Celebrating Luna Stage Theater
On Ari Laura Krieth’s first day as Luna Stage’s Artistic Director, HANDS Founder, Pat Morrissy, gave her a tour of Orange, a community whose stories were underrepresented in the arts and on stages. “The Valley is really extraordinary because it's a crossroads of so many different communities and cultures. Luna Stage is committed to elevating, uplifting, and celebrating the stories of Orange. This commitment is foundational for why Luna moved to the Valley—to center and provide access to neighborhood stories.” Ari shares.
In addition to the work Luna is officially producing and developing, they also provide opportunities for artists who would not otherwise have access to professional theater space. Thanks in part to a grant from Valley National Bank, artists from the neighborhood receive free rehearsal and performance space. Luna Stage provides storytelling scaffolding from kindergarten on up. Their teen conservatory is the only pay-what-you-choose acting conservatory in a professional theater. This unique approach provides teenagers with opportunities to develop as artists, offering a refreshing alternative to the elitism often present in the education system related to theater. They also have solo show creation workshops for adults, rounding out a multitude of ways of inviting people to tell their stories.
Turron Kofi Alleyne, an ongoing Luna Stage collaborator, colleague, and friend who spent his entire life in Orange shared that he learned more about his community through his work at Luna than he did through a lifetime of being a resident, and that his sense of both community history and community pride were enriched by his work at Luna Stage. This sentiment highlights the impact of Luna Stage’s work in the neighborhood and their commitment to amplifying community stories.
“When I first got to Luna I was working with an actor who grew up a block from the theater,” Ari shared, “and he said if the theater had been here when he was a kid, it never would have occurred to him to walk through the door.”
That comment sparked a commitment to make Luna Stage as accessible as possible by moving shows outdoors, bringing projects to schools, and creating events in inviting spaces that feel less like an exclusive theater and more like a neighborhood get-together.
“In this moment where our world is so divided, theater has the potential to create spaces where people come together and try on a perspective that is different from their own, coming out potentially less polarized and less isolated. How do we build those bridges and move into those spaces of listening and understanding and collaborative change-making?” This is the question Luna Stage attempts to answer with their neighborhood programs, as well as their upcoming show RIFT or White Lies, premiering February 8th - March 3rd.
Luna Stage invites people to acknowledge: it's important how you talk to the person sitting next to you in the theater; it's important to have a conversation with your neighbor who you think you might absolutely disagree with and with the family member who you think there's no possibility of their understanding who you are or why you believe the things you do.
Ari and Luna Stage are asking us to consider, “What does it mean if you can walk out of the theater and say, I'm going to try to connect with somebody differently? Maybe I can shift my little corner if I run for political office in my town, if I can be a part of the PTA, if I can support my neighborhood block party… What happens if we all take more responsibility in whatever way we can?”
Thank you, Ari and Luna Stage Theater for all you do for our community!
