In 2002, Little Fish Theatre were little more than hatchlings when they transformed an industrial space into what would become a San Pedro Waterfront Arts District destination.
Come February, that destination will cease to exist, as the sale of Little Fish’s unique split-level theatre space at 777 S. Centre Street will force them to find new home waters — perhaps outside of San Pedro entirely.
But they always knew it wouldn’t last forever. They count their lucky stars it happened at all.
In 2002, after four years of itinerancy, Shakespeare by the Sea was approached by a representative of Jerico Development about whether they might have use for a physical space. Answering with a resounding “yes,” in short order the troupe took up rent-free residence in a Brown Brothers Building storefront that Shakespeare by the Sea / Little Fish co-founder Suzanne Dean recalls as a “funky [space with] a low ceiling and pillars in the middle of the room and carpeted flooring, folding chairs from Parks & Rec.”
Seeing this as an opportunity to expand on their Shakespeare-in-the-park programming, the troupe tried their hand indoors at contemporary plays and quickly found an audience. Toward the end of the year Jerico came back with another possibility with significantly more space. But it would need a lot of work to serve as a theater.
“We walked into this old city tow yard, and I cried because it was just filled with grease and grime,” says Dean. “We were being handed this building, and it was absolutely filled with potential, and we were all excited about that — but in the moment, knowing the amount of work that we knew would need to go into it to create something, I was crying because it was just so big of a burden.”
By the sweat of their brow they made it work, and for the next 20 years Little Fish Theatre staged at least 10 shows a season — far more than most theatre companies — attracting a faithful South Bay audience turned on by wide the variety of programming (from contemporary to classical, existential drama to farce, short plays, live “radio shows,” holiday offerings…) in one of the biggest intimate theatre spaces you could ever hope to find.
None of this would have been possible without Jerico Development’s generosity, which, after years of letting Little Fish operate rent-free, have charged a rent that Dean and co-artistic director Stephanie Coltrin guess is perhaps 80% below market value.
But it was always the case that eventually Jerico would sell the property for redevelopment. Early this year, Jerico let Little Fish know that it was likely coming in 2024, and in August it was confirmed that February 2024 was the end of the line. (Random Lengths News contacted Jerico Development but was told the company would make no comment of any kind for this story.)
As connected as Little Fish / Shakespeare by the Sea feel to San Pedro, they say they are compelled to entertain anyplace in the South Bay or Long Beach that can accommodate their needs, which they enumerated in a recent mailing: “Our perfect home would be: 3000-3500 sq. ft. (ideally something previously used as a similar venue, or easily converted at low cost); enough space for 1400 sq. ft. of handicapped accessible performance/audience space; ceiling height of 16-18 ft. to accommodate lighting and sound grid; additional space for: 3-4 dressing rooms; office for business operations, lobby and box office area, separate space for rehearsals/build space, shop space for tools and set construction; minimum of 2 restrooms; existing HVAC systems; adjacent and well lit, secure parking lot that could also be used for storage and locking tour vehicles in over the summer.”
Additionally, they reluctantly admit that in some ways San Pedro has become increasingly inhospitable terrain.
“At Little Fish it has been an ongoing struggle,” says Dean. “In previous years we’ve had some great support from [the local Business Improvement District] helping us out a little bit. This year, we haven’t gotten as much support from them, and overall there have been challenges with getting police enforcement and some protection. [… This year] for the first time we had to pay for security for every one of our performances, because artists are not feeling safe, patrons are not feeling safe, staff are not feeling safe in the downtown Arts District. So we’ve incurred a tremendous amount of excess costs over anything we’ve done in previous years for safety, for security.”
“We definitely love the San Pedro community and would love to be there,” adds Coltrin, “but we are considering the safety of the artists and the patrons when we’re looking for a new venue.”
They are likewise reevaluating whether Point Fermin Park will remain the anchor point for Shakespeare by the Sea, which has played host to the opening and closing of their summer programming since 2002. Dean says that although “this year was the worst for Shakespeare by the Sea at Point Fermin Park” — particularly due to an incident when a company member was accosted at gunpoint — “every year leading up to this has gotten worse.”
“When I started with Shakespeare by the Sea in 2010, we had a Parks & Rec person out there with us to help us [with issues at the park], and we did find the police to be more responsive,” says Coltrin. “[But] in recent years [… Parks & Rec] has allowed us to use Point Fermin Park, but with no park support. They send someone in to clean the restrooms and that kind of thing, but we haven’t had someone from the staff present at the park — which is not normal. Every other location we tour there is a representative from [Parks & Rec] present during our tenure there. […] After the gunpoint attack we reached out to the Chamber [of Commerce] and to the city council, and we did get some increased security after that, but we actually had to pay a private security company to come in, because we continued to have incidents even after that. [… W]hen we came back to San Pedro at the end of the summer, it was kind of back to normal in terms of police presence, in that there really wasn’t any […] except for closing night, when we had to stay late to strike the set.”
Councilmember Tim McOsker says he understands Little Fish’s concerns and hopes they will be able to relocate within the district.
“Public safety is more than statistics, it’s [also] how you feel — and it is imperative that our constituents feel safe and protected,” he says. “And while violent crime is down, property crime is up throughout Los Angeles. I will continue to work with our public safety partners and local institutions, including Little Fish, to make sure they feel safe at their place of work, during their rehearsals and performances — and, very importantly, that their audiences are safe and comfortable. It’s so important to me that San Pedro continues to be a vibrant area for the arts, including for our community theaters. [My wife] and I just enjoyed a play at Little Fish a few days ago, and I hope they — including Shakespeare by the Sea — continue to have a presence in our Arts District, because we treasure the staff, actors, and productions in our community.”
Whatever the future holds in store for Little Fish, this January’s annual “Pick of the Vine” festival of short plays will be the end of an era.
“When I walked into tech rehearsal for Meteor Shower [i.e., their penultimate show of 2023], I actually cried a little bit [thinking about how] this is the last show I’ll be directing in this building. I think we’re all feeling that nostalgia about it.”
“This is the inflection point for the organization, because we have very little time to find a building in which to land,” says Dean. “[…] It’s going to be sad if we have to leave San Pedro — or even if we just leave the Arts District — because we’ve been invested here for so long. For us and for our audience that would be tough. [… But] we are committed to finding a new place and making sure these programs continue, and we want to make sure the audience knows that.”
For all things Little Fish, including purchasing tix to the two remaining shows onsite — On the Farce Day of Christmas (Dec. 14–23) and “Pick of the Vine” (Jan. 19–Feb. 4) — visit LittleFishTheatre.org. Anyone with leads/recommendations on a possible new space is encouraged to contact Coltrin and Dean at pad@shakespearebythesea.org.