NNPN in Los Angeles: The Fountain Theatre & IAMA Theatre Company

Jun 18

NNPN’s national impact is made possible by the extraordinary Member Theaters bringing bold, adventurous new work to communities across the country. Throughout this campaign, we’ll be spotlighting Member Theaters from our hub cities to celebrate the incredible diversity of theaters, audiences, and stories that make up our network.

Through June 30, 2026, all gifts will be matched up to $20,000 thanks to the generosity of NNPN founder David Goldman and Carol Dweck - extending the reach of every contribution in support of new plays and the theaters that champion them.

This week, we’re excited to feature two Los Angeles based Members: The Fountain Theatre (Core) & IAMA Theatre Company (Associate).

Donate & Join the Match!

Tell us a little about your theater and your role in the local arts community.

Fountain: The Fountain Theatre celebrates and amplifies the diversity of Los Angeles through our mainstage productions and community centered Impact and Engagement programming. For 35 years The Fountain Theatre has been a leader in presenting new plays, reimagined classics, along with world-class music and dance programming.

IAMA: IAMA Theatre Company is an award-winning, Los Angeles-based ensemble of artists committed to cultivating new voices, creating new works that push boundaries and take risks, and building an inclusive community that inspires and supports a new generation of theatre-makers and audiences.

What makes the theater scene in your city or region unique?

Fountain: The diversity of Los Angeles and geographic size of our city make our theatre scene incredibly unique. Los Angeles audiences and artists are supporting, developing, and producing work that responds to the unique geographic sprawl and clash of cultures that make our region like no other in the world.

IAMA: LA has a booming theatre scene, specific 99 seat theatre or "intimate theatre". It's an area that is very spread out so you can find a theatre company doing work pretty much in any part of greater Los Angeles. It's unique in the amount of theatre, more per capita than nyc. We're also unique because we have a robust new play development scene which affords lots of creative opportunities and world premieres.

How does your theater contribute to the development of new plays or playwrights in your area?

Fountain: The Fountain Theatre has been a leader in developing and presenting new work from playwrights of our region and from around the world! These writers have vested interest in socially conscious theatre. From our Founding Artistic Director Stephen Sachs to Athol Fugard, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Ifa Bayeze, and most recently Jiehae Park, Audrey Cefaly, and Beth Kander – The Fountain Theatre creates space for playwrights to create cutting edge human centered work that challenges audiences to expand both their understanding and willingness to change.

IAMA: IAMA has a few development pipelines that offer some great opportunities for new plays/playwrights: Commissions like our Shonda Rhimes Unsung Voices Playwrighting Commission, New Works Fest, Emerging Playwrights Lab, along with several internal workshops, readings, dramaturgical sessions throughout each season.

How has being part of NNPN influenced your theater’s work or approach to new play development?

Fountain: The Fountain Theatre was a part of NNPN’s early days. Our relationship with NNPN has always been foundational to our unique process of presenting and producing new plays. Our connection to other organizations, artists, and producers around the country who have a shared understanding of why new work is important to the ecology of theatre and our communities has been a vital inspiration to the work we produce.

IAMA: It's given us access to other theaters who champion new plays and playwrights. We get to develop stronger relationships, share plays we are excited about and even potentially roll out a world premiere together.

Have you collaborated with other theaters or artists in your region through NNPN? If so, what has that experience been like?

Fountain: The Fountain Theatre has a long history of collaborating with other NNPN theatres in our region including dynamic partnerships with companies like East West Players, Skylight Theatre, and soon Native Voices. These collaborations have taught us deeply about our organizational values, producing model, improved our programming, and have directly expanded our audience and reach.

IAMA: Yes, and it's been great getting a chance to work with other companies, resource share and most importantly, support wonderful artists along the way.

What is one NNPN-supported project, production, or collaboration that best represents your theater’s impact in your region?

Fountain: This spring The Fountain Theatre is partnering with IAMA Theatre to develop Cannabis Passover an immersive play that is set at a Passover seder by Sofya Levitsky-Weitz. The Venturous Production Pipeline program is creating the space for our playwright to develop the immersive components of the production while also giving our two organizations a multi-year opportunity to practice collaborative producing of immersive theatre. This type of project exemplifies who The Fountain Theatre is – constantly innovating and creating impactful experiences for our artists and audiences alike.

How does being part of a national network like NNPN strengthen the work happening locally?

Fountain: Being a part of NNPN strengthens what we do locally because it puts the work we’re developing in conversation with artists and communities around the country. We see firsthand as we’re developing and producing new-work the value of being in community with other likeminded creators. We never have to feel alone. The work we’re making is always in conversation with both our community and the rest of America because of the network.

IAMA: It allows us to connect to a more centralized hub with community members, institutions and artists alike.

What excites you most about the future of new plays in your city or region?

Fountain: Our team at The Fountain are excited about all the new work being developed throughout our region. Companies of all sizes in our city are redefining how work is produced, presented, and who that work is for. Because our region contains such diverse creators, we’re seeing new and innovative ideas being explored in the landscape of new plays. Writers are making work and telling stories unique to our city/communities and responding to what makes Los Angeles unique

IAMA: What excites me most is continuing to develop strong new plays and voices -- seeing stories that could only have been birthed in our wonderful city.

If you could share one message about your theater and your region’s creative community with NNPN supporters and donors, what would it be?

Fountain: Los Angeles isn’t often first thought of as a “theatre city,” but theatres like The Fountain continue to redefine new play development and production by rooting our community in the fundamental importance of what theatre can be: a gathering space where we more deeply learn to see and support one another.

IAMA: IAMA Theatre is a place where playwrights are prioritized. We love supporting playwrights and really value process over product.

The Fountain Theatre