In 2095, conflict erupts as the rapidly changing realities of die-hard revolutionaries are upended by profit-seeking tech giants and power hungry politicians. Vice is a sci-fi live theatre-film hybrid performance that asks: How can you fight to survive when you have been programmed out of existence?

Vice was recently selected as one of the recipients of the 2021 Hollywood Fringe Scholarship.This piece will be presented by Centrifuge Arts: a company of actors, dancers, musicians, writers and interdisciplinary artists. Centrifuge Arts develops innovative, integrity-driven performance works at the intersection of art, science, and technology. Level Ground will be co-producing the production. The piece will be directed by the playwright and Artistic Director of Centrifuge Arts, Simone Tetrault and designed by the Executive Director of Centrifuge Arts, Rich Johnson.

Performance Dates:
Preview: Thursday, August 5th @ 8:45 PDT

In Person and Live Stream:
Saturday, August 14th @ 4:00 PDT
Saturday, August 21st @ 6:30 PDT
Wednesday, August 25th @ 6:45 PDT
Saturday, August 28th @ 7:45 PDT

www.centrifugearts.com/vice

Instagram/Twitter: @CentrifugeArts
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/centrifugearts
Facebook Event Link: https://fb.me/e/1Hx6HvPdN

#HFF21
#theatre
#newmedia
#zephyrtheatre
#melroseave
#weho
#LAThtr
#fringe
#hollywoodfringe
#fringeisback
#vice
#viceplay
#Joyview

Justice? Or…Just Me? The Bite by Lorinda Hawkins Smith, a world premiere production based on the Justice? Or…Just Me? book series will be at the Hudson Guild Theatre in August (next month). The solo play is written, produced and performed by Lorinda Hawkins Smith with direction by Patricia Bean-Kane. Justice? Or…Just Me? The Bite is an official selection of the 2021 Hollywood Fringe Festival Diversity Scholarship awarded to productions with powerful community impact. 

Justice? Or…Just Me? The Bite is the first in a trilogy of shows chronicling the journey of a Black woman (Dominique Mills) who leaves an abusive marriage to a White man.

Said REDCAT, “Writer, actor, and activist Lorinda Hawkins Smith’s compelling solo performance Justice? Or Just Me? intricately remixes incisive text and soulful vocal rhythms and textures to examine a Black woman’s encounter with law enforcement, domestic violence and her interracial marriage to a White man.” 

http://hff21.co/6617

Performances will be live streamed and in person.

August 5, 2021 – 5:30pm – Preview show

August 12, 2021 – 6:30pm

August 19, 2021 – 6:30pm

Instagram – @lorindahawk_

Twitter – @lorindahawkins1

Facebook – Lorinda Hawkins Smith

#jojm #theBite #hff21 #justiceorjustme #freedommatters

“The Book That Won’t Close: Confessions of a Love Addict” by TL Forsberg.

TL identifies as a Deaf woman. She is not, however, profoundly deaf. She straddles the worlds of the deaf and the hearing. She can sign and she can speak. She can also sing, which lead to her having a profile as a Deaf entertainer, a deaf singer, The Deaf Lady Gaga. But the fact that she could travel in both cultures earns her disapproval from some individuals in the deaf community, who challenge the authenticity of her being a Deaf woman. From some hearing people, on the other hand, she receives condescension and pity.

The particular facts of her situation as a differently-abled individual intrude on her private life, resulting in a string of failed relationships with men….a Love Addiction.

Things begin to look up for TL when she meets Treva, a fluid, Transgender Orgasmic Meditation coach.  (You’ll have to see the show to fully grasp what that means.) Treva walks TL through a rehab of her Love addiction, and to confront her unhealed shame around the parts of her that are both hearing and deaf.

The Book That Won’t Close utilizes music, dance, video projection, American Sign Language, and spoken voice, with the support of an ASL interpreter as TL portrays multiple characters in the service of an informative and fascinating narrative. She also contributes her own original rock music compositions to the show’s score. As a Deaf entertainer, her use of spoken voice is controversial, as it collides with certain political orthodoxies within the deaf community.  The Book That Won’t Close  challenges hearing and deaf audiences alike to learn about the diversity that currently exists in the deaf world.

A Hollywood Fringe Festival selection. Written, produced and performed  by TL Forsberg. Directed and developed by Jessica Lynn Johnson.

Thursday, August 5, 2021 at 10:00 p.m. PDT. Thursday, August 19 at 5:00 p.m. PDT. Sunday, August 29 at 1:30 p.m. PDT.

http://hff21.co/6444

“Yes? No? Maybe So?” by Catherine Barnes.

Directed and developed by Jessica Lynn Johnson.

