And Shonda Rhimes has kept their dream alive as IAMAs patron of the arts.
It gave us such purpose, says Lowes.
Being able to hold down a waiting gig, but also get through a tech week.
Credit: IAMA Theatre
We loved producing and feeling that purpose amongst our soul-sucking day job.
We shared a common language of acting that cant really be taught, adds Black.
We all came from the same place, so wed get up on stage together and it was magic.
IAMA Theatre
In a separate conversation, Headland describes IAMA as a life raft early in her career as a writer.
They helped me survive, she recalls.
I met them at a time in my life when it was so scary.
IAMA Theatre
Youre 26 or 27, youre just so terrified.
Once I hooked up with them, it was like being hooked up to an IV.
I felt like I was finally being fed in an artistic way.
IAMA Theatre
I had to start actually doing it, not just watching films and writing in a vacuum.
I had to start making mistakes.
We refer to the immediacy of production, Black says.
I got the opportunity to really fail.
They were not afraid at all, she says.
Nobody went, Thats a bad idea, or, Thats impossible.
Ultimately, they staged four the first year.
Headland was inundated with opportunities outside IAMA, and the company actively sought to produce other playwrights.
They remained in touch, always intending to finish the cycle eventually.
For Headland, it was partly a question of nailing down why pride was a sin.
How is it a bad thing?
It was the first one that didnt have an obvious connotation that jumped out at me.
Especially as somebody who identifies as queer, it has a positive connotation in my vernacular.
For Headland, the process of writing the play was a clarifying one.
It really is what IAMA stands for, Lowes says of the play.
There are a lot of social issues in the play.
Its a true ensemble play.
Its a new play.
For all those reasons, I love it.
The theme of this series has always been, Is morality actually relative?
I wanted to hit that weird moral-funny-bone feeling.
I think it just spoke to them personally as something that also encompassed them in a way.
Those values and that familial approach are something IAMA shares with its greatest benefactor, television multihyphenate Shonda Rhimes.
We feel a great responsibility to storytelling here in our theater.
Shes given us the ability to make this a reality for the next 10 years, Lowes says.
What do the IAMA team see themselves doing with the next decade?
Their ambitions and optimism are boundless.
We believe that L.A. is the next great theater town.
you’ve got the option to afford to take more risks here, she says.
Theres a misconception that L.A. theater is terrible or non-existent, and IAMA is working daily to change that.
I hope were sitting here in 10 years and L.A. has an amazing reputation for regional theater.
Building on their relationship with Headland, they want to become a space that fosters multihyphenated artists.
Perhaps the craziest dream of all?
That dream, it turns out, is also on Headlands to-do list.
Given what theyve accomplished in the last decade together, we wouldnt bet against it.
