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\u201cWe at the Odyssey Theatre<\/a> Ensemble are heartbroken to announce that founding artistic director Ron Sossi\u00a0<\/strong>passed away on Wednesday, March 19, at the age of 85.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Born on November 22, 1939 in Detroit, Ron graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in writing for theater and television before moving to L.A. to attend UCLA film school. There, he supported himself as a wedding photographer and water filter salesman while earning his M.F.A. In addition to writing, Ron was an actor and a singer. He traveled to Korea, Japan and Guam, courtesy of the USO, with a college production of\u00a0Carousel,\u00a0<\/em>where he met fellow student and co-star Bonnie Franklin, and the two were briefly married, from 1967 until 1970. After winning the Samuel Goldwyn Award for screenwriting at UCLA, Ron was hired as a program executive at ABC, where he oversaw productions of shows including\u00a0Bewitched, The Flying Nun<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Love American Style,<\/em>\u00a0among others.<\/p>\n In 1969, frustrated and bored by his work in the television industry, Ron founded the Odyssey Theatre in a former storefront church on the seedy end of Hollywood Boulevard. With the raucous sounds of the porn theater next door seeping through, the Odyssey opened its inaugural productions of\u00a0A Man\u2019s A Man\u00a0<\/em>by Bertolt Brecht,<\/em>\u00a0The Serpent\u00a0<\/em>by Jean Claude van Italie,\u00a0The Threepenny Opera\u00a0<\/em>by Brecht and Kurt Weill, and\u00a0The Bacchae\u00a0<\/em>by Euripides.<\/em>\u00a0Long runs of these four plays sealed Ron\u2019s reputation as a maverick with critics and audiences alike. <\/p>\n In 1973, he moved the Odyssey to a larger venue in West Los Angeles on the corner of Bundy and Ohio where, starting out with one 99-seat performance space, he gradually expanded it into a three-theater complex. Critically acclaimed, award-winning productions included\u00a0Peer Gynt<\/em>,\u00a0Woyzeck<\/em>,\u00a0White Marriage<\/em>,\u00a0The Adolf Hitler Show<\/em>,\u00a0The Chicago Conspiracy Trial<\/em>,\u00a0Nightclub Cantana<\/em>,\u00a0Tracers<\/em>,\u00a0Mary Barnes<\/em>,\u00a0Master Class<\/em>,\u00a0Edmond<\/em>,\u00a0Rapmaster Ronnie<\/em>,\u00a0McCarthy<\/em>,\u00a0Idioglossia<\/em>\u00a0(later to become the Oscar nominated movie\u00a0Nell<\/em><\/a>), and Steven Berkoff\u2019s\u00a0Kvetch<\/em>\u2014the Odyssey\u2019s longest running show at eight years. <\/p>\n During the company\u2019s 16-year tenure in that space, Ron produced and directed two thirds of the Bertolt Brecht canon, including\u00a0Baal\u00a0<\/em>(in which he also starred in the title role),\u00a0The Caucasian Chalk Circle<\/em>,\u00a0Mother Courage<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Brechtfest<\/em>\u00a01 and 2. When the building was sold in 1989, Ron moved the Odyssey to its current home on Sepulveda Boulevard, a city-owned warehouse formerly used to manufacture gas tanks. The new Odyssey opened its doors in 1990 with his production of\u00a0Faith Healer<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Throughout the theater\u2019s 56-year history, Ron remained dedicated to presenting\u00a0edgy, risk-taking live theater experiences, including an eclectic mix of new work and boldly re-envisioned classics. He was always\u00a0particularly drawn to work by German and Eastern European playwrights, as well as to plays exploring metaphysical and spiritual subject matter \u2014 part of a lifelong devotion that included studying and practicing Siddha Yoga, Hinduism, Sufism, Tibetian Buddhism, The Gurdjieff Work and, most recently, Bhakti Yoga and Advaita Vedanta. <\/p>\n In 2001, Ron created KOAN, a resident ensemble dedicated to the regular creation of unique, devised works. (In Zen Buddhism, a Koan is a paradoxical anecdote or riddle used to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning and to provoke enlightenment.) Ron\u2019s KOAN productions included\u00a0The Faust Projekt, Kafka Thing\u00a0<\/em>and Buddha\u2019s Big Nite!<\/em>, as well as\u00a0Sliding Into Hades<\/em>, which received the LA Weekly Award for \u201cBest Production of the Year\u201d and\u00a0Theater in the Dark<\/em>, an LA Weekly \u201cBest Production\u201d award nominee. More recent productions included a revival of\u00a0The Serpent<\/em>\u00a0for the Odyssey\u2019s 50th anniversary;\u00a0Wakings,\u00a0<\/em>an evening of short \u201cmind excursions\u201d exploring some of the many states of human awareness; and\u00a0Elephant Shavings,<\/em>\u00a0subtitled\u00a0\u201ca lazy person\u2019s guide to enlightenment,\u201d\u00a0which he also wrote.<\/p>\n At the helm of the Odyssey for 56 continuous years, Ron was the recipient of numerous awards, including the LA Weekly Career Achievement Award. He was twice honored with the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle prestigious Margaret Harford Award for \u201cdemonstrating a continual willingness to experiment provocatively in the process of theater,\u201d as well as with the circle\u2019s Ron Link Award for \u201cconsistent quality of direction.\u201d According to a 1982\u00a0Los Angeles Times\u00a0<\/em>article by Lawrence Christon, \u201cWhen the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle <\/a>debated Ron\u2019s merit as this year\u2019s recipient of the Margaret Harford Award\u2014they decided he deserved it\u2014two adjectives that cropped up in discussion were \u2018exasperating\u2019 and \u2018incorrigible.\u2019\u201d Christon went on to note that Ron \u201cwished they had put \u2018incorrigible\u2019 on the award.\u201d<\/p>\n Ron is survived by his wife, S\u00e9verine Larue, and by his sister, Nancy Foley.<\/p>\n In accordance with his instructions, no service or ceremony will be held. It was Ron\u2019s wish that the ongoing vibrancy of the theater he built would serve as his only memorial. The Odyssey\u2019s curtain will continue to rise, and every future performance will be a testament to Ron Sossi\u2019s enduring legacy.<\/p>\n \t\t<\/p>\nLike this:<\/h3>\n