Two Incredible Artists from "Redemption Song"

  Lynn Manning :: we are proud to have this award winning poet, playwright and actor in our lineup as one of the many incredible group of performers who will grace the stage during "Redemption Song."  Lynn is representing from the renowned Watts Village Theatre Company, where he serves as Artistic Director.

Lynn has had upwards of a dozen plays produced.  His autobiographical, solo play, WEIGHTS, received three NAACP Theater awards in 2001, including Best actor for Lynn.  He has since performed WEIGHTS from London to Off Broadway, and from Edinburgh to The Adelaide Fringe.

 

Lynn Co-Founded the Watts Village Theater Company in 1996 with the late actor and community activist, Quentin Drew.  The company develops and produces new plays of relevance to the underserved Afro-Latino communities of Watts and South Los Angeles.

He is also President of The Firehouse Theater Company—dedicated to including artists with disabilities in all aspects of the theatrical performing arts, in addition to being a World Champion of blind judo.

Eric Trules :: another powerful addition to "Redemption Song" is this acclaimed writer, performance poet, director, modern dancer, choreographer, clown, filmmaker and USC Professor.  Eric has been featured at Beyond Baroque and in the LA Poetry Festival, and he has had his work published in national anthologies and in The Los Angeles Times. He has also read his work on KCRW and KPFK radio and hosted "Theater Closeup" on KPFK. He was a Fulbright Scholar and Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award Winner.  He has produced 4 seasonal arts festivals in Los Angeles, including WORD/LA, AN ORAL RESPONSE TO THE RODNEY KING VIOLENCE in 1992, a 5 site, City-wide program in response to 1992's civil unrest, which was documented and broadcast on KCET.

As a filmmaker, he made the award winning documentary, THE POET AND THE CON, an autobiographical film about the relationship between himself and his uncle, a convicted felon and a career criminal.  Perhaps his most unique claim is having run for Mayor of NYC against Ed Koch in 1977 as the clown candidate, Gino Cumeezi, in which he finished 5th out of 4 candidates.