Roar of the Grain: Stage Reading
Announcing my new play in development with the Harold Clurman Lab Theater
I’m thrilled to announce that I have a new play in development called ROAR OF THE GRAIN. Together with the esteemed Harold Clurman Lab Theater, I invite you to our live stage reading on Thursday, October 23, 2025 at the Art of Acting Studio in Los Angeles.
A New Play. Inspired by True Events. My grandfather served as a captain on the frontlines of the Winter War of 1939. He was captured by the Soviets who accused him of a war crime, threatening him with life imprisonment. My new play, Roar of the Grain, is based on his story.
“Roar of the Grain” Stage Reading • Full Press Release
HAROLD CLURMAN LAB THEATER IN ASSOCIATION WITH KARAKUVA PRESENTS A STAGE READING OF THE NEW PLAY, “ROAR OF THE GRAIN”
WRITTEN BY SATU, “ROAR OF THE GRAIN” IS AN ORIGINAL DRAMA INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS DURING THE WINTER WAR BETWEEN FINLAND AND THE USSR
LOS ANGELES, CA — (October 2, 2025) — The Stella Adler Studio of Acting’s Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company (HCLAB), in association with Karakuva Productions, will present a stage reading for ROAR OF THE GRAIN, a new play in development, written by Satu and directed by Johnny Patrick Yoder, for one night at the Art of Acting Studio at 7:30pm on Thursday, October 23, 2025.
ROAR OF THE GRAIN is a drama focused on a Finnish captain fighting to clear his name during the investigation into the deaths of six Russian prisoners of war. Based on actual events of her grandfather’s time defending Finland from the Russian invasion during the Winter War of 1939, Satu was inspired to tell this complex political story of courage and sacrifice when the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 escalated to become the deadliest war in Europe since WWII.
The Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company has a long history of excellence in theater in both New York and Los Angeles, having been nominated for 3 Ovation Awards and 3 LA Drama Critic’s Awards since 2011, establishing a reputation of promoting and fostering a vital theater community in Los Angeles.
“Finland’s WWII story of David and Goliath proportions is as inspirational as it gets when it comes to underdogs,” Satu says about the play’s theme. “It’s an anti-war story that refuses to shy away from the ethical complexities of self-defense in battle, like having to negotiate with the Third Reich—a common enemy—to take back annexed territory.”
“So much of history we do not know - and its implications for modern conflicts on a global scale,” says Johnny Patrick Yoder on the play’s relevance to our times. “Roar of the Grain explores a part of history that has a direct relationship to what we are seeing happen in Ukraine, and greater struggle for self-determination. That is why I am so fascinated and drawn to this story, and why it makes an ideal project for the HCLAB.”
Johnny Patrick Yoder and Satu have a history of working together to tackle challenging and thorny subject matter, including the 2023 production of Paula Vogel’s Indecent and a 2024 production of Will Arbery’s Heroes of the Fourth Turning. Satu says of the stage reading’s director, “Johnny has a sophisticated way of weaving intricate, layered text with a naturalistic approach. There’s plenty of grey area to explore in this play, both morally and intellectually. That’s the type of challenge we like to present to an audience.”
On Thursday, October 23, 2025 at 7:30pm, the play’s first developmental stage reading will take place at the Art of Acting Studio in Hollywood. It will be read in front of a live audience by a cast of readers, featuring: Josh Swezey, Steve J. Palmer, Anja Racić, Patrick Jon Rivers, Victor Montez, and Teodora Avramovic. For updates, follow ROAR OF THE GRAIN on Instagram. To reserve tickets, please visit: https://aoa.ludus.com/200500615
ABOUT JOHNNY PATRICK YODER
Johnny Patrick Yoder is the West Coast Producer of the Harold Clurman Lab Theater. He is a graduate of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting with a B.A in Theatre & Arts Management from the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. With HCLab, he’s produced productions of King Lear, Muckrakers, Long Way Go Down, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Marisol, Waiting for Lefty, and directed Democracy(sic). Other directing credits include: Love’s Labour’s Lost, August: Osage County, and Gloria (Art of Acting Studio), The Laramie Project, The Year of the Rooster (York Theatre Company), Topdog/Underdog, Dinner with Friends, and In Whose Eyes. He has performed in Off-Broadway productions such as Our Town (HCLab), The Third Step (ATA), Mismatched.com (Manhattan Repertory), Stain (development reading, Choice Theatricals at Roundabout Theatre Company), and in the Los Angeles productions of Enron, Henry VI, Part 1, The Fifth of July, Thom Pain, and Blue Window (The Production Company), Rocket to the Moon, and Waiting for Lefty (HCLab).
ABOUT SATU
Satu is a playwright and filmmaker in Los Angeles. Her production company is Karakuva. Her original musical play, “King Nigel’s Nervous Breakdown” (written, produced, and performed by Satu) held its LA premiere at Hollywood Fringe Festival, ‘24. “The Echo of Your Goodbye” (music video directed and produced by Satu) premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre as an Official Selection of Dances With Films, ‘25. From calypso to Finnish folk, music was a ubiquitous presence in her multicultural childhood home in rural Nova Scotia. She is a conservatory graduate of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, New York, and a member of the Dramatists Guild, SAG-AFTRA, Actors’ Equity, ASCAP, and Maestra. For more information on Karakuva, visit: www.karakuva.com and follow on Instagram.
ABOUT THE HAROLD CLURMAN LABORATORY THEATER COMPANY
The mission of the HCLAB is to provide the community, through theater and discussion, with a place of exploration and experimentation of what it means to be a human being. The Lab produces, or, reproduces, the spirit, voice and theatrical sensibilities of The Stella Adler Studio on a professional level in New York and Los Angeles. The Lab serves as a launching pad for students and an artistic home for faculty to grow and evolve. It also includes actors, directors, and designers from outside the immediate community, who share our humanitarian impulse and vision.
The Stella Adler Studio celebrates 75 years of creating an environment with the purpose of nurturing theater artists and audiences who value humanity, their own and others, as their first and most precious priority by providing art and education to the greater community.
Select production history includes Pipeline (LA Drama Critics Circle, 2x Nominee), Mercy Killers by Michael Milligan (Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013, Fringe First Award), Lebensraum by Israel Horovitz (off-Broadway, Ovation-Nominated in Los Angeles), Long Way Go Down by Zayd Dohrn (West Coast premiere, Ovation Award Nominee), Our Town by Thornton Wilder, What Shall I Give My Children? by Don K. Williams (world premiere). For more information, visit: artofactingstudio.com/center/hclab/ and follow on Instagram.
For information and media availability on Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater or Johnny Patrick Yoder, please contact: Johnny Patrick Yoder | HCLAB, LA Producer | johnny@stellaadler.com | (323) 601-5310
For information and media availability on Satu, please contact: press@saturuna.com
Attend the Stage Reading 10.23.25
Limited seats available, one night only. Reserve tickets here:
