San Pedro’s vibrant theater scene has gained a groundbreaking theater company, The Actors Jungle, which is dedicated to fostering creativity, inclusivity, and bold storytelling. Premiering March 28 and 29, The Actors Jungle’s new production is set to transform how audiences experience live performance.
Founded by a diverse group of passionate artists, The Actors Jungle creates a welcoming space where performers and audiences alike can explore the depths of the human experience through innovative productions. The company’s mission is to challenge traditional narratives, spotlight underrepresented voices, and engage the community in dynamic, thought-provoking performances – while the audience actually participates as directors and judges.
“The Actors Jungle is more than just a theater company; it’s a movement,” said artistic director Will August. “We want to cultivate a community where artists can thrive and where audiences can connect deeply with the stories we tell. Our goal is to blur the lines between performer and spectator, creating an immersive experience that resonates long after the curtain falls.”
August noted the opening scene in the company’s upcoming show involves an exploration into racist insults and their effects on people.
“How and why people use racial slurs, and how do we respond in the given circumstances?” he asked.
“Using the “N” word comes into play. But we, as truth-seeking actors, are fearless to expose it for what it is.”
The company is launching its first season with a mix of classic revivals and original improv works. It will also host workshops, talkbacks, and community engagement initiatives to foster collaboration and connection among artists and audience members.
“One big reason we started, among many, is that we discovered that there was going to be a vacuum when the Little Fish Theater moved (in February 2024),” August said. “And we want San Pedro to have a San Pedro-based theater company, for our community and the surrounding communities.”
The director said the company feels a little bit like a David and Goliath situation, the little guy trying to get started. The company’s workshops are for directors and screenwriters, or as he said, “a creative laboratory, if you will, for creatives.”
“There’s acting classes around, particularly in Hollywood,” August said. “Actors go and they work on their acting skills. There’s certainly writers’ classes and writers’ workshops where writers can go. But where do they go to put it all together? And that’s where we’re unique.”
The Actors Jungle brings writers, directors, and actors together every Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at Collage. They have a state-of-the-art stage from which to work and writers can come in with their new scripts — particularly local writers, August noted. Actors bring the scripts to life, directors direct the actors based on the scripts, and everyone sees the product before people spend money on it and try to produce it.
With August’s company, writers bring in their work at the earliest possible stage, for example, a draft of a screenplay. The actors perform, other writers observe it, and the director discusses what they like or dislike and what they can or cannot do.
“It’s a very productive situation at an early stage, before any money has been spent to get the wheels rolling, and you can’t stop it,” August said.
August’s idea came as a result of wanting to fill the new theater gap in San Pedro. He started looking around and talking to everyone he knew about a location. He was finally led to Richard Foss, executive director at Collage through Taran Schindler, the deputy artistic director at Warner Grand, and August said it was a great fit.
“That theater is gorgeous,” August said.”We have a core group of terrific actors who are trained, easy to work with, and creative spirits.”
There’s a flow between new and regular people who attend the workshops but the company needs at least a dozen more people. He hopes to appeal to folks who can join them and help them grow. Another good thing about this little theater company is its location, which may sound surprising. August admitted most performing arts workshops where actors, writers, and directors go are going to be on the West Side, Hollywood, and in the Valley.
“But there’s not one group doing what we do … local to Torrance, San Pedro, Palos Verdes, Wilmington and Long Beach,” August noted. “We have actors come up from Orange County because they come to us instead of having to drive that extra hour [to LA] an actor can’t do that, a writer can’t do that. So we can provide a great service to people in this area, but we need to get known.”
The company’s first goal is getting known. Its debut show was in November 2024. It was very well received and it sold out at Collage. They even had to turn away people at the door.
“That’s how much interest there is in this,” August said. “There’s potential here.”
