Meet actor/director/producer/activists Kimberly Atkinson and Amir Levi

Hi, Amir and Kim! After working with you last year — and on our upcoming show — I thought it would be cool to get to know more about you as creative humans. Thanks for taking time out of pre-production to chat!

So, tell me about We The People and the L.A. theatre scene.

Amir: It’s scrappy! You really have a community of artists here trying to find one another and being hungry for good and new art. I lived in NYC for several years, and the landscape here is a cleaner (literally) more artistically-fulfilling version of what the small theater scene in NYC used to be before gentrification killed every small theater company, along with the impossible demands of Actors Equity…which we’ve been trying to fight here. There are a lot of amazing companies here doing innovative work and it’s inviting and there’s always a play going on that you can go see, or a theater company looking for writers, etc. It’s just a matter of jumping in and getting involved.

We want to start a revolution. I co-produced an After Orlando night at Sacred Fools, and after that process and seeing all the new faces coming into our space, and people being hungry for relevant art and having their stories told… I felt that After Orlando needed to be just the beginning: There needed to be more done. We The People [WTP] has a goal to not only make sure we’re reaching out to different communities to see if our prompts will inspire them to write for us, but also to bring more diverse faces and voices to our theatre community.

I’m tired of seeing cis het white men be the only ones on stage or having their voices heard. Some theater companies have been great about working hard for representation…while some have not. We of course want to bring more diverse voices to our home base of Sacred Fools, but our eventual broader goal for We The People is that other theater companies throughout the country will start chapters there. We want dialogue and we want theater to make the impact it has the potential to make. We had the opportunity a couple of summers ago through Celebration theatre to teach teenagers through the LGBT Center. We worked with them to create their own We The People style show, and I think having more of those opportunities in giving blossoming and hurting voices more tools to express themselves could really have a ripple effect on their communities. I’m rambling here, but basically I want us to be a virus of revolutionary dialogue and art.

Kim: The landscape is varied and dense. There IS theater in LA—that’s not an oxymoron. The community is positive, supportive, proactive, determined, and extremely talented in my experience. I’ve performed all over the states but Sacred Fools has given me the most amazing opportunities to create, perform, produce, and administrate. It’s been my artistic home in many ways. And while much of my time is spent working with Sacred Fools I’ve been very fortunate to work with writers and artists from all over Los Angeles and the country, chiefly through WTP.

What inspires your individual creativity?

Amir: Pain? Ha. It varies. As a performer, I love roles I can sink my teeth into and that work me over completely physically and emotionally. I love shows where I am utterly exhausted at the end of them. I also love being a part of a great story. Really smart and captivating storytelling inspires me. I’m also completely taken with moments or scenes that I’ll watch where a performance is so nuanced and brimming, that it’ll give me goose bumps. I’ve been bingeing The Morning Show, and there are so many amazing moments and relationships on that show, AND it’s relevant, I feel like I’m learning so much I’ll be excited to unpack at some point.

Kim: The world around me. More specifically: Pain and love. Pretty much anything that makes me hurt or burst with joy. In 2015 I became mother to the most extraordinary being who happens to be female and mixed race, my daughter. Her presence in my life as a privileged white woman completely changed my perspective and consequently my artistic lens. As it should. So much of my life now is dedicated to trying to give voice to the underrepresented through arts and education. Personally, I’m a sensitive marshmallow who is drawn to dark stories—never met a paperback thriller I didn’t like and seriously have a ‘problem’ with true crime podcasts. I’ve been a professional actor for over 20 years so I’m somewhat geared to jump into story and feeling without pause. And as a theatre arts professor and acting coach, I find helping artists recreate the human condition and add the element of service to their artistic journey is infinitely challenging and indescribably inspiring and fulfilling. Currently I’m really motivated to help shift society’s presumptions and brainwashing regarding women over 40 propagated by pop culture. Go figure. Ugh. Don’t get me started.

These are pretty challenging times. Why do we need to be making art?

