what we do
theatre dybbuk creates provocative performances and innovative educational encounters that explore Jewish thought to illuminate universal human experience.
We envision a world where people challenge themselves to revel in the complexity of our shared humanity.
who we are
Founded in 2011 and led by Artistic Director Aaron Henne, theatre dybbuk is comprised of a group of theatre artists, scholars, and nonprofit leaders. Meet the artists and staff on our people page.
where we create
While we've presented our work in communities across North America, we make it in our home city of Los Angeles, California. We gratefully acknowledge the Chumash and Tongva (Gabrielino) peoples, on whose ancestral homelands we create and develop our work, as well as the diverse and vibrant Native communities who make Los Angeles their home today. We’d also like to acknowledge that no community in the United States exists separately from the complicated reality of our country's history of colonialism, slavery, and exploited labor.
our process
All of our projects, which are conceived by Aaron Henne and developed with our artists, are created through a process which takes up to three years. These productions incorporate lyrical language, stylized movement and visceral metaphors to create expressionistic, singularly theatrical experiences. You can learn more about our process on our in development page.
exagoge rehearsal – photo by Taso Papadakis
beginnings
Founded in 2011, theatre dybbuk's inaugural production, cave…a dance for lilith (co-produced with LA Contemporary Dance Company), opened on November 9, 2012 at Diavolo in The Brewery Art Colony.
You can find a list of all of our past productions (as well as upcoming ones) on our projects page.
cave...a dance for lilith – photo by Taso Papadakis
our programs
theatre dybbuk has become a prominent provider of arts-based leadership training and community engagement events to non-profits, community organizations, and schools both directly and through conferences throughout North America. You can learn more about these offerings as well as our workshops for artists on our programs page.
Artistic Director Aaron Henne leading a workshop at the Jewish Futures Arts + Culture Salon in Toronto – photo by Shay Markowitz
equity, diversity, and inclusion
theatre dybbuk believes that the creation of impactful artistic work includes collaborators from diverse backgrounds and experiences, who together form a community which encourages experimentation, innovation, and deep investigation.
theatre dybbuk is committed to:
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developing and presenting work, inspired by Jewish cultural perspectives and experiences, that is informed by the power of the diverse voices in our community of artists. This work explores issues connected to identity, belonging, and power in our world throughout history and today.
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engaging in an ensemble development process that employs artists from a wide range of backgrounds and with intersecting identities. The resulting productions are intended to reflect this multiplicity in their interests and explorations.
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consistently offering a portion of our work for no- or low-cost to the public. This allows for access to high-quality, challenging performances for people from a wide variety of economic situations.
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presenting work in partnership with other institutions, including museums, cultural organizations, and public initiatives. This creates opportunities for us to lead and co-lead from a space where inquiry meets collaboration, engaging a large cross section of community members.
watch, listen, and read more
Peruse an archive of articles about our work and interviews with and essays written by our artistic director.
Watch and listen to interviews with our artists and collaborators and short films that explore themes in our work.
contact
If you are interested in finding out more about how we work and opportunities for collaboration,
please email us at: info@theatredybbuk.org.
theatre dybbuk is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture.