In "Me, Myself and Other," Diana Romero turns personal struggle into compelling theater, creating a solo performance that refuses to be defined by limitation. The 50-minute piece, directed by Maggie Whittum, examines identity, disability, and resilience with refreshing candor. Romero traces her evolution as a first-generation American woman navigating cultural boundaries before and after doctors diagnosed her with multiple sclerosis at 32. This production stands out for its honest approach to disability - neither maudlin... Read more →
In "Reservoir Dolls," Lani Harms delivers a sharp, meta-theatrical solo comedy that cleverly enters Quentin Tarantino's bloody cinematic universe. As both writer and performer, Harms tells the story of Atlanta Springfield, a barefoot call girl who suddenly realizes she's trapped in Tarantino's tenth and final film and must flee for her life while meeting the director's previous female characters. The concept compels because it works as both homage and critique. By making her protagonist self-aware... Read more →
Natasha Mercado's three new works at Hollywood Fringe 2025 show a director who freshly combines vulnerability with absurdity. Having built her reputation through solo performances and directing, Mercado now brings her "Soft Clown" approach to three productions: "Funeral Show," "The Birth of Disco," and "El Mago Loco." What connects these works is Mercado's commitment to emotional honesty within surrealist settings. Her directing avoids the ironic detachment that often plagues experimental theater. Instead, she creates spaces... Read more →
GEOMETRIES OF EXILE In this land of fractured light I recognize myself - divided, city upon city stacked, mathematics of separation. Orange flames consume the borders, blue waters rise against the night. Who taught us to build these walls when earth belongs to no one? Between two fragments lies a path, black and wordless. Call it the passage of those who cannot return. Call it home. We walk through cities made of memory, grids that... Read more →
"Hellas" resurrects ancient Greek theatrical traditions with ambition and vision. Christopher William Johnson's production, with fight coordinator Jen Albert's combat sequences, follows the Greek tradition of a single-day performance. This world premiere honors classical roots while testing modern audiences' appetite for immersive storytelling. Twenty-three performers portray the birth of Western democracy, showing both social change and personal conflicts. "Hellas" stands out through its authentic form—verse, mask, rhythm, dance and combat create an experience beyond typical... Read more →
In "Blackout - No Hard Feelings," Kerri Van Auken crafts a darkly comic journey into the mind of Mary Lynn, a woman whose sunny disposition masks a life in free fall. Van Auken's one-woman show deftly navigates the troubles of middle-aged disappointment with humor and psychological depth. This production stands out for its fresh take on emotional avoidance. Rather than merely depicting escapism, Van Auken takes us inside her protagonist's head, creating a psychological landscape... Read more →
Rejyna Douglass-Whitman transforms personal struggle into theatre in "Trans Mom vs. Family Court." Set in 1990s Los Angeles, this one-woman show chronicles a transgender musician's fight for custody of her daughter while navigating gender identity, conservative attitudes and legal prejudice. The production avoids easy sentiment and predictable political messages. Douglass-Whitman, making her solo acting debut after years as a musician, brings authenticity to a story that balances personal revelation with social commentary. The show examines... Read more →
In "Hooligani," Venessa Verdugo becomes Tetyana Komisaruk, a Russian madam on trial for trafficking Ukrainian women into prostitution in 1990s Los Angeles. The solo performance unfolds as a courtroom plea where Tetyana attempts to secure leniency by recounting her journey from Moscow orphan to criminal. The true crime narrative compels not just through its topicality but by casting the audience as both jury and voyeur. Drawing on her training at Cal State Fullerton and Stella... Read more →
Rheagan Wallace's solo show reveals a common paradox in performing careers: those who push you toward the spotlight often cast the longest shadows. In "Stage Mamma," Wallace transforms her progression from Texas child actor to Hollywood professional into a universal story about finding independence within complex family relationships. The production goes beyond simple memoir by using a sophisticated multimedia approach. Wallace doesn't just tell her story - she embodies it through multiple character transformations, while... Read more →
In "Reveal," ArtCenter College of Design's first graduate exhibition explores the concept of unveiling. Co-curated by Gerardo Herrera and James Meraz, the exhibition reveals how artists create, not just their finished works. Nine graduate students from Industrial Design to Film have transformed the new Graduate Studies Gallery into a workshop of visible creation. The exhibition shows how artists make things, not just what they finish. Installations, augmented reality elements and models connect disciplines that might... Read more →
"Jump or Fall" shows a moment of human connection at the edge of despair. Playwright Rich Nagle balances darkness and possibility as two strangers meet at a bridge, each seeking an end to their troubles. It's not just a story about suicide, but about chance meetings and how people move between isolation and connection. Director Yunyi Zhu handles these difficult emotions with actors Gina Elaine and Larry Coleman, who show the tentative dance between vulnerability... Read more →
After losing his home to Los Angeles fires, director Andrew Weyman finds refuge in staging “Fostered” at Pacific Resident Theatre. This contemporary comedy marks a departure from PRT’s usual classical repertoire, offering instead a timely look at authenticity in a world of pretense. Set during the 2016 election and its aftermath, Chaya Doswell’s play follows the Foster family of Scarsdale. Parents Karen and Sandy try to embrace change until their adult children return home with... Read more →
Odalys Nanin's reimagined "Frida - Stroke of Passion" transforms the traditional theatrical experience into a sensory journey that collapses the boundary between audience and art. This immersive staging resurrects Kahlo’s final days with haunting immediacy. The production doesn’t sanitize Kahlo's complex reality: her physical agony, her sexual fluidity, and her defiance of social conventions emerge unvarnished. The narrative architecture balances historical accuracy with artistic interpretation, particularly in exploring the mysterious circumstances surrounding Kahlo's death. Nanin's... Read more →
In "Lost Cellphone Weekend," Emmy Award-winning composer Stephen Gilbane adapts Billy Wilder's noir classic about alcoholism into a dark comedy about our addiction to screens. The premise is simple: Don Birnam spends a weekend without his phone, making audiences face their own tech habits. Gilbane's musical, directed by Darrin Yalacki, uses film noir's shadowy style to show our dependence on technology. The production explores how technology has changed our relationships and identities. The work stands... Read more →
Jordan R. Young's one-woman show "Bela Lugosi Meets Edna St. Vincent Millay" creates an unlikely but fascinating intersection of two cultural figures who never actually met. Rose London shifts effortlessly between roles - the narrator, Millay herself, and Lugosi - while revealing surprising parallels between the vampire actor and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. Both achieved fame early, spoke against fascism, and struggled with addiction. The show places these historical figures within a story about an actress... Read more →
In "The Promise," Bashir Makhoul turns Zawyeh Gallery into a meditation on displacement through simple architectural forms. His work rebuilds houses as containers of memory. The recurring motif - a cube with door and window - creates a visual vocabulary both minimal and rich with meaning. The exhibition strikes a balance between aesthetic beauty and political urgency. His electroplated 3D prints give the dense house formations a crystalline quality, making them appear both fragile and... Read more →
"Tasty Little Rabbit" explores how art, morality and political persecution intersect in a story that feels eerily relevant. Tom Jacobson's new play, directed by George Bamber, examines the 1936 Fascist Italian investigation of Wilhelm von Gloeden's photographs, revealing deeper secrets from the 1890s involving von Gloeden, poet Sebastian Melmoth, and a young Sicilian model. The production refuses easy categorizations. It doesn't just rehash debates about art versus pornography but shows how moral panics serve political... Read more →