Trans Mom vs. Family Court: Justice Sees No Gender

THURS, JUNE 5TH – 5:30pm | FRI, JUNE 13th – 6:00pm | SAT, JUNE 28th – 7:30pm

Why am I chronicling my transition to trans-mother while simultaneously fighting for custody rights in 1995 without an attorney? Because positive trans-stories are needed as witness of common ground and our rightful place in society. I’m sharing my custody battle for the first time publicly to help reframe trans stereotypes and empower our community and allies against dishonest rhetoric and discriminatory legislation.

Maybe telling this story risks backlash, but still I’m urgently compelled to challenge bias and hate, and save lives; especially as we face persecution and legislative animus trying to literally erase trans people!

My story highlights how transgender parents face discriminatory scrutiny in custody battles, where ‘best interest of the child’ is often weaponized against them based solely on gender identity. Despite psychological experts confirming that transitioning doesn’t affect parenting abilities, these biases persist in our legal system.

Set in the 90’s, my story also shows that being ‘trans’ isn’t some recent phenomenon. We have always been here and always will be.

Transgender rights are revoked daily. As of April 2025, there are over 850 anti-transgender bills under consideration nationwide, with 219 actively being considered as of January 17, 2025.

Some of us feel like giving up, fleeing our country. They want us terrified. States like Kentucky and Nevada have terminated parental rights based on gender identity. We cannot bear more parents being separated from their children, more trans suicides, more hate crimes – and more lies.

The issue extends beyond courtrooms into broader civil rights challenges affecting LGBTQIA2S communities. As more people live authentically, trans custody disputes increase, forcing some parents to choose between their truth and relationships with their children. This reflects an openly coordinated pattern of attacks – from challenges to same-sex marriage, sports participation, restroom choices, medical treatment and adoption rights to restrictions on discussing gender and sexuality in schools.

These efforts connect with increased surveillance of marginalized groups and attempts to weaken workplace protections against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Their agenda is ultimately about controlling not just identities, but bodies, voices, and personal freedoms.

At this moment, trans rights are being rolled back decades and our very existence is being undermined.

In 2024;

* 46% of trans and nonbinary youth considered suicide (14% attempted)
* Anti-trans laws increased suicide up to 72%
* At least 32 trans individuals were murdered
* FBI data shows rising LGBTQIA2S hate crimes

I’m weaving live looping, reenactment, courtroom audio and transcripts, my music and photographs to entertain, educate, motivate and unify. My story demonstrates that authenticity and equal rights are as valid for trans people as for cis people and the potential impact demands that my story be shared. I truly appreciate your support for my play and for our community!

Anyone under 16 should be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
There is no violence, ideations or profanity but there are contextual sexual references.

[Discount Code: lafpi25]

El Mago Loco starring & created by Linzy Beltran, directed & co-devised by Natasha Mercado

Show Description

Making its 2025 debut as a Hollywood Fringe Scholarship Winner, El Mago Loco is a magician who only does what he knows: Latino magic tricks! But what happens when you show up (white, black, Asian-American, Brazilian?) and the audience isn’t 100% Latino? What follows is only una noche to prove his worth (magically, of course) and the discovery that true happiness in mediocrity is better than someone else’s (you!) version of success. Oh and yeah, he’s going to do that trick where he cuts someone in half (also you?).

Ticket Price: $15

Tickets go on sale on May 1!

The Attic Collective presents And Her Children
Co-Writer and Director: Rosie Glen-Lambert
Co-Writer and Performer: Hailey McAfee

And Her Children is a reimagining of Bertolt Brecht’s play Mother Courage and Her  Children which explores the American gun violence epidemic through the lens of a spokeswoman for the NRA. Inspired by former NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch’s infamous appearance at a Town Hall following the Parkland shooting, And Her Children is a fascinating meditation on what it means to be paid to defend the right to bear arms. Time holds still as our contemporary Anna Fierling is plummeted into a liminal space where the audience is a stand-in for her own troubled conscience. In this imagined space, she grapples with two gnawing questions: Has she been selfish? And will she keep her job?

Violinist: Ilana Waniuk
Sound Designer: Padra Crisafulli
Lighting Designer: Russell Chow
Costume, Hair and Makeup, and Poster Designer: Mallory McAfee
Assistant Director: Abi Hood

Thursday June 5th @7pm
Saturday June 14th @3pm
Monday June 16th @7pm
Saturday June 21st @6:30pm
Saturday June 28th @2pm

RUNTIME
90 Minutes, No Intermission

OTHER INFO

Parking near the venue is extremely tricky and very limited. There is no designated lot, so you will need to find parking on the street. Plan to arrive at least a half an hour early to ensure that you are able to park, locate the theatre, and check in. We also highly encourage ridesharing services or public transportation as a way to avoid the parking debacle entirely.

As this show is part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival, we encourage you to see other performances in the festival and support Los Angeles theatre!

Thin Blood Memorabilia by Skylar Shen

Play Description: “Four seasons, a year of remembering; Four generations, a hundred years of deafening silence.”

On the cusp of turning 25, Juniper finds herself surrounded by boxes of forgotten keepsakes—tokens of heartbreaks, half-dreams, and one unopened journal from her late mother. What begins as a New Year’s act of curiosity unspools into a year-long journey across continents, languages, and generations. As Juniper follows the breadcrumbs of memory, she unearths the fractured lives of the women who came before her—mothers and grandmothers, whose stories span nearly a century.

Told through a kaleidoscope of voices spanning four generations of women, Thin Blood Memorabilia is a haunting solo work about what we inherit, what we forget, and what still lingers in the memorabilia we leave behind. Set against the backdrop of the Chinese-Korean diaspora, the play weaves together themes of generational trauma, cultural dislocation, and the complicated legacy of motherhood. Through the memorabilia she unboxes—letters, leaves, lullabies—Juniper traverses through the wreckage of their inheritance, confronts a lineage buried in silence and shame, and unveils the memories that refuse to fade.

