Created in partnership with LOS ANGELES HIGH SHCOOL OF THE ARTS
High school is a hustle. At least it is in Lunch Lady Courage, Cornerstone’s third play in The Hunger Cycle. When Ana, aka Lunch Lady Courage, arrives at an urban campus with her food cart, she doesn’t expect to find a shadow economy. Donut sales raise funds for student clubs, an enterprising student peddles homemade tortas, and a teacher sells Hot Cheetos to pay for classroom necessities. California spends seven times more on prison inmates than K-12 students, and childhood obesity is skyrocketing – so what’s a lunch lady to do? Inspired by Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children and the people working and learning in Los Angeles schools, Lunch Lady Courage explores what happens when one cafeteria worker balttles for the health of her children, and the hundreds she serves each day.
The Hunger Cycle is a series of nine world premiere plays exploring hunger, justice, and food equity issues, spanning six years. Community partners for The Hunger Cycle include: Community Services Unlimited, Homegirl Cafe, Homeboy Industries, Hunger Action Los Angeles, Los Angeles High School of the Arts, RootdownLA, Solano Canyon Community Garden, South Central Farmers and Urban Environmental Policy Institute – Occidental College.
Lunch Lady Courage is made possbile in part by grants from ArtPlace, The California Community Foundation, The CrossCurrents Foundation, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, The Fox Foundation, The Princess Grace Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The LIA Fund, The Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, The MAP Fund, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, MetLife Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Open Society Foundation, The Ralph M. Foundation, The Rosenthal Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Theatre Communications Group, US Bank, William Randolph Hearst Foundation, and by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles Arts Commission and generous donations from numerous individuals.
Cornerstone is a member of the Theatre Communications Group, the national service organization for the American Theater.
