Award-Winning Play Series

 "A Big Plus for the decade came from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, whose funding of various companies at [Inside] the Ford has given us some of the richest programming of the seasons." -- Steven Leigh Morris, LA Weekly 'The Best of L.A. Theater in the '00s'

The [Inside] the Ford Winter winter play series kicked off with a bang in the Fall of 2008 with Song of Extinction by E.M. Lewis, presented by Moving Arts.  The play was recognized with a slate of prestigious awards including the 2008 Production of the Year Award from the LA Weekly; the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle's Ted Schmitt Award for World Premiere of an Outstanding New Play; and the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award, the largest national award for a new play.

The debut series continued to win accolades with Circle X Theatre Company's Battle Hymn by Jim Leonard, winner of two LA Weekly Theatre Awards and multiple nominations; and Ghost Road Company's ensemble-derived adaptation of Aeschylus' trilogy, The Oresteia,  the final offering of the season.

The 2009-10 [Inside] the Ford's stellar second season continued to bring exciting new work to Los Angeles audiences with  the award-winning  world premiere of Tree by Julie Hébert, presented by Ensemble Studio Theatre - LA; The SpyAnts' Los Angeles premiere of Charles L. Mee's homage to the visionary artist Robert Rauschenberg - bobrauschenbergamerica and the debut production of Lascivious Something by Sheila Callaghan (The United States of Tara), presented by Circle X Theatre Company.

The third season of plays at [Inside] the Ford matched the first two without missing a beat. Hyperbole: Origins, by Rogue Artists Ensemble, was nominated for the LA Weekly Award for the 2010 Production of the Year, the third year in a row for a play in the series to be nominated for this award. Hyperbole was also nominated for the LA Weekly Award for Best Production Design and Best Sound Design.

Rounding out the season were the Neo Ensemble Theatre production of Barbara Lindsay's light-hearted play, Free and Vs. Theatre Company's The Mercy Seat,  written by Neil LaBute and starring Michelle Clunie (Queer as Folk). Neil LaBute may be among the most polarizing figures in American theater, but Back Stage readers were united in their praise for "The Mercy Seat," awarding Clunie the award for Most Memorable Stage Performance.