Using multimedia and the written word, Stage Raw is a digital journal dedicated to discovering, discussing and honoring L.A.-based arts and culture. Using and expanding on a core of current and formerL.A. Weekly contributors, Stage Raw initially is focusing on theater, but soon will broaden its coverage to include dance, music and the visual arts. The site offers complimentary searchable event listings, reviews, features, profiles, humor and essays. In our culture, most of the stories arriving from the airwaves are created to sell products. Stage Raw will focus on the many voices and visions otherwise muted by this theology of marketing: We stand behind the actor on the unadorned stage; the director forging undiscovered meanings in a classic; the dramatist, painter, comedian and composer who may not have an agent, but who have something authentic to say. Stage Raw is here to provoke, and to serve artists and their audiences in the larger struggle to discern the purpose of our lives, and the meaning of our city.