For Immediate Release:                                                                                                                                                        June 1, 2017

Tilted Field, in Association with VS. Theatre Company,
Presents the World Premiere of Giovanni Adams’
Love is a Dirty Word
Solo Performance by Adams, Directed by Becca Wolff
At VS. Theatre in Los Angeles
Opening Night: Saturday, June 17, 2017
Performance Run: June 16 – July 15

LOS ANGELES, CA: Tilted Field, in association with VS. Theatre Company, is proud to present the world premiere of Giovanni Adams’ new play Love is a Dirty Word, opening in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 17th at 8:00pm. The solo work, performed by Adams, with musical accompaniment by Arturo Lopez, is about a young man finding redemption when he is deemed too dirty to love. This autobiographical piece is rooted in Mr. Adams’ experience as a black, queer, Christian man crossing lines of identity, affinity and ideology. Love is a Dirty Word was developed and directed by Becca Wolff (No Static at All, Outstanding Solo Show, 2015 NY Fringe Festival). The play will run through Saturday, July 15, 2017 at VS. Theatre on Pico. For more information please visit http://vstheatre.org and https://www.facebook.com/events/835544223260279.

The story begins and ends in Adams’ hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. The songs are originals by Mr. Adams and arranged by Mr. Lopez. Designers include Melissa Trn (costumes) and Rachel Myers (set). The 80-minute show will run Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8:00pm at VS. Theatre, which is located at 5453 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90019. The first show on Friday, June 16th is a preview performance. Opening Night is set for Saturday, June 17th. Tickets are $30 each and available by calling the box office at 323-739-4411 or online by visiting Brown Paper Tickets at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2951780.

CAST & CREW:
• Written/Performed by Giovanni Adams
• Directed by Becca Wolff
• Songs Written by Giovanni Adams
• Musical Accompaniment by Arturo Lopez
• Costume Design by Melissa Trn
• Scenic Design by Rachel Myers
• Lighting Design by Derrick McDaniel
• Stage Manager – Niki Armato
• Producers – Becca Wolff & Giovanni Adams
• Associate Producer – Tommy Dunn

Adams and Wolff began developing the show in the summer of 2015 when “…the perceived abject otherness of blackness was being made visible in the most horrific fashion. The spectacle of black death gone viral was a wake up call and a reminder that to be born black in America is to live with a heightened awareness of your out-of-placeness,” says Adams. “Safety can be real hard to find. This got me thinking about my own complex relationship to love and home. Is there such a thing as being too different — too dirty to love? That’s the seed of the story that we’re trying to tell. This story is a meditation of my childhood memories in Mississippi, accompanied with music and images. It traces my journey back home to reconnect with the little boy buried on the inside of me…a liberating act of love.”

ABOUT:
GIOVANNI ADAMS (Artist) recently played Neil in Donald Margulies’ The Model Apartment at Geffen Playhouse and Frederick Douglass in Mount Misery at Cutting Ball Theater in San Francisco. He was in the world premiere of Kemp Power’s One Night in Miami (Rogue Machine Theatre, LA Drama Critics Circle Award and NAACP Theatre Award for best ensemble) and Sunny Afternoon (Gangbusters Theatre Company). He has participated in the Pacific Playwrights Festival, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and the Writer’s Workshop Retreat at Center Theatre Group to develop new works. His other stage credits include The Recommendation and Bela Lugosi’s Dead (IAMA Theatre Company), and Miss Julie and King Lear (Yale Repertory Theatre). His film and television credits include Nina, Criminal Minds, Zach Stone is Gonna Be Famous, Grey’s Anatomy and Gary Unmarried. Adams was born in Jackson, Mississippi and received his BA from Yale University.

BECCA WOLFF (Director) is a California-based, cross-media director committed to developing new forms and attracting new audiences to the theater. She will direct the world premiere of Sinner’s Laundry at IAMA Theater Company this fall and Weightless at Z Space in San Francisco in March 2018. Los Angeles premieres have included The Last Days of Mary Stuart (world premiere, Son of Semele/Titled Field) and Sixty Miles to Silverlake (West Coast premiere, IAMA Theatre Company). Past work in NYC includes No Static at All (Tilted Field/NYC Fringe – world premiere, winner Outstanding Solo Performance) and Usher (NYC Fringe – world premiere, winner Outstanding Musical). She is the co-founder of SCOTUS Theater and Tilted Field (LA/NYC/SF), Artistic Director Emeritus IAMA Theatre Company (2014 Ovation award for Outstanding Ensemble, Intimate Theatre, Los Angeles), and was featured, along with her company, Titled Field, in the LA Weekly‘s “Best of LA” issue, 2013. Wolff has an MFA from Yale School of Drama, Directing. For more information, please visit http://beccawolff.net.

ARTURO LOPEZ (Guitarist/Arranger) is a touring/session guitarist and audio engineer based in LA. He earned his BA in Music Performance from Musicians Institute in 2014. Since then he has collaborated with artists such as JES, Kamasi Washington, Elis Paprika, Vanessa Rose, Anna Beatriz, Elaine Da Silva, and Jonina Aradottir, among others. He is currently in the process of writing and producing his debut EP.

TILTED FIELD is a theatrical lab for telling stories in bold new ways; we develop, create and produce these stories with the brave artists we’re committed to serving. Past productions include The Antigone Project (co-pro with Wilderness at the Getty Villa), The Last Days of Mary Stuart (Son of Semele) and No Static At All (NYC Fringe – world premiere, winner Outstanding Solo Performance). Tilted Field was named Best Rock Musical Theater Company in LA Weekly’s “Best of LA” issue in 2013. For more information, please visit https://tiltedfield.neocities.org.

VS. THEATRE COMPANY, a non-profit 501c(3) corporation, is a collection of passionate artists devoted to producing World, West Coast and Los Angeles Premieres by the best contemporary playwrights in America. Prior Vs. productions include works from John Patrick Shanley, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Adam Rapp, Itamar Moses, and Neil LaBute, among others. Vs. was founded in 2004 based on a shared passion for riveting stories and live performance in an intimate setting. Named “one of the top theatre companies of the last decade” by the LA Weekly, Vs. productions have won numerous theatre awards, enjoyed long, sold out runs and received widespread critical acclaim. On deck in 2018 will be the Off Broadway Premiere of Ron Klier’s Cops And Friends Of Cops. For more info, please visit http://www.vstheatre.org.

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For more information, photos, to schedule an interview, or request press accreditation, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.