LOS ANGELES -- The Towne Street Theatre, one of L.A.'s leading African-American theatre companies, is mounting a free production of Ambiguity, a new play by Stan Sellars, as part of the NoHo 2000 Festival. The play will be performed Sunday, June 25 at 3.30 PM in The Players Space at 4934 Lankershim Blvd. To reserve seats call (213) 624-4796.

Dan Martin directs Wesley Thompson and John Marshall Jones in this satirical look at the African- American actor's dilemma in finding adequate representation during the TV pilot season.

Towne Street is on the move. The seven-year-old company was formerly housed in a downtown loft, but three months ago it gave up the premises and moved temporarily to the Raven Playhouse in North Hollywood. Said artistic director Nancy Cheryll Davis in a statement, "Our goal is to move closer to our target African-American community by building a new theatre in the Leimert Park (southern L.A.) section. We've found a large space there, but to turn it into a theatre will require raising about half a million dollars in funds, followed by six months of construction."

Presently Towne Street has 24 members, but Davis said the company hopes to double that number by next year. The company, she said, would also appreciate donations, which will help sponsor the second TST Musical Theatre Camp for children. The camp, sponsored in part by the Cultural Affairs Department of Los Angeles, is for children ages 7 to 17 and will take place Aug. 14-25 at St. Brigid Church, 5214 Western Ave.

"Most of the kids who attend are African-American," Davis said. "We had thirty kids come study theatre with us on scholarships last summer; that number has doubled in the new year. They will have two weeks of acting, singing and dancing classes culminating in a production. The camp is one of the few that serves the African-American community in southern California." -- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent