THE MISSION
Zoo District is a theatre company driven by the collaborative spirit to unite artists from various disciplines to create daring and original work.

THE WORK
We seek to cross the boundaries between theatrical styles, dance, music, and visual art to transcend the expectations of what is possible in live performance.

THE NAME Zoo District is an area in Berlin featured in Bertolt Brecht’s DRUMS IN THE NIGHT.  It’s the seedy, downtrodden, low-rent section of town inhabited largely by artists and free thinkers and where revolution first eripts in Brecht’s play

THE HISTORY
Born in the Downtown Arts District of Los Angeles, Zoo District fuses a commitment to innovative theatre with the artistic integrity and passion found in this vital community.  Theatrical seasons will include original, premiere, and established works approached in a variety of provocative styles. Zoo District has received numerous Ovation, LA Weekly and Garland Awards.

AWARDS AND PRESS

LA TIMES REVIEW OF "THE DEFENDERS"

What fate supposedly befell Mrs. Peel's husband in "The Avengers"? What was Number Six's real name in "The Prisoner"? Was David McCallum's haircut in "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." really cool or just stupid-looking?

If you can definitively answer these questions, or just want to see a lot of fit performers in revealing outfits karate kick their way through a 90-minute spy spoof, "The Defenders" is for you.

Written, directed and choreographed by Brian Fretté, who also stars as turban-wearing, ninja-thrashing uber-spy St. John Smythe, "The Defenders" lovingly pays homage to those classic '60s espionage shows. Witty, disciplined and gorgeous to look at, "The Defenders," now at [Inside] the Ford, deserves a smart audience and long run.

After a number of top agents are killed in the field — one of them giving the audience a cellphone reminder and exit information before he expires — Smythe teams with counterspy Carrington Lovegrove (Christine Deaver) to stop the mayhem and keep the world safe for double entendres. Naturally, there's a secret formula, a missing scientist (Rainbow Underhill), and a beautiful, deadly villain (the formidable Kristi Schultz, working every abbreviated inch of Johnny Apollo's over-the-top costumes).

Like the TV shows on which "The Defenders" is based, the narrative here is only a series of story points on which Fretté and his Zoo District company demonstrate how deliciously they can pirouette across the deadpan aesthetics of '60s pop style.

The secret to "The Defenders' " elan is how deftly its elements work together: Katrina Coulourides' black-and-white, geometric set, Fretté's stylized choreography, Chad Habig's playful, elegant score. It's this overall kinetic and visual wit that makes "Defenders" such a silly, exhilarating pleasure.

“WITH RAW VITALITY… ZOO DISTRICT THEATRE BRINGS THE AMBITIOUS BACK TO.. DOWNTOWN LA”
LOS ANGELES TIMES

 “THE COURAGE AND DARING OF THIS COMPANY IS AWE INSPIRING” –
BACKSTAGE WEST

 “BOLD, GUTSY THEATRE. THE ALWAYS STYLISH, HIGHLY TALENTED TROUPE..ITS SHEER VITALITY IS INFECTIOUS.”
LA WEEKLY

 “A RISK TAKING COMPANY..SOME OF THE STRONGEST PERFORMANCES SEEN IN LOS ANGELES.ZOO DISTRICT PROVIDES MAGNIFICENT SETTINGS FOR ALL OF ITS PLAYS, CREATING MEMORABLE ENVIRONMENTS THAT TRANSCEND TRADITIONAL THEATRE SPACE.” 
BACKSTAGE WEST

 “THERE ARE COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS, AND THEN THERE ARE THE EFFORTS OF ZOO DISTRICT”
LOS ANGELES DOWNTOWN NEWS

STAFF (click photos to see bios)
Kristi Schultz, Artistic Director
Suzanne Curtis, Director of Development
Kevin Dulude, Marketing and Media

THE BOARD
Debbie Falb, President
John McCarthy
Yana Shukman

THE ARTISTS
Zoo District is an ensemble of artists who come together for provocative projects and bring their various talents to the group to benefit the good of the whole.

NET
Zoo District is also a proud member of the Network of Ensemble Theatres, a national organization dedicated to the support of ensemble theatre as a genre. Visit ensembletheaters.net

Ensemble Theatre Collective
We are a proud member of the ETC at [Inside] The Ford, a collaboration of the five member companies and Los Angeles County Arts Commission, with support from the Flintridge Foundation.