Artistic Team:

Director/Playwright/Actor/Producer: Skylar Shen (she/they)
Stage Manager/Sound Designer: Jacob Padilla (he/they)
Scenic Designer: Bonnie Kim (She/her)
Lighting Designer: Cat Conte-Morrero (She/they)

Show times:

June 5  8:30pm
June 10 7pm
June 21 10:30pm
June 28 10am

Website:
https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/12217?tab=details

Instagram link:
https://www.instagram.com/uglytuna_ensemble

#thinbloodmemorabilia

Buen Camino by Susan Edsall. 

Susan has a perfect life, a perfect love, and perfect happiness. When she suddenly undergoes an unexpected loss, her perfect life ends. Consumed by excruciating pain, she finds it impossible to imagine any future worth living. 

Until, on an ordinary trip to the grocery store, she hears The Voice. The trouble is, Susan doesn’t believe in Voices. And yet, when The Voice tells her to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain, she obeys despite knowing nothing about this ancient pilgrimage. 

At rock bottom, Susan has nothing left to lose except the stories that bind her to the past. With the help of some improbable Spiritual Guides and the Camino itself, Susan must face her past to have any hope of creating her future.

A solo show told through 23 captivating characters and dynamic multimedia, Buen Camino is an hour-long walk through 540 miles of rain, resentment, and redemption.

Directed & Developed by Jessica Lynn Johnson.

7pm Thursday June 5, 3:30pm Saturday June 21, 5:45pm Sunday June 29

susanedsall.com

Instagram: @susanjoyedsall

Fancy’s Hookin for Love by Chris Farah – Fancy’s newest show is a campy yet heartfelt, delightfully ridiculous exploration of finding love, connection, and compassion for yourself in this digital age.  Fancy’s (based on the song “Fancy” by Bobbie Gentry & made famous by Reba McEntire) brand new show, “Fancy’s Hookin’ for Love” features everyone’s favorite po’ country girl turned high-faluntin prostitute with a heart of Gold (and a purse/puss to match) Fancy. If you are a fan of camp comedy, draq queens and bio-queens, dumb jokes, Bobbie Gentry, Reba McEntire, Elvira, Dolly Parton, Mae West, the Golden Girls or Dame Edna, you’ll adore @FancyTheShow and her pianst Jake “Poodle” Anthony (musical director). 50 MINS.

ONLY THREE SHOWS:

Friday June 6 2025, 8:30 PM – PWYC

Saturday June 14 2025, 8:00 PM

Saturday June 21 2025, 8:30 PM

Go to @FancyTheShow or email [email protected]

https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/12156?tab=details

Chelsea reluctantly attends the funeral of her father, a successful businessman and a pillar of the community. Or, in Chelsea’s perspective, a lying, cheating, asshole. You see, Chelsea would rather swim in a pool with hungry sharks than spend an evening with the self-centered narcissists she calls family, but, alas… her mother wants her there for the photo op.

This razor-sharp and scathing family satire with snappy mordacious dialogue and a keen understanding of dysfunctional family dynamics will keep you at the edge of your seat with hilarious and unexpected turns as well as poignant moments of true connection.

Written and directed by former Netflix and CBS development executive Adriana Martinez Barron. Produced by Martínez Barrón, Carmona and Alan Luna. 

2025 HOLLYWOOD FRINGE SCHOLARSHIP WINNER!

Amidst the chaos and mayhem of a topsy-turvy life, Charlene finds herself in the absurd predicament of being a walking paradox: a visibly pregnant woman who isn’t actually pregnant. Misunderstood and left to her own devices after conventional remedies fail to heal her condition, she stumbles upon a controversial remedy that isn’t entirely legal.

She’s About to POP! is a one woman show that tickles as well as it taunts. Written and performed by Charlene Modeste, it pokes fun at stigma, false narratives and other immaculate misconceptions. If laughter is the best medicine and healing isn’t a crime, get yourself a ticket to the show at any of the allotted times. 

Q & A following each performance.

The world premiere of ONE UP: THE MUSICAL, a high-energy original musical set in the neon glow of the 1980s tech boom, is landing at the Hollywood Fringe Festival this June! One Up is a heartfelt celebration of ambition, friendship, and what it takes to make it on the digital frontier.

Bryson, a bright but untested intern at Classic Games, is an aspiring video game programmer who’s ready to level up. After sneaking her original game into the company’s Testing Day, the company’s CEO Greg begrudgingly agrees to let her develop it further under the supervision of Carol, his secretary and the one who keeps the wheels turning behind-the-scenes. As Bryson’s career begins to take off, she risks losing sight of what matters most: the community that inspired her and the friends who believed in her from the start.

The book was written by Mary Bonney and Weslie Lechner and music and lyrics were written by Matt Dahan, creator of Pulp Musicals and music director of acclaimed theater company Team Starkid. Hannah Globus, award-winning writer of The Relentless Award’s Picket Plays, joins as the show’s director.

In a groundbreaking move that honors the real legacy of women in gaming, the production welcomes Dona Bailey, co-creator of the iconic 1981 arcade game Centipede, as Creative Consultant. Her insight into the era and her trailblazing career inspired Bryson’s journey and the world of One Up.

“We wanted to tell a story that celebrated creativity, community and ambition while highlighting the often-overlooked women who helped shape the early gaming industry,” says Mary Bonney, creator of One Up. “It’s a love letter to console games from the view of their pioneering programmers and their passion that powered up generations to come.”

Don’t miss your chance to press start on the feel-good eighties musical of the summer!

Dead Fat Corpse, a daring two-hander solo play by Barbara Lee Bragg, will make its Hollywood Fringe Festival debut this June, bringing audiences an unfiltered, semi-autobiographical journey through identity, survival, and the brutal realities of the entertainment industry.

