The Hothouse

History

The theatre first opened its doors in 2004 and took up residence in the NOHO Arts District of North Hollywood, CA. Founding Artistic Director John Thies transformed a storefront on Lankershim Blvd. into the 50-seat black box theatre that would serve as the company's first training center and performance space. Lana Buss joined as Managing Director and in the Fall of 2005, the two became partners. Together, they created a unique, improvisation-basd actor training program and continued developing their new form of improvised performance known as spontaneous theatre. In the summer of 2010, they closed the NoHo space to search for a larger venue and create a fresh artistic direction for the emerging company of resident players. The company took a brief hiatus from performing and the Training Center was moved to a temporary space on Hollywood 's Theatre Row. In early 2012, they opened a new teaching and performance venue in theSilverlake area of LA, where the company resides today.