We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Holli Hornlien. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Holli below.

Holli, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I am in the process of developing the Los Angeles premiere of a modern, Latine-inflected adaptation of the ancient Greek tragedy, Antigone. The working title is Antigone’s Last Birthday, and I am REALLY excited about it.

I was offered the chance to direct and produce a teen-centric play at Inner-City Arts in downtown LA. The opportunity was to find a play that would showcase the unique strengths of a specific group of female teen performers. The content also needed to feel relevant for them and their peers. Featuring a strong teen heroine was essential.

The question was…what play should we do?

I searched. I did.

And then I remembered how impactful Antigone was as a character in my life when I was a young actress. She loomed large in my imagination. She has fire. She has courage. She has a strong moral compass. She was a feminist way before that was even a thing. And…she makes some BIG decisions in the play. Decisions that lead to some pretty big consequences.

Through a network of amazing female theatre professionals, I was introduced to a BIPOC playwright named Megan Tabaque. We commissioned Megan to write for the performers. She connected with our girls – asking them to share what political topics were of most concern to them, and which pop culture topics they were obsessed with. Megan is making theatrical MAGIC right now.

I am so proud to be able to mash up my love of classical theater with the brilliant, 2023 sensibilities of this BIPOC creative team. We are making something very special together, and the show opens next spring.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have been blessed since I was young with the knowledge that making theater and dance is pretty much what I am on this planet to do. I feel the greatest sense of connection and purpose when inhabiting the magical space that exists between me and you, and when we bridge that “gap” by coming together through the performing arts. I am a performer through and through.

But sometimes making art is deemed a “luxury.” Sometimes it is perceived as a luxury not meant for everyone.

I am a product of a very dysfunctional foster care system. Like so many folks that are raised in trauma, I found that art was the safe space where I could use those emotions to create something beautiful out of the broken pieces. I got myself into college, studied the arts, and was surrounded by adults that actually saw me. Because of those adults, I was able to overcome the odds and flourish. I became the actress/dancer I dreamed of, and yet there was more ahead.

At about 30, I asked myself, “what if teaching AND and performing is the greatest use of my time on earth?” I decided to look for that answer and never looked back.

Since then I have been performing and teaching and directing and producing youth theater, where each opportunity allows everyone in the room to truly grow and shine. I also have been delighted to build a paid internship program for creative teens at Inner-City Arts in Los Angeles, and we call it the WORK OF ART program. It means the world to me to now be the adult that says to youth, “Yup, you CAN and SHOULD make that, perform that, and be paid for it if you want to.” There is nothing more important than encouraging young people to live their artful lives out loud and in full living color. My life is a Work of Art.

But, spoiler alert…live performance is in trouble in a post pandemic world. Attendance is down. Venues have closed. People have lost jobs.

And I don’t care.

Because in my view, there is something magical that happens, that can only happen, when an audience gets to watch young people…guileless, hopeful, beautiful and sharing themselves on stage. When young people have their whole lives ahead of them, when time seems like it will go on forever and anything is possible, they breathe a special life into the room during a performance. Everyone is better off for it.

Youth theater and performance nurtures the next generation of makers and audiences, and it teaches young people about teamwork, empathy, and reaching for one’s dreams.

I do believe that live theater is as relevant as ever. Humans have a fundamental need to connect and communicate, and reflect upon our shared (and diverse) experience. If we as theatre makers can keep our eye on the prize and make sure we tell ALL the stories, then audiences will continue to come together in that dark hallowed hall to watch.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

For many years, as a proud union actress, there were rules prohibiting the recording of live performances I was in.

I gratefully obeyed those rules, because being a professional meant so much to me. I also took solace telling myself “Art is ephemeral. Who needs a recording? It’s about being part of the tribe. It’s about being in the MOMENT.”

Well, I wouldn’t change a thing, and I still don’t break rules today, BUT I wish I had a record of that work. That glorious work.

Life does fly by, And those shows meant something to me.

So now, when I can, I try to document the process.

The journey is the destination, but I keep my roadmap handy.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

This is the simplest question of all to answer. Connection.

Whether I share a scene or a dance with you, or whether we are enjoying art made by someone else, we connect through that shared experience. That’s when I feel most grateful to be alive.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: hhornlien
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/holli-hornlien
• Youtube: @HJHnGG
• Other: American Theatre Article about Work of Art: https://www.americantheatre.org/2023/10/11/making-friends-with-the-arts-and-each-other/?fbclid=IwAR3NvK6PwTnrLTN0RcwSBnRzc_MUwDrYc3ThJ9f6hDOy9W3kpWiyqX1QLos Rated Z For Everyone Webseries that I am Executive Producer on: https://www.youtube.com/@ratedzforeveryone4417 The Coven: https://vimeo.com/879907133

Image Credits
Theo and Juliet Photography