Dead Fat Corpse is a dark comedy layered with metaphorical storytelling, drawn directly from Bragg’s own life as a young actor confronting Hollywood’s unforgiving terrain. At its heart, the play is a declaration of defiance and resilience. “Born out of pain—fire like a Phoenix arising,” Bragg says. “A poor kid from rural Wyoming gets into Yale Drama School and then has to fight like hell for the rest of her life to keep her dream alive. Never give up.” The play embodies that spirit, chronicling her relentless pursuit of a dream in the face of an industry that often devalues those who don’t fit its narrow mold.

The title Dead Fat Corpse comes from a real casting call that encapsulated the brutal objectification Bragg encountered—an audition seeking someone to play exactly that. The moment was a breaking point, pushing her to leave acting and take a telemarketing job. But it also became a turning point. Fueled by the pain and absurdity of that experience, Bragg returned to the stage with renewed purpose. Through biting humor and unflinching social commentary, the play explores the entertainment industry’s darker undercurrents, touching on themes of homelessness, self-worth, and survival—all shaped by Bragg’s lived experience.

Through biting humor and devastating truths, Dead Fat Corpse confronts themes of self-worth, rejection, and perseverance. Bragg recalls a formative piece of advice given to her by playwright John Patrick Shanley: “Most people are sleepwalking through life, and yet about 10% are walking around in constant amazement.” Bragg states, “this is why I wrote this. Because you can’t keep a champion down.”

Audiences will leave with a challenge—what will you do with your one wild and precious life? “You can be a hero to yourself,” Bragg states. “You pick yourself. FLY.”

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

Debra Deliso (Director) is a critically acclaimed actor, writer, and director. She is the recipient of the LA Women’s Theatre Festival Rainbow Award for her decades of work in forgotten communities, including incarcerated women and disabled artists. She has directed over 800 original solo plays, many of which have garnered awards in Los Angeles and NYC. Since 2002, Debra has been teaching acting, improv, and playwriting at AADA and USC, based on her master’s thesis, The Physicalization of a Role. Exhilarated, she recently wrapped producing, directing, and acting in her first feature film, Small Town. For upcoming workshops, visit www.debradeliso.com.

Barbara Lee Bragg (Writer/Performer) hails from a Wyoming pioneer family, with both her father and grandfather recognized as award-winning Western authors. She earned her MFA from the prestigious Yale School of Drama after moving to New York, later performing in several Off-Broadway productions and voice work for Broadway. Now based in Los Angeles, Barbara has appeared in numerous television shows, written solo performances, and adapted Western scripts. She recently starred in Space Command: Forgiveness. She belongs to Open Fist Theatre company and will be on Tom Jacobsen’s newest play. Barbara Lee Bragg – IMDb

Catharine Koszlowski (Performer)  is a dynamic performer whose energy and depth bring her characters to life. Originally from the South Side of Chicago, she discovered her passion for acting in high school, immersing herself in community theater before moving to New York City to study Meisner technique and train at The Actors Studio. A former member of the renowned improv troupe Meow Wolf, Catherine brings versatility and authenticity to her roles. In Dead Fat Corpse, she plays Chicago and Lilith, the sidekick to Barbs. Her presence promises to add a compelling layer to this bold, provocative production.

Plato’s cave except it’s a slumber party with 7 clowns directed by Natasha Mercado. “The Birth of Disco” is a Lynchian physical comedy and feminist clown allegory exploring play in the face of capitalism. What happens when we all stay up late and start asking the real questions?

Written by: Molly Koch, Alex Derderian, Angelika Giatras, Franny Harold, Hollis Hart, Tiff Ogburn, Emily Markoe and Natasha Mercado

As seen on Chicago Med, East Bound & Down, Toronto & San Fran Sketchfest, Just for Laughs, Sleep No More, Edinburgh Fringe, and a Rugrats Commercial.

SHOW TIMES

Saturday June 7 2025, 11:00 AM | 1hr

The Broadwater (Black Box)

6322 Santa Monica Blvd.

Saturday June 14 2025, 11:55 PM | 1hr

The Broadwater (Black Box)

6322 Santa Monica Blvd.

Sunday June 22 2025, 5:30 PM | 1hr

The Broadwater (Black Box)

6322 Santa Monica Blvd.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/h0ly.h0ly/

#HolyHoly

A Peacock in the Rubble by Marissa Rutka

OCD made Marissa think her world would burn down. Then her house actually did. Through raw audio journals, childhood letters, and live performance, a deeply personal story of loss, mental illness, and healing. 50% of ticket sales support Altadena recovery efforts.

Directed by Katie Meyer

Producers: Marissa Rutka, Katie Meyer, Megan Raitano, Kevin Clark-Ryan, Kevin O’Rourke, Jr.

Showtimes: June 7th – 7:00pm | June 12th – 8:30pm | June 15th – 6:30pm | June 21st – 4:30pm | June 23rd – 10:00pm

Website: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/11647?tab=details

Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/marissa.rutka/

“Hooligani” by Venessa Verdugo.

This show is based on true events.

Tetyana  Komisaruk, a Russian madam active in the Los Angeles area during the 1990s, was tried and convicted for her participation in a smuggling ring that brought young women from Ukraine to the U.S. via Mexico with the objective of forcing them into prostitution.

In a bid for lenient sentencing, Tetyana addresses the jury and makes a deal for lenient sentencing:: She reveals how she went from growing up in a Moscow orphanage to becoming a criminal entrepreneur. She was incredibly successful….until the authorities caught up with her, that is. Now, she has one chance to make her case. Will the jury let her go free?

Performed by Venessa Verdugo. Produced by Jessica Lynn Johnson for Soaring Solo Studios.

Preview on Saturday, June 7, 2025 at 12:45 p.m. Regular performances on Friday, June 13 at 5:00 p.m. and Wednesday, June 25 at 9:00 p.m.

http://hollywoodfringe.org/projects/12186

International Party Girl by Annie Laurie Daniel

If you’ve ever been in a strangers house at 3pm after the afters, you will probably have a good time at this show. And even if you’ve never charged your phone in a club bathroom to call an uber to escape the guy you met on the dance floor, there’s a lot of fun to be had.

This show has it all: girl DJs, a guy named Sven, original and unoriginal music, delusion, loneliness, and the search for purpose.

Written and performed by Annie Laurie Daniel, photography and music by Steven Miedenbauer, fashion consultant Ian Abernathy

Showtimes:

06/07/25 @ 9pm

06/14/25 @ 2pm

06/20/25 @11:45pm

06/22/25 @9pm

06/26/25 @5pm

SMUT with Entendre Entendre by Bryn Woznicki

What if your wildest sex stories came to life at a book launch that’s part confessional, part cabaret, and fully undressed?

“SMUT with Entendre Entendre” is a hot, hilarious, and unexpectedly heartfelt solo show premiering at this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival before twirling its tassels to the legendary Edinburgh Fringe. Ripped from the pages of her real-life little black book, the show is written and performed by LA artist Bryn Woznicki under the direction of Rachel Resnik,

In SMUT, Woznicki becomes Entendre Entendre, a glitter-drenched seductress who spills on her many (many!) lovers, through storytelling, song, and striptease. But beneath the rhinestones and raunch is a deeper reveal: stories of intimacy, vulnerability, and the quiet ache behind the performance of pleasure and power.

Bryn Woznicki, an award-winning filmmaker and multidisciplinary performer known in LA’s drag, burlesque, and comedy scenes, brings her most personal work to date to Fringe audiences. Multi-awarded artist Rachel Resnik (A Drag Is Born, $$$) whose work fuses clown, comedy, and catharsis, directs the show.

• Dates: Saturday, June 7 (7:00 PM), Friday June 13 (10:00 PM), Thursday June 26 (9:00 PM)

• Venue:  The Actors Company – The Little Theater.  916 N Formosa Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046

www.brynwoz.com/smut

Instagram: @brynwoz (playwright) @entendre_entendre (character) #smutwithentendreentendre

https://www.facebook.com/brynwoz

Have you ever watched the Pixar movie Inside Out* and thought, “if only there were an ADHD split-stage play production where a black college student uses her psychiatrist appointment to act out the mental breakdown she had over the school year by turning her mental illnesses into personified characters?”

Wait? What did you say?

Oh, were you thinking that only a mentally ill playwright looking for an outlet to process her mental breakdown would write a parody like that?

Well, that’s a weirdly intrusive yet accurate assessment. I suspect the fact that the protagonist and mental illness characters occasionally break out into spoken word poetry isn’t normal either.

Anyway…

It’s all over. There is nowhere to hide. Pre-med student Pandora has just failed her sophomore year of college without anyone noticing; except now, the spotlight is on her. She sits on a couch in front of the curtain, waiting for her new psychiatrist. This is not the hot girl summer she was hoping for.

An offstage voice introduces itself as Pandora’s new psychiatrist, Dr. Green. Pandora, being a deeply unserious person, cracks a few jokes while Dr. Green tells her that her test results demonstrate that she is experiencing dissociation, acute panic attacks, anxiety, and depression.

To properly diagnose Pandora, Dr. Green asks her to describe her mental state throughout the academic school year. She agrees. The curtain opens, and the play begins.

Pandora acts out her external world on the left half of the stage, whether it be the bus stop where Pandora gets stalked, the festering dorm room she shares with her best friend Myelin, a hospital room, or the poetry club.

On the right side of the stage is Pandora’s internal world, a tiny universe that consists of two rooms: the Control Room and the Breakroom.

The Control Room is where the magic or, um, chaos happens. Pandora has free will, but her perception of the world is dictated by a cast of comedic, well-meaning tyrannical characters, namely Dep (Depression), Annie (Anxiety), Libby (Libido), and Charisma. They all watch and interact with Pandora’s external world from completely different perspectives.

The Breakroom is where Auntie Em (Empathy) resides, the most powerful and vulnerable character in Pandora’s internal world. Auntie Em is the character who is needed the most to manage the chaos of the Control Room. Auntie Em has a small problem, though. She’s a hermit who refuses to go into the Control Room ever since Pandora’s childhood friend committed suicide on her watch. Whoops! Instead, she spends all of her time in the Breakroom, which she has converted into a crochet and cookie-filled therapist’s office where she counsels the remaining internal characters.

Follow Pandora (with Dr. Green’s help) on her quest to get diagnosed as she unravels the internal and external variables that led to her psychological decline.

* a children’s animated film featuring emotions as living creatures bickering and working inside a child’s brain

BEST OF FRINGE – Capital Fringe Festival 2023

How far would you go to feel those you’ve lost?

After her beloved father dies, everyone tells Adedana that her father will always be with her. But she doesn’t feel him. At all. And she wonders, is she doing her first go of grief right?

In search of his presence, Adedana does the one thing she knows how to do: plan a grand adventure, a road trip to the Grand Canyon. Trouble is, she doesn’t have a driver’s license. And so begins the journey of a lifetime through the American Southwest, where she finds someone else entirely.

Grief Baby’s First Road Trip is a standup dramedy on the good, the bad, the funny, and the unbelievable of grief – i.e. the perks and perils African dad parenting, what people say that is (and isn’t) helpful, getting more attractive despite being really sad, and other things to expect when you unexpectedly lose your favorite person.

Prepare to laughcry/crylaugh at the show that earned 4.5 stars and a “Best of Fringe” designation at its world premiere at the 2023 Capital Fringe Festival in Washington, D.C.

-collage credit: Kalindi Winfield-

On a scorching hot day, Justice escapes Moron—ironically renamed Taft—and sets off down The 5 towards the porn capital of the world, eager to cash in that pesky V-card. This neurodivergent romp hilariously navigates the journey of fulfilling a biological urge through a trail of info dumping and a bit of misguided logic. Justice regales the audience with tales of misadventures and the awkward dance of social cues in L.A.

The story kicks off with a captivating rundown of Justice’s misfortunes in Taft and the struggle to find a suitable sex partner—every prospect back home is either a relative, an idiot, or both. When Justice arrives in L.A., the desire to sparkle as the Unicorn at a Swingers party takes root. After dropping trou too soon, Justice flees and ends up at a deserted Bear bar beer bust.

Through failed escapades, Justice learns all the ways not to lose her virginity—and realizes that there isn’t any logic in getting laid.

The Team

Writer, Director and Producer: Thea Pueschel

Monologuist: Dominque Turner

Show Dates:
June 7, 2025 @6pm
June 13, 2025 @9pm
Saturday, June 21, 2025 @2:00
Monday, June 23, 2025 @6:30
Saturday, June 28, 2025 @7:00

Accessibility

Wheel chair accessible
Sensory friendly
ASL Interpreter  Friday, June 13, 2025 @9pm
Streaming  w/ CC (option) Saturday June 13, 2025 @2pm

Social Media:

The Injustice of Virginity 

Thea Pueschel

The Injustice of Virginity Fundraiser

#theinjusticeofvirginity #neurodivergetwriters #theapueschel #unicornfact

Award-winning musician and storyteller Rain Perry brings her deeply personal and thought-provoking solo show, This Is Water, to The Broadwater Second Stage for a nine-show run during the 2025 Hollywood Fringe Festival. Blending personal narrative, historical reflection, and original music, This Is Water is one white woman’s journey—told with humor and heart–of looking anew at her white childhood, grappling with race, privilege, and identity.

In response to the social reckoning of 2020-2021, Perry set out to examine race in the best way she knew how: by looking inward. She began writing down every memory that had anything to do with race, uncovering how her own history shaped her worldview. The result was her 2022 recording “A White Album.” Now in 2025, several songs from that record find their way into This Is Water, a theatrical performance that responds directly to the perilous moment in which we find ourselves now. Rain holds up a mirror both to herself and her audience, creating an empathetic space for those who may feel defensive or uneasy, or who feel they have already “done the work.

“All big social issues are best told through a personal story,” Perry explains. “I wanted to challenge myself to hold myself accountable onstage and hope audiences will do the same.”

Through live music, song, multimedia, and storytelling, Perry brings to life formative moments—from a childhood story about her (white) mother’s Black childhood friend to her own reckoning with white feminism. While the workshop production of This Is Water initially felt like a blend of a TED Talk and a concert, it was originally conceived as a play. The team has since worked to make it more theatrical, deeply personal, and both vulnerable and urgent: a personal reckoning told with honesty, warmth, and live music. Perry strips away academic detachment and grounding every historical reference in personal experience. The show encourages audiences to move beyond defensiveness, embrace discomfort, and engage in a deeper conversation about race in America.

This Is Water: Written and performed by Rain Perry, directed by Kim Maxwell, music director Mark Hallman, dramaturg Lindsay Jenkins and musicians Jeff Turmes and Karen Hammack.

About Rain Perry [rainperry.com] is a singer-songwriter, playwright, and filmmaker known for her deeply personal and socially conscious work. Her music has been featured in film and television, and her theatrical productions blend narrative and song to explore themes of identity, memory, and justice. “Beautiful Tree” was the theme for the CW Network’s Life Unexpected, on which she also had the surreal pleasure of appearing as herself. She has released six albums on her own Precipitous Records, as well as writing and touring a solo play about her childhood called Cinderblock Bookshelves: A Guide For Children of Fame-Obsessed Bohemian Nomads. In 2016 she directed The Shopkeeper, a documentary about the impact of the streaming economy on the longest continuously operating recording studio in Austin. Rain’s new record, A White Album, wades into the fraught topic of the day: what does it mean to white in America? Can we face our demons head on?

DATES/TIMES: Sat 6/7 @ 3:30pm – Tue 6/10 @ 8:30pm – Fri 6/13 @ 8pm – Sun 6/15 @ 2pm – Wed 6/18 @ 8:30pm – Fri 6/20 @ 6:30pm – Sun 6/22 @ 11am – Wed 6/25 @ 8:30pm – Sat 6/28 @ 12:30pm

FAMILY VALUES BY DINA MILD

What makes a happy family? And how does our upbringing shape who we become? Inspired by Tolstoy’s famous words “All happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”, Family Values takes audiences on a personal, humorous, and thought-provoking journey through ‘90s Russia—exploring love, religion, parenthood, and happiness in a world so different, yet strangely familiar.

Brought to you by a Russian comedian Dina Mild who earned a talent-based U.S. green card, this one-woman show blends storytelling, music, visual art, and audience interaction to bridge East and West, past and present. Are we really that different after all?

Directed by Alina Konon; Written, produced and performed by Dina Mild.

3 Performances at Upstairs @ El Centro. 1103B North El Centro Ave, Hollywood, Ca 90038

Saturday, June 7th @ 4:45pm

Sunday, June 22nd @ 4:30pm

Saturday, June 28th @8pm

Kittens by Annika Hoseth

Shirley, Jane, and Victoria are thrilled to have secured the best job for a young woman in 1968… they’re Kittens at the Pussy Cat Cub! They spend their nights wearing Kitten ears, a fluffy tail, and a tight bodysuit, serving the most powerful men in New York City. Their boss, Kitten Mother, reveals that Pussy Cat Inc. will release a magazine with one lucky Kitten posing on the cover. However, the girls begin to reconsider how perfect this job really is after discovering things aren’t quite as modern as they thought. Kittens is new musical with an all-female cast.

