The Company

Coin & Ghost is a Los Angeles-based theatre company known for its imaginative remixing of known mythologies. The company defines mythology as “any set of stories that simultaneously SHAPES and IS SHAPED BY a culture.” So Traditional Greek and Roman myths count, sure, as do any culture’s creation myths. But when viewed through this lens, Shakespeare has a clear mythology to it, as do comic books, Tennessee Williams, and other folklore.

We use these stories as a base, a structure, even as a playground — but not as a rulebook. Each project begins on the well-worn road of a known mythology, and then branches off on its own unique, wild path.

Our first full-length production, Fortunate Son: A Faust Myth, premiered in Los Angeles in the Fall of 2017.

Coin & Ghost is dedicated to adventurous and accessible theatre. Our mission is to inspire empathy, imagination, and community through creative works and education programs rooted in cultural mythologies. 

Bravery: We take big risks.
Authenticity: We bring our full selves to the work.
Connection: We take care of our community.
Resilience: We learn and grow from every experience.
Play: We explore freely and joyfully.

A COIN is, quite literally, a known quantity. It is a physical representation of stored value, a token of culturally-determined worth, and an accepted, established method of trade. A GHOST, on the other hand, defies universal understanding. If it exists at all, it is ephemeral. Volatile. An echo of what once was, whether painful, sentimental, warm, or dangerous.

We chose the name COIN & GHOST because our work juxtaposes the PERMANENT (what is accepted, expected, established, conventional, and ritual) with the UNSTABLE (what is ridiculous, surprising, experimental, bizarre, and eccentric).

As one would “coin a new term,” we create new mythologies out of thin air. As one would “ghost from a party,” we disappear these stories without a trace — and create brand new ones in their place.