{"id":304336,"date":"2026-05-07T14:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T14:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/304336\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T14:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T14:30:11","slug":"lbscs-new-works-festival-returns-press-telegram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/304336\/","title":{"rendered":"LBSC\u2019s New Works Festival returns \u2013 Press Telegram"},"content":{"rendered":"

New plays don\u2019t arrive fully formed, they\u2019re discovered and shaped on local stages.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the spirit behind the Long Beach Shakespeare Company\u2019s newly expanded New Works Festival, rolling out across three weekends in May, June, and September.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a rare invitation to watch stories in their early stages, before they become the productions everyone claims they \u201cwish they\u2019d seen first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kicking things off the weekend of May 15 are three sharply different works in tone, although each one digs into memory, identity, and history.<\/p>\n

Robert Weibezahl\u2019s \u201cHold On\u201d (on show May 15 at 8 p.m. and May 17 at 1 p.m.) unfolds during a high school reunion, but not where the action is supposed to be.<\/p>\n

Instead, in a quiet classroom down the hall, a chance encounter between a former rock star and the friend she barely remembers becomes a slow excavation of shared history.<\/p>\n

Memory takes a more technological and unsettling turn in Michael J. M. Ca\u00f1as\u2019 \u201cA Wire In Mind\u201d (on show May 16 at 2 p.m. and May 17 at 8 p.m.). As a family grapples with a father\u2019s decline into Alzheimer\u2019s, their daughter attempts to preserve him through a home surveillance system.<\/p>\n

But when documentation becomes manipulation, the line between care and control blurs.<\/p>\n

Finally, in Darren Andrew Nash\u2019s \u201cLudlow Massacre\u201d (on show May 16 at 8 p.m. and May 17 at 4 p.m.), history itself becomes the battleground when a reporter gets entangled in one of America\u2019s most violent labor conflicts.<\/p>\n

For tickets to these three new plays on offer next weekend, head to lbshakespeare.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Crafting<\/p>\n

Drop in for an afternoon of \u201cCool Crafts\u201d at Rancho Los Alamitos on Thursday, May 14, from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.<\/p>\n

Free and open to all ages, the program invites participants to listen to stories, explore their surroundings, and turn this inspiration into something tangible.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Rancho Los Alamitos entrance, looking west along East Bixby Hill Road. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Grunion\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 1<\/p>\n

The Rancho Los Alamitos entrance, looking west along East Bixby Hill Road. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Grunion\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Each session of crafts at Rancho Los Alamitos draws from the natural and cultural environment of the Rancho, with hands-on projects that change month to month.<\/p>\n

For example, one visit might center on local plants or wildlife, another on the layered history of the land itself.<\/p>\n

No reservations needed for \u201cCool Crafts.\u201d Head to rancholosalamitos.org<\/a> for directions and for information on other upcoming events.<\/p>\n

Bamboo Club<\/p>\n

If your ideal summer afternoon involves live music, a drink in hand, and the hum of a grooving crowd, this one\u2019s built for you.<\/p>\n

The Bamboo Club will kick off its seasonal outdoor series with \u201cLive at the Bamboo Club\u201d next Saturday, May 16, turning its space into an open-air stage from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.<\/p>\n

The series will run every third Saturday through September, but this first lineup sets the tone with a mix of surfy, psychedelic, and garage sounds.<\/p>\n

Leading the bill are Healing Gems, known for their hazy grooves that feel tailor-made for golden hour. They\u2019re joined by Witch Crimes, bringing a sharper, energetic edge, alongside Los Pakalolos, whose sound blends vintage surf with Latin rhythms.<\/p>\n

Rounding out the show is King Flamingo, adding their own spin to the summer day\u2019s mix.<\/p>\n

Between sets, DJs will keep things moving with vinyl selections.<\/p>\n

Doors open at 2 p.m., with tickets priced at $15 in advance. For tickets, go to bambooclublb.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New plays don\u2019t arrive fully formed, they\u2019re discovered and shaped on local stages. That\u2019s the spirit behind the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,3737,3739,131,133,132,137,3738],"class_list":["post-304336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-california","tag-grunion-arts","tag-grunion-news","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-the-grunion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}