Amir: We need an outlet. Art brings people together and allows the frustrations and buzzings around in our head to be put in more tangible forms we can look at and experience together. Art touches people in ways that civilian (non art) interaction does not. In giving people chances to see themselves reflected on stage, on film, etc., we’re giving them an opportunity to process different possibilities or to finally see themselves reflected in a way they couldn’t fully express themselves.

It makes sure that the screaming going on within us is not into some void, and that we are not alone in this horrendous chaos.

How do you work within the limits of time, money, space etc., as producers?

Kim: Frantically. Our production schedule is pretty insane because each show is a curated selection of BRAND NEW, FRESH theatrical scripts based on a prompt we disseminated roughly a month before the show. Fortunately, our producing theater company and its members, Sacred Fools in Hollywood, are huge believers in WTP and what it not only does for the community at large, but what WTP has done for the company itself. We get new volunteers every season wanting to be of service and help us create each show. And we created WTP to be low cost so it wouldn’t have the same risks expensive ongoing productions face—ie cancellation, and, also, in the hopes that its manageable format and cost could eventually be carried on by other theater companies around the country and beyond.

It’s not easy to produce under budget and time constraints like ours, but the purpose isn’t production value related. It’s so much more than that. Artists get to use their talents for a great cause, audience get to donate and be provocatively entertained, and we all get to be part of a conversation that will hopefully bring about change. You can’t put a price on that.

One of our next steps is to create a WTP curriculum and a WTP HOW-TO to pitch to high schools, colleges, and other intimate theaters.

Amir: We are very fortunate that Sacred Fools donates its space, so we don’t have to worry about money. For the last couple of seasons we’ve had a donate-what-you-can model so that any and all proceeds go to the non-profit. This year we’re trying a suggested donation because people seem to value art more when they pay for it, even if it’s a tiny amount. All the actors who have participated know it’s for a fundraiser, so they are generous with their time, and it’s also one of the reasons we try to have as little rehearsals as possible. We value our actors and as working actors ourselves, we know time is limited. Based on the amount of time we can get in the space, we usually rehearse a piece for half-an-hour or an hour, and then do a cue to cue the night of, and there we go! AND in terms of deadlines, we work backwards from the show date. So x amount of days before the show are x amount of hours of rehearsals, which means that x amount of days beforehand we should be completely cast, and then before that plays picked, which means deadline is y and prompt goes out z.

Kim: My husband is an actor, writer, and goal setting coach. He is endless inspiration even when he doesn’t mean to be. And my daughter, while only 4, has an idea of mommy’s work—she understands I have ‘auditions’, ‘rehearsal’, ‘do shows’, have ‘students’ etc. Most importantly she sees me doing what I love and I know that will have a lasting effect.

What art knocked your socks off recently? Could be a play — Or an album, a movie, an exhibit, a novel, anything! — What made you connect with the art and the artist’s work?

Amir: Madonna – the Madame X album and tour. She’s always been my hero and an inspiration to me in the sense that she’s always trying something new and never ‘settling’ on what has worked for her in the past. Her work continues to stay relevant, and with this new album, she’s back in the activist/shock you into reality arena, making you pay attention to the disenfranchised and violence happening daily, as well as also finding a way to inspire you to action. I had the fortune of seeing this tour twice – once because I won the ticket lottery, and once because a friend gifted me floor seats.  There’s an amazing marriage/synchronicity between the amazing art and choreography and visuals you are experiencing, as well as the messages coming across. She pushes herself beyond her limits because she believes in what she’s doing and saying, and she does that because she takes in the world around her. I could go on for paragraphs and verses on how much she’s moved and inspired me, and continues to do so.

Kim: Billy Eillish is killing me right now!!!! Her music reminds me of the dark femininity I personally feel and write about.

What’s next on the horizon? Tell me about the performance that’s upcoming later this month. 

