THEATER, AT PLAY!
SPRING 2026 NEWSLETTER
L-R: Director Hannah Wolf and Playwright Grace McLeod on Glendale Blvd. in the neighborhood that inspired Closing Costs. Photo by Isaak Berliner.
REAL ESTATE IN LA IS A FARCE E A S T ( L A ) M E E T S W E S T ( L A ) I N A W O R L D P R E M I E R E P L AY T H AT ’ S R I D I C U L O U S LY F U N N Y
Building a play is like renovating your home.
Grace was in IAMA Theater Company’s
by the play’s voice, calling it one of the most
At first it’s all mood boards and optimism, and
Emerging Playwrights Lab. The original
distinctly “LA” plays the theater had ever
by week two you’re covered in metaphorical
draft was written in the Lab and upon its
encountered—pretentiously unpretentious,
drywall dust, questioning your life choices,
first staged reading, Hannah knew the
hopeful, a little bit chaotic, and full of big
and discovering a “small issue” that somehow
Geffen was the right home for the future of
dreams just waiting to be staged.
requires tearing everything down to the studs.
this seismic new play.
Fortunately for us, we’re building Closing
“This play satirizes LA’s outrageous
Costs from the ground up alongside IAMA
housing market, but it’s also my love letter to
Theatre Company, one of Los Angeles’
this city, and specifically to my neighborhood
most vital incubators of new work. Known
Atwater Village,” said McLeod. “As a born
for developing bold, actor-driven stories
and bred New Yorker, I often get asked why
and championing emerging voices, IAMA
I chose to live here. And between the cost
operates with a deep commitment to
of living, the natural disasters, and the state
artistic risk-taking and community. Their
of the industry, it’s not an insane question to
productions often begin in intimate spaces,
ask. But the honest answer is that I wouldn’t
shaped by close collaboration between
live anywhere else. My heart belongs to
playwrights, directors, and performers; a
LA, and I can’t wait to bring Atwater to
process that makes them an ideal partner in
Westwood this season!”
bringing new plays to the stage.
The team at the Geffen fell for
Soon, the question on the table wasn’t if this play should happen, but how. What if we built it together? The answer was a resounding, delighted yes. Over the next six months, Closing Costs will enter an exciting period of development, with Geffen Playhouse and IAMA Theatre Company rolling up their sleeves to guide this hilarious new farce through readings, rewrites, and roomfuls of lively collaboration. Like any good foundation, much of this work happens out of sight. But it’s what makes everything that follows not only possible, but solid, surprising, and worth well above asking price.
Long-time collaborators, playwright
McLeod’s writing: its wit, its warmth, and its
Grace McLeod and director Hannah Wolf,
unmistakable sense of place. Artistic Director
Showings for the the world premiere of
began developing Closing Costs while
Tarell Alvin McCraney was particularly struck
Closing Costs begin March 31, 2027.