Directed by Rosie Corr and accompanied by Caleb Brunman

Saturday June 7 at 8:30pm, Sunday June 15 at 9:30pm, Friday June 20 at 5pm, Wednesday June 25 at 5pm, and Sunday June 29 at 12:30pm

https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/11627?tab=details

IG: https://www.instagram.com/kittensmusical/

The Wizard of Oh No! By: Molly Kauffman

Directed by Gayla Goehl

Assistant Director and Stage Manager: Cortney Roles

Produced by Molly Kauffman and Alora Kinley

SHOWTIMES:

Friday June 6th, 8pm

Friday June 13th, 8:30pm

Monday June 23rd, 8pm

Saturday June 28th, 2pm

Sunday June 29th, 2pm

Show Synopsis:

Angie McDormitt’s (self-proclaimed intersectional theater-maker and human soul) dream is to bring her own modern retelling of The Wizard of Oz to 2025 audiences. With a few last-minute dropouts, big egos, and tech snafus, the production does not go exactly as she imagined.

Sepulveda Basin Community Theatre and Angie McDormitt present MODERN WIZARD OF OZ. The production starts with 10 actors; let’s see how many they end with. Yes, the board-op may only be here for college class credit but they’re gonna do a great job, right? So what if Angie’s mother is filling in? She’ll be fine! What else could possibly go wrong with this motley crew??

Website: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/11492?tab=details

Instagram: @sepulvedabasintheatre

Syncopated Debauchery: A Ragtime Celebration

by Eve Elliot

Award-winning pianist Eve Elliot is your raucous guide into the colorful world of Ragtime, a scandalous yet irresistible music born in the barrooms and bordellos of 1890s America. You’ll meet some of our story’s heroes – and villains – and get a glimpse into their lives and the songs they wrote. Expect plenty of vaudevillian antics as we delve into questions like: Who kidnapped Fats Waller? Why did Jelly Roll Morton own so many suits? How did Scott Joplin uphold his artistic vision amid a slew of rejection? What does “funky butt” mean? The Ragtime era is brilliantly brought to life in this hilarious and poignant one-woman show full of thrilling costume changes, bombastic characters, and virtuosic piano playing.

Artistic team: Eve Elliot

Location: The Cat’s Crawl  660 N. Heliotrope Dr

Show Times:  Sat June 7, 2pm  —  Sun June 15, 8pm  —  Sat June 21, 11am  —  Thur June 26, 8pm  —  Sun June 29, 8pm

Website: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/12110?tab=details

Instagram: @eveplayspiano  https://www.instagram.com/eveplayspiano/?hl=en

Beth Wants the D 

Written and performed by Beth May

A comedy about all the times Beth May has thought about killing herself! This autobiographical one woman show puts you in the splash zone of death and delusion as Beth journeys through her struggle with bipolar disorder, but like, in a funny way. Through the bizarre highs and perilous lows, Beth knits comedy and drama together to find the scariest thing of all — a future full of hope.

Content Warning: This production includes conversations about mental illness and suicidal ideation.

The BWTD team: Beth May (Writer/Performer), Riley Rose Critchlow (Director), Olivia Cade (Associate Producer/Dog Hamlet) and Alison Zatta (Producer).

Performances:

Saturday June 7 @ 12:30 PM

Thursday June 12 @ 9:30 PM

Sunday June 15 @ 6:30 PM

Friday June 20 @ 5:00 PM

Sunday June 29 @ 7:30 PM

https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/11775

A large, red digital clock counts down. A young woman living alone in a foreign country finds courage in her decision to leave her home. Her daughter, years later, finds her place in a changing world. “A Minor Inconvenience” tells two stories, woven and connected as one. 

A Minor Inconvenience is an original musical revolving around two teenagers experiencing the final minutes before their 18th birthday. The show explores the experience of being Asian American by finding the similarities between two young girls turning 18: one in Asia, planning a new life, and her daughter, in the United States, finding her place. 

The clock counting down makes obvious the ticking, ever-constant presence of time. The show, all perfectly timed to fit within a real clock’s constraints, explores the notion of fleeting time as our protagonists recognize their inhibitions about this anticipated moment of turning into an adult and the changes and responsibilities that await them. The clock, and time, acts as an exigent conductor of their lives. The show begins with the clock starting and ends at the moment time runs out and our protagonists turn 18.

Our protagonists grapple with their growing identities, experiencing the juxtaposition between the expectations of our Asian communities and the expectations to succeed as an American. Growing older brings the universal feelings of loss, identity shifts, and simple desires for connection and understanding. In the case of this immigrant mother and her child, these struggles are amplified by the difference in cultural expectations, values, and the challenges of harmonizing personal dreams with responsibilities. They work to understand how the meaning of home changes as we grow away from our parents and the community we grew up with and towards the lives and homes we create and find for ourselves.

• “Hidden Gem” by Viva Rose
• A poorly timed panic attack causes Viva to barricade herself into the only available bathroom at a party. In her new solo show, comedian Viva Rose revisits core memories in an attempt to discover what exactly made her so mentally ill. Rest assured, Viva’s show is not needless trauma-dumping, it’s a lobotomy. In one hour of dark stand-up comedy and storytelling, Viva will fix her brain chemistry once and for all.
• Viva Rose (written and performed by) Ben Ellerbrock (director) – The show is 60 minutes and will feature an opener (75 min total)
• Showtimes: June 8th at 8:00 PM, June 13th at 9:00 PM, June 26th at 7:00 PM
• www.vivaurose.com
• Social Media: @vivaurose

The year is 1804. Napoleon Bonaparte has just been crowned Emperor of France and he would really like his younger sister to behave like a good girl. Her new husband, Prince Camillo Borghese of Italy, would appreciate the same. Pauline has other ideas.