Kim: The January show will actually be our season opener. And for that reason we will be staging, with full tech and costume, some of our favorite pieces of the last two seasons. See, our shows are usually staged readings but we thought we’d take it up a notch with our first show of 2020. And we are benefitting an amazing organization called Integrated Schools.

Amir: For me, outside of WTP, I’m performing in a workshop of Cowboy Elektra at the Getty Villa with a theater company that I love playing with, and being an Associate Member of – Rogue Artists Ensemble.  After that… who knows *starts feverishly sweating at the thought of nothing past January*

As for this January show, it’s the kick-off to our 3rd season!!! So we’re doing something a little outside the usual format, in that we’ve picked pieces that we’ve already done that have really stayed with us, and are fully staging them, and the actors will be fully memorized! I wouldn’t call this a Best Of because  we’ve been moved by every piece we’ve picked for the last 2 seasons, but more of a… Holy Shit, this Piece is Still Relevant and Even More Relevant Today, kind of night. After that, we go back to the usual staged reading format. Only this season will be once a month instead of every other month, so get ready for those deadlines, folx!

Any advice for someone writing plays for your audience?

Kim: Don’t make Trump a character. We will not put his semblance on our stage. Otherwise, have fun and enjoy the ride.

Amir: Why now? How relevant is the play you wanna present? Also…even though you have a message, assume your audience is intelligent, and don’t hit them over the head with it. They’ll get it.

In Los Angeles?

Catch Foolish Thursdays: We the People
At 8:00pm Thursday January 23
At the Broadwater Theatre, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038, created, curated & directed by Kimberly Atkinson & Amir Levi

This theatre action is a curated staged reading series of new works theatrically exploring – sometimes loudly, sometimes quietly, and everything in between – the social and political concerns facing our country today. WE THE PEOPLE: Where artists and audiences come together to Resist, Persist, and Express It. To find hope, unity, and to take action. Every other month, artists will receive a prompt and a deadline. The 3-5 minute pieces will then be curated into a night of theatre. Tickets are donate-what-you-can, and all proceeds will go to a related non-profit.

Can’t get to L.A.? Read my play “Forcefully Denied” on New Play Exchange.

More about Amir & Kim:

Amir Levi is a non-binary performer and activist based in LA. TV: Fresh Off the Boat, Speechless, Brooklyn 99, New Girl, The Middle, Casual, Transparent, Game Shakers, 2 Broke Girls. LA theater credits include Miss Lilly Gets Boned (Rogue Machine Theatre), Come Back! (Sacred Fools/Hollywood Fringe), Wood Boy Dog Fish (Rogue Artists Ensemble & Garry Marshall Theatre), Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin (Rogue Artists Ensemble), Amir Levi: The Unforgiven (Rockwell Table & Stage), Old Man in a Big Car (Fanatic Salon, starring Paul Dooley, directed by Dan Castellaneta), Craftsman (Lightning Rod Theater), Something Truly Monstrous (the blank), Clown Bar (Pasadena Playhouse Red, White & Bluezz), The Behavior of Broadus (Sacred Fools & Burglars of Hamm), Absolutely Filthy (Sacred Fools), The Phantom Tollbooth (MainStreet Theatre), Robin Hood (South Coast Rep.), The Chrome Warrior (LyricHyperion), Male Matriarch (Long Beach Playhouse), Balm in Gilead (Coeurage), Four Clowns (South Coast Rep, etc.), Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Urban Theatre Movement). New York: Four Clowns (La MaMa), Male Matriarch (FringeNYC 2011), Te Busco (45Bleecker), Age of Pie (Atlantic Theater Conservatory), Turning (Working Man’s Clothes), several performances as a dancer with companies Ann & Alexx Make Dances, Philippa Kaye Company, and Amir’s company, The Poisonous Ladies. Film: Head-Tie, Courting Chaos, Special Needs. Amir is represented by Smith & Hervey/Grimes, and Debra Manners Talent. theamirlevi.com. IG: @theamirlevi. Twitter: @lunifiedmaggs. Facebook: facebook.com/theamirlevi