatre Center, music by Steven Argila.
LIFE & DEATH: THE VAUDVILLE SHOW
Life and Death go up against each other in this dark but humorous musical show that toured Cuba with the IETC bank after a successful run at LATC.
MYSTERIES IN A SILVER BOX
A family unravels it’s long held secrets when “Mother” disappears on her 75th birthday, and we find out that she has gone to spend time with “Father” – who died ten years ago.
LA MAGAZINE named Mysteries in A Silver Box one of the TEN BEST THINGS TO SEE IN LA.
Susan Rubin 