Kirsten Kollender, Shawn Savage, Greg Bryan and Kacey Camp in "Dolly West's Kitchen"

A screaming ice-blue banshee hovers over the entrance, but inside Burbank’s 60-seat Theatre Banshee things are cozy and warm. After 17 years producing theater in this corner store-front, co-artistic director Leslie Baldwin could very well be leading me into her living room instead of her theater.

Theatre Banshee’s 2010 – 2011 Season (War, The Field, The Crucible and The Walworth Farce) has been nominated for the Ovation Award for best season. No small feat for this steadily producing company that generates work three times a year without a single full-time staff member and a non-dues paying membership company making everything happen.

McKerrin Kelly, Banshee company member and director of the current Dolly West’s Kitchen by Frank McGuinness, joins us for a conversation on set designer Dan Conroy’s carefully detailed playing space—an interior kitchen where stained wood dominates and evokes a WWII-era Ireland.

Building a Season

Leslie Baldwin

“We call them car-drive-home plays,” explains Baldwin regarding Banshee’s selection of material over the years. She continues, “The kind of plays that are going to make for the conversations in the car drive home.”

The “we” she refers to includes her husband and co-artistic director, Sean Branney, who is currently making the rounds of European festivals with his first feature film, The Whisperer in Darkness, and keeping up with theater business from afar.

It was just Baldwin and Branney in 1994 when Banshee started, and the two are still heavily involved in all aspects of the company, both weighing in on producing responsibilities and management, with Branney often directing.

As well as managing much of Banshee’s day-to-day operations, Baldwin is a school teacher and mother of a teenage son. Wearing a jazzy, hip dress and funky boots, it’s easy to imagine Baldwin as every kid’s favorite teacher but also as a disciplinarian who gets things done and makes everyone play fair. You just know she’s “the cool mom.” These are likely convenient qualities for handling the diverse situations and personalities one comes across producing small theater.

The Banshee company website describes a banshee—as represented in Irish folklore— as representing a duality of nature. At once a beautiful young woman, then again a withered crone, this contrast is often reflected in the spirit of the Banshee brand and the company’s decision-making process for selecting plays. The poker hand of producing at Banshee usually involves at least one “sure thing” balanced by one or two “wild cards.”

“We really try to anchor the season with our middle slot,” Baldwin elaborates. This “anchoring” or money-making play, often with name recognition or an educational tie-in, allows Banshee to take more risks with other pieces in the season, such as trying lesser-known plays or plays rarely produced.

Dolly West’s Kitchen

McKerrin Kelly

Dolly West’s Kitchen, which just opened last weekend, exemplifies this producing strategy. A company member since 2003, Kelly was first told about the lesser produced McGuinness play by a Banshee patron. She confirms the importance of an “open-door policy” for suggesting plays as a key strategy for producers Baldwin and Branney.

“Why be in a company if you [don’t] have a say in the material,” exclaims Baldwin. “That’s not a recipe for success.” Kelly’s proposal for Dolly was selected for production and an open-audition process filled in roles unable to be served by company members. As Baldwin and Kelly re-tell the producing story, finishing each other’s sentences, noting ironies and mishaps, the communion between director and producer is clear.

Kelly, a seasoned actress and former member of several theater companies over the years, seems to have found her home with Banshee. Her classic beauty, keen choice of words and gentle demeanor give one good reason to lean forward and hear what she might say next.

“It’s nice to find a play with really strong female characters,” remarks Kelly, explaining how reading Dolly prompted her to present it for a slot in the Banshee season. “Not that the Irish canon doesn’t…but often, it is very male heavy.” Kelly has appeared in several of Banshee’s trademark Irish plays since joining the company, directing two previous Banshee productions.

Dolly‘s premiere was at Ireland’s Abbey Theatre in 2000. It tells the story of British and American soldiers gathered in a family dwelling in Ireland in the ’40s. Described as a “humorous drama of loves during wartime,” the play also broaches attitudes toward patriotism, loyalty and family.

Brett Mack, Martin Doordan, Greg Bryan, Kirsten Kollender and Natalie Hope MacMillan in "Dolly West's Kitchen"

Kelly continues describing additional challenging ideas presented in Dolly that one would not expect from the WWII-era storyline or the geographic location, particularly the struggles of homosexuality in the armed forces long before Proposition 8 or Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Weaving so much history into storytelling can be a tall order.

“I try to do as much research beforehand as possible,” says Kelly, “to provide a pretty clear sandbox for the actors to play in.” The cultural richness of the material resulted in the cast of nine joining Kelly in exploring all facets of the time period, the subject matter and the Irish landscape of the time. Kelly lauds the efforts of her cast in bringing as much detail as possible to the world of the play.

Growing audiences

The true mark of success for many 99-Seat Plan theaters in Los Angeles is moving toward a subscription base of patrons that exceeds the basic “friends and family” of the production. Theatre Banshee has seen this steady growth in its own audience base.

“I get so excited when I see our repeat patrons,” Baldwin reflects, admitting to often perusing the Goldstar feedback comments about the Banshee experience and their productions. “I love to know what people off the street have to say about us. It’s important.”

Shawn Savage and Kirsten Kollender

For southeast Valley residents, the Banshee isn’t far from home, but Baldwin says most south-of-the-hill skeptics are won over quickly after making just one drive to Burbank to see a show at Theatre Banshee.

“Ample. Free. Parking,” she explains, referring to Burbank’s nearby streets, plus the fact that most of the area’s businesses are not open before Banshee curtain times.  She grins. Then there are also the well-maintained professional theater space, outstanding brownies for sale during intermission, and productions that have garnered multiple theater awards, stellar reviews and accolades from publications such as the Los Angeles Times (“A sterling ensemble achievement, alternately scalding and magical in its theatricality”) and Variety (“the consistently superb quality of this company’s work.”)

“If you want to see theater in Los Angeles,” continues Kelly, who lives in Hollywood, “You are going to have to get in your car and drive. And if you aren’t willing to do that, you are going to miss out on spectacular theater.”

As Dolly continues its run through December 4, the company will find out November 14 if its Ovation nomination for best season will result in an award. “Ovations are the best way for other artists in LA to see what’s happening in our theater community,” Baldwin says of the awards.

Regardless of awards, Baldwin and Branney expect to continue their mission of delivering outstanding professional productions.  So those who park without paying and enjoy a Banshee brownie should also expect a lively conversation on the way home.

Dolly West’s Kitchen, presented by Theatre Banshee. Opens October 29. Plays Fri.-Sat. 8 pm; Sun. 2 pm. Through December 4. Tickets: $20; student/senior $15. The Banshee, 3435 W. Magnolia, Burbank. www.theatrebanshee.org. 818-846-5323.

***All Dolly West’s Kitchen production photos by Donald Agnelli