Echo Theater Company’s ‘For Want of a Horse’ is an
absurdly funny, wildly unconventional love story
LOS ANGELES (March 4, 2026) — The Echo Theater Company presents the world premiere of a darkly comic, deeply human exploration of love, desire and unconventional relationships. Written by trans playwright, screenwriter and comic book writer Olivia Dufault and directed by Echo associate artistic director Elana Luo, For Want of a Horse opens April 18 for a six-week run, through May 25, at Atwater Village Theatre. Three Pay-What-You-Want previews are set for April 15, April 16 and April 17.
Joey Stromberg (Echo productions of What Happened When and The Witchery) stars as Calvin. Calvin is devoted to his wife, Bonnie, played by Jenny Soo (recipient of a Stage Raw award for her performance in the Echo’s Gloria). But, as Calvin confesses to his best friend, PJ (Steven Culp, seen at the Echo in Handjob and The Enablers), if he’s to move forward, he needs to open up their relationship to include his new romantic partner. One complication: that partner would be Q-Tip (played by Griffin Kelly of HBO’s Emmy-winning series, Book of Queer) — and Q-Tip is a horse.
The play’s unusual subject matter was inspired by an unlikely 2014 New York magazine article titled “What It’s Like to Date a Horse,” part of the magazine’s “What It’s Like” series of in-depth interviews with people who lead atypical lives.
“Reading that article, I was immediately captivated, horrified and amused,” Dufault explains. “Whenever I feel those kinds of conflicting emotions, I know it’s a story worth exploring. I found myself deeply empathizing with that unnamed man, with his enormous capacity for self-loathing and self-hatred. That is the power— and the peril—of empathy.”
Awarded a Venturous Playwrights Fellowship for the play’s bold subject matter, Dufault has been working with the Echo to develop For Want of a Horse since 2023.
“For Want of a Horse is one of the funniest, strangest and most original plays I’ve read in a long time,” says Echo artistic director Chris Fields. “The Echo exists to champion plays that challenge conventions and move audiences in unfamiliar ways, and Olivia Dufault’s fearless voice is exactly the kind of work we love to produce.”
Dufault’s other plays include Year of the Rooster and The Tomb of King Tot, both named “Critic’s Pick” by The New York Times, and The Messenger. Her plays have been performed at the Ensemble Studio Theatre/Youngblood, the Flea Theatre, the Marin Theatre, the 52nd Street Project, the Theater for the New City, UpStart Theater, and the Stray Dog Theater, among others. In addition to the Venturous Playwrights Fellowship, she is the recipient of a Playwrights of New York Fellowship, a Sloan Commission, the David Colicchio Emerging Playwright Award, the Lipkin Playwriting Award, and three Harle Adair Damann Playwriting Awards. In television, she worked as story editor on AMC’S Preacher, was co-executive producer on FX’s Legion, and is a writer on Josh Zetumer’s Pagans, a supernatural drama currently in development at Netflix. In film, she wrote the feature The True Adventures of Wolfboy. She is the author of the upcoming graphic novel Laserworld.
The creative team for For Want of a Horse includes scenic designer Alex Mollo, lighting designer Matthew Richter, sound designer Alysha Grace Bermudez, and costume designer Leah Morrison. The production stage manager is Bianca Rickheim. Eve Gordon and Meghan McEnery are associate producers. Chris Fields and Marie Bland produce for the Echo Theater Company.
Founded in 1997, the Echo Theater Company has gained a reputation for producing and developing exciting new work. Under Fields’ artistic leadership, the company has championed playwrights for a quarter century, producing and commissioning numerous world premieres and introducing Los Angeles to playwrights David Lindsay-Abaire, Adam Rapp and Sarah Ruhl among others. The Echo has won countless Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Ovation, LA Weekly and Stage Raw awards, and is frequently cited on end-of-the-year “Best of Lists” including by the Los Angeles Times, LA Observed and NPR affiliate KCRW 89.9 FM, among others. The company was anointed “Best Bet for Ballsy Original Plays” by the LA Weekly and was a recipient of a “Kilroy Cake Drop” to honor its efforts to produce women and trans writers. KCRW declared that “Echo Theater Company is on a fierce journey,” and Los Angeles Times theater critic Charles McNulty calls it “the most vital center for offbeat drama in Los Angeles.” The Echo was honored by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle with the prestigious Margaret Harford Award for “Excellence In Theatre.”
For Want of a Horse opens on Saturday, April 18, with performances continuing on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 4 p.m.; and Mondays at 8 p.m. through May 25. Three preview performances are set for Wednesday, April 15; Thursday, April 16; and Friday, April 17, each at 8 p.m.
Tickets range from $15 to $42.75. Tickets to previews and all Monday night performances are Pay–What–You–Want starting at $15 if paying cash at the door plus an additional $1.50 per ticket fee if purchasing online or at the door with a credit card. Early Bird tickets to Friday, Saturday and Sunday performances are available through April 3 (online only) for $20 plus a $1.75 per ticket fee. Tickets to Friday, Saturday or Sunday performances purchased after April 3: $40 cash with an additional $2.75 fee per ticket if using a credit card.
Atwater Village Theatre is located at 3269 Casitas Ave in Los Angeles, CA 90039. For more information and to purchase tickets, call (747) 350-8066 or go to www.EchoTheaterCompany.com.
Content warning: For Want of a Horse addresses mature sexual themes in an explicit (although non-graphic) manner and is recommended for ages 18 and up.
Details for Calendar Listings
‘For Want of a Horse’
WHAT:
The Echo Theater Company presents the world premiere of For Want of a Horse, a darkly comic, deeply human exploration of love, desire and unconventional relationships. Calvin is devoted to his wife, Bonnie. But if Calvin is going to move forward, he needs to open up their relationship to include his new romantic partner. One complication: that partner would be Q-Tip — and Q-Tip is a horse.
WHO:
• Written by Olivia Dufault
• Directed by Elana Luo
• Starring Steven Culp, Griffin Kelly, Jenny Soo, Joey Stromberg
• Presented by The Echo Theater Company, Chris Fields artistic director
WHEN:
April 15-May 25
• Previews:
Wednesday, April 15, Thursday, April 16 and Friday, April 17 at 8 p.m.
• Performances:
April 18 through May 25
Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at 8 p.m. / Sundays at 4 p.m.
WHERE:
Echo Theater Company
Atwater Village Theatre
3269 Casitas Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90039
PARKING:
FREE in the Atwater Crossing (AXT) lot one block south of the theater
TICKET PRICES:
$15 – $42.75
• Pay–What–You–Want starting at $15 cash at the door plus an additional $1.50 per ticket fee if purchasing online or at the door with a credit card.
• Early Bird tickets to Friday, Saturday or Sunday performances through April 3 (available online only): $20 plus a $1.75 credit card fee.
• Tickets to Friday, Saturday or Sunday performances purchased after April 3: $40 cash with an additional $2.75 fee per ticket if using a credit card.
CONTENT WARNING:
For Want of a Horse addresses mature sexual themes in an explicit (although non-graphic) manner and is recommended for ages 18 and up.
HOW:
EchoTheaterCompany.com
(747) 350-8066
For Want of a Horse is the recipient of a Venturous Playwright Fellowship
from Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation.
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