by Constance Jaquay Strickland
Quick peeks at #HFF25’s “Women on the Fringe” by Fringe Femmes who are behind the scenes this year. Click Here for all Check-Ins
WHO: Charlene Modeste
WHAT: She’s About to POP!
WHERE: Hudson Theatres (Hudson Guild), 6539 Santa Monica Bl
WHY: Because this story isn’t fiction—it’s lived.
Because Charlene’s voice is as smooth as butter.
Because fibroids are a silent epidemic in Black women’s bodies, and silence has never saved us.
Because Charlene dares to make the invisible visible.
Because reproductive justice isn’t a luxury—it’s a right.
Because navigating a flawed system while in pain is a performance in itself—and she lived it before she ever stepped onstage.
Because we’ve been taught to endure, but not to speak.
Because she speaks anyway.
Because cannabis, healing, and the right to choose have been violently policed when you’re a Black woman.
Because she names what so many carry in secret.
Because her body becomes a battleground, and then a beacon.
Because storytelling is survival.
Because she makes you laugh, ache, and think—sometimes all in the same breath.
Because you’ll carry this one with you, long after the curtain falls.
Because the more we talk about healthcare injustice, the more power we build as a community.
Because Charlene has the right to receive the medical care she believes in.
Because now is the time to go support this show.
HOW: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/11580
Click Here to Find More “Women on the Fringe!”