Catherine is a professional musician. One day, she goes to see a medical specialist to address a physical issue that affects her performance. Instead of comforting treatment, she experiences sexual harassment. What to do now? Turn him in to the authorities? Shrug it off? She consults her inner social justice warrior, one Professor Sarah P. Outrage. Complicating matters for Catherine are her memories of when she herself violated the boundaries of others in pursuit of her own goals. Her parents are not helpful. It may be one of Catherine’s other inner personae who can provide her with a solution to her moral puzzle and bring her some peace.

Yes? No? Maybe So? tackles the thorny subjects of Consent and Boundaries with insight, humor, multimedia, and plenty of music (remember, Catherine is a professional musician).

Ms.  Barnes portrays a parade of different characters in unspooling her narrative.

Friday, August 6, 2021 at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, August 14 at 11 a.m., Sunday, August 15 at 7 p.m.

http://hff21.co/7160

“TransSetter” by Veronica Carey Matthews.

TransSetter (a riff on the phrase trend setter) is the name of a new show about one person’s transition to becoming a woman. It seeks to educate and inform about transgender people while telling an entertaining narrative.

Carey Matthews was an actor in Los Angeles, achieving some success, but work as a performer is not the most stable of occupations. He takes on different jobs. He dates women, but the relationships don’t last. Something’s wrong, and he tries to deal with his pain with substance abuse. This gets him into occasional trouble with the law.

So what is wrong, exactly? It’s gender dysphoria. He’s been born a man, but there’s a woman inside of him.  Her name is Veronica.

You’ll have to see TransSetter to witness how Carey Matthews became Veronica Carey Matthews.

Written and performed by Veronica Carey Matthews. Directed and developed by Jessica Lynn Johnson. Produced by Ginger Fail Productions.

Sunday, August 8, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, August 17 at 7:00 p.m. Sunday, August 22 at 3:00 p.m.

http://hff21.co/7094

1. Black Woman in Deep Water: Inspired by the incredible true story of Margaret Garner, a runaway slave, who escaped with her husband, in-laws, and four small children while pregnant with a fifth, only to be recaptured. Faced with a harrowing decision, she takes the life of one of her children rather than allow her to return to the ills of slavery. The tale is told through her own eyes, the eyes of her imagined west African ancestor, and Yemoja, the West African goddess of water . The elder passes along cultural rituals through the recounting of African creation myths and the story of Yemoja. As Margaret recounts the past, Yemoja and the ancestors seek to remind Margaret, myself, and all people of African descent of our royal heritage, our courage, and our shared bright futures.
2. Written, produced, and starring Makena Hammond.  An ex-naval physician turned actress, model, playwright.
3. Showtimes:  Sun aug 8, 330p;  Sat aug 14 , 8p;  Sun aug 22, 1p;        Fri. Aug 27 930p
4. https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/7013

Deconstructing Holly
Written and Performed by Holly Sidell

What happens when everything you’re told makes you a woman is taken away?

That is the question Holly was faced with after she lost all her biological lady parts due to breast cancer and the BRCA ovarian cancer gene mutation. So, what else to do but turn that exploration into a solo show!?

While undergoing cancer surgery, Holly is led on an eye-opening journey of relationships past, present, and future… by a cheeky British angel, no less. With humor and raw honesty, she embodies a cast of over 20 characters who have come and gone in her life, leaving their footprints on her soul. Along the way, she is forced to tear apart, piece by piece, her beliefs, her sense of physical self, and the crushing gender expectations and pressures society can inflict. Because sometimes, we have to be completely deconstructed in order to find our way to who we truly are… and the love we so desperately seek.

Directed by Jonathan Fahn, with script consulting/coaching by Jessica Lynn Johnson, Deconstructing Holly premiered to a pre-sold out house and critical acclaim as an official selection of SOLOFEST 2020, two days before the COVID shutdowns, and subsequently online as a fundraiser for cancer research and patient support programs, as well as for theatres in danger of shutting down due to COVID.

Presented at as part of The Hollywood Fringe Festival
at The Broadwater Black Box:
Sunday, August 8 – 11:30am
Saturday, August 14 – 10:30pm
Saturday, August 21 – 5:30pm
Friday, August 27 – 8pm

www.deconstructingholly.com
http://hff21.co/6687

• “TRIBE” by Laila Abdo
• HOLLYWOOD FRINGE DIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP WINNER** A struggling Lebanese-American actress forms the first all-Arab improv team in this shawarma spin on Pitch Perfect ensemble competitions. This 60-minute theater-improv hybrid (LIVE LIVESTREAM) will have our underdog team doing improv from audience suggestions as well as scene work.
• Laila Abdo – writer/producer, Mijoe Sahiouni – director; Featuring Actors from Sukkar & Spice – an all-MENA LA Comedy Collective
• August 10 – 9:00 p.m.
  August 14 – 6:30 p.m.
  August 15 – 11:00 a.m.
  August 21 – 9:30 p.m.
  August 28 – 6:00 p.m.
• tinyurl.com/tribehff
• @lailaabdo4 Instagram; #tribehff21