When Camillo commissions the renowned sculptor Antonio Canova to create a virginal statue of Pauline, she shocks the world by instead posing buck ass naked.

This play takes place at the party where the statue is unveiled.

At it’s heart, this is the story of men in power telling a woman what to do with her own body — and that woman tells them to f*** right off.

Enchanted Silverware by Cat Miggs

Enchanted Silverware is a musical about the kitchen staff who are just doing their job one minute and the next minute turn into silverware because their Prince pisses off a witch! 

Why silverware?

What is life now that they are not human?

Will they ever change back or do they have to accept their fate that they will be objects forever?

Find out in the 10 year span before the Bookworm shows up, it’s a story of hope, love and resilience.

Written by, Lyrics by, Produced by and Directed by Cat Miggs

Music by Branson P. NeJame

Showtimes: Su 6/8- 5pm , Th 6/12- 8:30pm, Su 6/15- 1:30pm, Fr 6/20- 7pm, Sa 6/28-5pm

Website: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/11763

Social Media: @cat.miggs, @enchanted_silverware

“So Baby” by Talisa Friedman

The struggle to get into a top college is real these days – the New York Times said 2024 was “Peak College Admissions Insanity.” But what happens after you’ve finally been accepted? 

Miri begins freshman year with big dreams for her college experience (read: boys and books), but she quickly finds herself caught between her two more “forceful” roommates. Jordyn is a powerful, or power-hungry, leader in the Black community; Roksana is a selfish aspiring model. As the tension in their dorm room bubbles over, the girls confront betrayal, heartache, and what it means to have power in this world.

So Baby is a world premiere play by Talisa Friedman, winner of the National Jewish Playwriting Competition. It is co-directed by Josie Andrews, whose experience as a USC film professor has given her quite the window into the messy world of college coeds, and Sierra Nutkevitch, who specializes in stories about complicated women…which definitely applies to the women in this play.

Starring Emily Hope Turner, Ciara Cain, & Diana Malota

Broadwater Mainstage

Mon 6/9 @ 6:30pm

Mon 6/16 @ 9pm

Sat 6/21 @ 11am

Fri 6/27 @ 6:30pm

Sun 6/29 @ 7:30pm

www.sobabyplay.com

Instagram: @sobabyplay

Shake It Away: The Ann Miller Story, will have its world premiere in the 2025 Hollywood Fringe Festival, running June 10–15 at The Hudson Theatres. The production is written by and stars Kayla Boye and is directed by Michael Weber.

On a soundstage at the 1970 MGM studio auction, dancer Ann Miller revisits the Golden Age of Hollywood and discovers her second act as a Broadway star. Featuring selections from the Great American Songbook, this love letter to entertainment is written by and stars Kayla Boye, whose Call Me Elizabeth premiered in the 2022 Hollywood Fringe and has since sold out a critically acclaimed, international tour. 

The creative team includes Michael Weber (director), Tammy Mader (choreographer), and Linda Madonia (music director). 

Curtain times are Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday at 6:30pm; and Saturday and Sunday at 2:30pm.  www.shakeitawayplay.com.

Tiffany Caputo, Theresa Caputo’s equally as psychic cousin, is stepping out to prove she has just as many astral moves as her cousin (who she respects very much their family for chrissake). Join Tiffany for A Psychic Evening with Long Island’s Other Medium on June 10, 14 and 15, 2025 at The Hudson Theatres (Guild) in Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA as part of the 2025 Hollywood Fringe Festival and get your very own live reading during the show! Guaranteed new things will come to light! For more information and tickets: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/12298 

When you put two multi-hyphenates together, you can’t just do one thing. Peep is a comedy variety show, with a mix of sketch, dance, physical comedy, stuntwork, character, improv, and a wee bit o’ clown. It’s silliness, camp, and play chaotically thrown and tossed about, by two AAPI with graduate degrees. But, don’t expect anything highbrow, even though Peep shines a light, through a prism of quirk and fun, on our common humanity: suffering, longing, shame, identity, health, politeness, authenticity, relationships, and basic Maslow needs. Get ready for a wild ride, including being prepared for some grossness.

CONTENT WARNING: bad words, audience interaction, and glow-in-the-dark bunnies

UNTIL DEATH 

An absurdist theater clown show and self-portrait touching on death, existence and relationships

Nalini Sharma makes her US premiere of her highly popular and critically acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe show at The Hollywood Fringe ‘25! The biographical clown show ‘Until Death’ is an absurdist, feminist, pragmatist, clown-ist, anti-centrist, pre-industrialist, present-dogist, post-experimentalist show… There is something for everyone!… Except children (show rated 18 ).

Nalini is a bat trapped in a hospital. Her not-so-solo show, UNTIL DEATH, combines absurd theater and clown to explore the liminal space where time collapses and humans panic in moments of death and existence. During her childhood in India, Sharma spent an ungodly amount of time in hospitals after multiple motorcycle accidents. The stories are an amalgam of the real people (and animals) she encountered and her imagination that kept her from dying of boredom during her hospital stays. Through them she explores the tenacity of human (and animal) spirits that are fighting for their lives and discovering who they are. 

Nalini Sharma has been described as a hilarious, beautiful, soulful firecracker by both her friends and enemies. As savage, classy, bougie, ratchet by all her exes. And a giant pain in the ass by her mother. Nalini spent her childhood on several naval bases in India and grew up in several small towns in the US. She was raised by an untrained Doberman, has survived more than one motorcycle accident, the pain and joy of a “passionate” family, a competitive academic education, her apartment burning down and is currently surviving (not well) clown comedy nights in Los Angeles.

