Tina Howe's Obie Award-winning Painting Churches will open March 18 at Theatre 40 in Los Angeles for a five week run. Howe copped her Obie back in 1979 when Painting Churches was produced Off-Broadway. Anita Khanzadian directs the Theatre 40 production, which ends April 30.

Howe's play looks at a young painter on the verge of success who returns home to look after her aging parents -- and to paint their portrait. Her father is a world-famous poet now slipping into senility, her mother an eccentric, no-nonsense lady filled with odd ideas. As Margaret paints them, truths and memories are bared, leading to important epiphanies.

Howe was born in New York City and grew up close to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she learned that "art was to be enjoyed, not revered," she said. Her own mother was a painter, her father a radio broadcaster and author. Her other plays include Pride's Crossing, The Nest, Museum, The Art of Dining and Approaching Zanzibar.

Theatre 40 is located at 241 Moreno Drive in Beverly Hills. For tickets and information call (323) 936-5842.

-- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent