[Courtesy of Boston Court Pasadena]
The production represents an unusual collaboration: three Los Angeles theatre companies—Boston Court Pasadena, Circle X Theatre Co., and Outside In Theatre—have worked together since 2024 to develop and stage the play. The 99-seat Main Stage at 70 N Mentor Ave. will host performances through March 29, with opening night set for March 7.
The play centers on two marine biologists and a struggling composer whose lives unravel when an octopus housed in their laboratory begins composing music of extraordinary beauty. As professional ambitions and creative tensions intensify, the characters confront questions about discovery, obsession, and what it means when a non-human being surpasses human capability.
“Helping bring Weston Gaylord’s powerful, funny, and stunning new play to life has been such a gift of the co-production of like-minded partner companies equally invested in telling this profound and timely story,” said Jessica Kubzansky, Boston Court Pasadena’s Artistic Director, who is directing the production. Kubzansky said the play examines how humans respond when “a being who is not human surpasses our capabilities.”
The production incorporates puppetry to bring the octopus—a Giant Pacific Octopus named Sylvia—to life. Three puppeteers, Zachary Bones, Perry Daniel, and Danielle McPhaul, will operate what the production describes as a puppet or series of puppets with expansive, searching tentacles.
The cast includes Tim Cummings as Lars, Kacie Rogers as Tara, and Vincent R. Williams as Lucas.
“All three companies have worked individually and together to champion and develop this piece since 2024,” said Jen Kays, Artistic Director of Circle X Theatre Co. “Weston’s play is a reminder that art is important by dangling its very existence in front of us and grappling with what it means to be human.”
Jessica Hanna, Artistic Director of Outside In Theatre, cited a 2024 workshop the company produced to explore how puppetry could function within the play. “The ways all three companies have developed and supported Weston Gaylord in his playwriting process is a core ethos for Outside In,” Hanna said. “We believe in creating spaces for artists to do brave work.”
Gaylord, a Los Angeles-based playwright and librettist, studied playwriting with Amy Freed and puppetry with Basil Twist at Stanford. Octopus’s Garden was a finalist for the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference in 2021 and received a staged reading at Boston Court’s New Play Reading Festival in 2024.
Performances run Thursdays through Mondays, with showtimes generally at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Free parking is available in the on-site lot. The venue is accessible by Metro Gold Line at the Lake Street station. For tickets and information, contact the box office at (626) 683-6801 or visit bostoncourtpasadena.org.
“As our mutual dreams for production continued to grow and align, this has been a great opportunity to share in telling a beautiful story,” Kays said.