The Actors Jungle has a unique tool; its “one great strength,” as August said, is that it presents an entertaining, cutting-edge show that is simple and involves the audience. The format introduces the audience to a “truthful, behind-the-scenes look at a real acting class.” The audience enters, August is there as the director and he speaks to the audience as if they’re actors there to be trained. And they actually have input as directors into some of the scenes. They experience firsthand what actors go through to prepare for a movie, a television show, or a play.
“It’s exciting for them because it’s not what they expect,” August said.
To support this strength, August explained, actors have one huge tool called scene study, where they take a scene from a script and perform it on stage. It’s done with very few props or sets. Like the actors, the audience uses its imagination to discover where the actors are and what the situation is. Then August directs the actors “the way it’s actually done, which has very little to do with telling an actor where to go and what to do.”
“There’s certainly a blocking to it but actors have to be alive,” he said. “I facilitate actors living truthfully under imaginary circumstances. “We have real actors [from] the acting class come in, as if from a hard day’s work to start class. They enter once the audience is there and from there we usually put up about six or seven scenes. It’s not like a three-act play which can oftentimes be quite boring in a small theater. In our case, it’s a fast-moving six or seven short scenes, fast-paced, so it’s extremely entertaining. The audience is wondering what happens next.”
August is an award-winning actor and director. He starred in a Fox Primetime television series called My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss. If that title doesn’t sound familiar it’s because Fox put the show up against Desperate Housewives, which was doing 30 million viewers a week. (For comparison, August said the Superbowl had 80 million viewers at one time).
“We were a very successful show, but we were [at] maybe five million a week,” he said. “And we were in international syndication. But it was a bit squelched in the U.S. because of Desperate Housewives.”
Among his awards, August won First Place at the prestigious Los Angeles Shakespeare Slam competition where he interpreted one of Shakespeare’s sonnets. He is a veteran of hundreds of projects and has worked with David Mamet (Pulitzer-Prize & Academy Award Winner), The Atlantic Acting Co., The Groundlings Improvisation group, Larry Moss (Broadway Director), W William H. Macy & Felicity Huffman (Emmy Award Winners), and Gordon Hunt (Multi-Award Winner). He has performed major roles in theater and television and he is writing The Actors Jungle.
August said he would love to present four to five shows a year. Audiences can expect both comedy and drama, usually four of each performed in seven or eight scenes. For now, The Actors Jungle is growing its social media presence. One way is through its series of acting tips which the company posts on its social media, where for free, actors can get a 60-second quick and helpful comment or tip about acting. You can also find scene reels on their Facebook and Instagram pages.
The company also shares a valuable tool for actors as part of its workshops. Actors have to do something called self-tapes, or the “modern audition.” Instead of auditioning in person, the actor makes an audition video on their cell phone and uploads it to a platform where the casting people view it. Actors have to film it themself and get a neighbor, friend, or someone to do the scene with, who is not usually a professional actor. But they have to make that tape look great and professional. That’s a lot of variables for a struggling actor.
The Actors Jungle invites its actors to take videos of their self-tape in its workshops. They get a professional director giving them help to send in a great tape and they’ve got their fellow professional actors to read with them.
“The bottom line is that the actors’ auditions and tapes are much better than if they did it themselves, as a result of participating,” August said. They don’t have any clue what the casting people might be looking for. So when they come into class … I can help them interpret the script, get a great performance and they have actors to do the scene with them.”
August noted agents who have actors in the South Bay or Long Beach send them to The Actors Jungle to do their self-tapes because it’s close and the actor has a better chance of booking the job.
“And here’s the kicker; for all the services, we charge $30 which is incredibly cheap. Most places are going to charge you maybe $80 and they require you to do six weeks in a row …and that’s the lower priced ones. We’re incredibly economical because we can be.
Join the company’s grand gala on March 28 and 29, at Collage to see The Actors Jungle: The Judgement of John B. The event will feature live performances and an opportunity to meet the creative team behind The Actors Jungle.
Details: www.actorsjungle.com