DIRECTOR: BENTE ENGLESOFT 

Bente Engelstoft (The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Unstable) is a four-time Emmy award winning writer and producer based in Los Angeles. She entered her director era in 2018 with Bill Posley’s The Day I Became Black (Best Solo Show and Top of the Fringe Nominee at the 2018 Hollywood Fringe Festival). Bill and Bente teamed up again in 2024 for The Day I Accidentally Went to War (Best Solo Show – Off-Broadway), which is on its way to London for a run at SoHo Theatre in the fall. This summer, Bente has the pleasure of directing The Troll by Rochée Jeffrey, Do You Accept These Charges? by Laurie Magers and Until Death by Nalini Sharma – all of which are headed to the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2025.

WINNER OF THE 2024 TUCSON FRINGE: BEST DRAMA

A woman battles the curse she has inherited from her ancestors – the Futakuchi Onna.  This Japanese monster, also known as a yokai,  manifests as a heckling mouth on the back of her head.  The Futakuchi Onna impedes the woman’s pursuit of music, destroys her relationships and leads her to despair. And yet, the Futukuchi Onna also has some lessons to teach.   With acceptance, one can find balance, understanding and the courage it takes to be yourself.  

Featuring original music and a short film, the raw vulnerability of this solo show will haunt and inspire you.

How do we navigate intimate relationships that are both defined and confined by institutional walls? How do we seek closure when unfolding past trauma feels like tearing up an old wound? Should we protect our loved ones at all costs, even if it means hurting others?

Fish in the Tank is a one-act play exploring these haunting questions through an intimate and turbulent coming-of-age journey of two queer characters, Echo and Rae, set on the rooftop of an all-girls boarding school. The play begins when they see each other for the first time in six years, after an unspoken incident completely altered the course of their lives.

In an institution ruled by fear, surveillance, and control, the two girls embark on a quest for truth and freedom. But how can they truly escape – through love, death, or something beyond?

Me, Myself and Other
by Diana Romero

DESCRIPTION:

Me, Myself, and Other is a heartfelt and humorous solo performance that explores identity, resilience, and the power of self-acceptance. The show follows the journey of a first-generation American woman navigating life’s complexities—balancing cultural identities, overcoming the stigma of feeling “othered,” and facing a life-changing diagnosis.

Her life shifts dramatically with her diagnosis. Suddenly, she’s navigating a new reality—one defined by physical limitations and societal misconceptions about disability. Despite the setbacks, her journey becomes one of self-discovery and empowerment, showing that the challenges she faced in the past have prepared her for the greatest fight of her life.

CREATIVE TEAM:

Maggie Whittum, director, producer and theatre actor/director who is a stroke survivor; TL Forsberg, HDD Scholarship mentor who is Deaf/Hard of hearing and myself, Diana Romero, an MS warrior who uses a wheelchair. We are the Dream Team of disabled creatives!

SHOWTIMES

Wed June 18 @ 8:00 PM

Sat June 21 @ 2:15 PM

Sun June 22 @ 6:15 PM

Tues June 24 @8 PM

Thurs June 26 @6:15 PM

Sat June 28 @6:15 PM

Sun June 29 @4 PM

Website:

www.memyselfother.com

Social media links and/or hashtags

Instagram and FB: @me.myself.other

#Fringe #FringeFestival #FringeArtist #HollywoodFringe #HollywoodFringeFestival #HFF25 #MultipleSclerosis #MSWarrior #MultipleSclerosisAwareness #MSAwareness #ChronicIllness #Spoonie #Disability #Disabled #DisabledWriter #DisabledActor #DisabledProducer #DisabledDirector #DisabledArtist #DisabilityInMedia #LiveTheatre #Theatre #LATHR #LATheatre #WorldPremiere #SoloPerformance #SoloArtist #SoloTheatre #SoloAct #OneWomanShow #Accessibility #Latina #LatinaArtist #LatinaWriter #MSWarrior #StrokeSurvivor #DisabilityRepresentation #RepresentationMatters #FirstGeneration #DisabledStory #AudienceFeedback

πr2 by Pia Nicoletti is a solo woman performance with live art-craft projections.

With visceral roots, it comes almost necessarily, to explore, to have fun, to embrace emotions, and to let ourselves flow through the process.

Physical theater, dance, aerials, sound and crafts are the core of expression in this speechless performance, where feelings, corporality, and art itself create a universal language.

Switch off your mind, unmask your heart.

Witness 4 vital processes that a person goes across, part of a possible infinitely expanding spiral. Rebirth, Maturity, Darkness and Healing: a journey through emotions, decisions, and situations.

Beliefs rooted in expectations, routines, distractions, anxiety, sadness. What would happen if time stopped mattering to us?

Illusion, it is just an illusion.

What unites us as humanity?

Honoring native ceremonies, and ancestral medicine. Reflection, inspiration, compromise, self-awareness or delightful entertainment, it is up to you.

The team:

Pía Nicoletti: creator, director, actress.

Catalina Nicoletti: art-craft projections and illustrations.

Borja Carvajal: sound and graphic design.

Where and when: The Broadwater Main Stage (1076 Lillian Way, Los Angeles, CA 90038)

June 18th @ 9:30pm

June 21st @ 10:30pm

June 29th @ 4:00pm

Instagram: @theinfinitesoup

“Earth, Wind & Car Fire” by Janora McDuffie

In “Earth, Wind & Car Fire,” Janora McDuffie takes us on a captivating journey of self-discovery and transformation. From embracing her sexuality and navigating the complexities of race to redefining personal expectations, this 60-minute solo show is a celebration of life’s twists, turns, and triumphs. Come with Janora on this entertaining & soulful joyride and oversharing adventure.

Directed by Joseph Megel

Produced by Jessica Lynn Johnson

Saturday,  June 21 @ 2:00p 

Sunday, June 22 @ 7:45p

Sunday, June 29 @ 3:15P

https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/12276

IG: https://www.instagram.com/jmcdeezie/