Season 2023-2024

In 2023-2024, LFL brings exciting programming to communities
from Kentucky to Guatemala!

Looking for Lilith has been creating innovative and thought-provoking productions for over 20 years. Known for their commitment to producing works that challenge and inspire audiences, the company has received critical acclaim for their productions exploring issues of gender, sexuality, racial and social justice, which they will continue to do in their 23rd season! At The Mex Theater at The Kentucky Center we will present a Staged Reading Series in November and premiere 2 LFL originals  – Lifecycle of a Blackberry in March and a revised full production of Defining Infinity in June. In addition, their dynamic educational and community outreach work continues to flourish, from the schools of Jefferson County to the cities and aldeas of Guatemala. By sharing unique stories and experiences through theatre, we can create a powerful ripple effect of empathy and understanding. Through this shared experience, we can build a stronger community rooted in trust, equity, and justice.

LFL is back on stage again, exploring new plays, Affrilachian
women’s experiences, and the gender & sexuality spectrums!

STAGED READING SERIES – The current theatre ecosystem is rich with new work from exciting feminist playwrights, and we are excited to bring the talent of our ensemble artists to the stage to share some of these works with you this Fall. Maggie Lou Rader's The Helpers is a compassionate and encouraging story that looks at the experience of Anne Frank and her family through the experiences of the friends that facilitated their hiding place. It is a tale of joy, hope, friendship, and resistance during one of history’s darkest moments. The second play, Michell Tyrene Johnson's The Green Book Wine Club Train Trip is such a perfect fit for Lilith's storytelling style. On a weekend trip with a group of women friends, Marie experiences a time travel adventure, learning from her ancestors' travels while on a journey of her own. Reviewer Jessie Salsbury says this “unique play honors family, friends, ancestry and the lives Black American women have built for themselves both in the 1940s and 2017.”

“We thought it would be fun to host staged readings of these plays in the crisp fall season,
inviting audiences to curl up with a blankie and a warm cup of cider,
provided by LFL, and lose themselves in the stories!”
-Co-Artistic Director Shannon Woolley Allison

LIFECYCLE OF A BLACKBERRY is a new LFL devised one woman show, starring Morgan Younge, honoring the stories of Black Appalachian women and girls. It uses as inspiration the books Blackberries, Blackberries, Birds of Opulence, and Perfect Black, written by Kentucky Poet Laureate Crystal E. Wilkinson, founding member of the Affrilachian Poet movement.  We know that by lifting up these voices, this play can fight stereotypes and reflect some of the most under-heard true stories of the Appalachian region. Along with the March 21-24 performances, there are plans for touring the play throughout Kentucky, and especially to Appalachia.

"It’s time to hear these stories, to learn about these women and the lives they’ve led.
The audience will go home with a better understanding of
family, love, and what it takes to keep going and to keep striving.”
– Morgan Younge, Head Playwright and Performer, Berea College alum

DEFINING INFINITY explores the infinite spectrums of gender identity and sexual orientation. Created by a team of queer artists and allies led by Trina Fischer, the 2017 workshop script is now being revised and expanded into a full-length version which follows a core group of close friends. Though the play does not shy away from experiences of trauma, it looks at them from the perspective of how we can come together with our queer found family members to heal from past pains and strengthen each other’s resolve in the face of current fears and dangers, and then choose to focus more on queer joy and queer community. It lifts up how we, like everyone else, can live, love, rejoice, and celebrate each other and ourselves. Performances will be June 6th-9th.

Along with our regular In-School Drama, After-School Drama, and Summer Drama, we will have the following programs this season:

Interactive Theatre to Resist Bullying touring programming at LFL uses Theatre of the Oppressed’s Forum Theatre techniques with audiences in grades K-12, and beyond. In our three age-specific offerings listed below, audience members participate to help the main character find solutions to their problems. Audiences are empowered to stop the action, talk about the problems, and explore strategies and solutions. In this way, they can safely think through and practice how to respond if they or someone they love is being bullied.

GirlSpeak/YouthSpeak encourages youth to "speak it their way". LFL artists guide them in devising a play using ideas, issues and themes the participants themselves choose to explore. At a time in their lives when few take them seriously, young people get the chance to articulate who they are and what is important to them, in a safe and trusting environment. Western Middle School for the Arts, Lassiter Middle School and Adelante Young Hispanic Achievers are already participating this season. This program is available as an in-school residency, after-school drama club or summer intensive.

“I often marvel at the simplicity and depth of this program. Watching what happens when young people
engage in the process of working together and sharing their perspectives through the arts
is humbling and powerful. One of the things I love about YouthSpeak/GirlSpeak
is that it creates an opportunity for profoundly deep impact on a small group of participants.”
-Co-Artistic Director Jennifer Thalman Kepler

Hip Hop Herc is a Hip Hop rap and dance battling version of the tale of Hercules, created by company member Morgan M. Younge. This one-week camp is designed for ages 9-14, to center and lift up the talents of young people of color in Louisville's west end and other historically underserved neighborhoods. During camp, students will have the opportunity to write, read, and rap, create dance battle scenes, and make masks and costumes for their characters, leading up to a culminating performance on Saturday, October 7th at the Fund for the Arts Stage at the St. James Art Fair.

Click here for a full listing of all available in-school programming.