June is here and “Women on the Fringe” are again onstage!
There is nothing quite like the buzz that’s created during the Hollywood Fringe. It is a time filled with risk-taking, courage, hope and independent artists creating new work by any means necessary. Each year, I ask women writers a new series of questions influenced by the Proust Questionnaire and Bernard Pivot’s French series, “Bouillon de Culture.” The goal is to understand the artist’s work and their full nature while allowing them a space to reveal their authentic self. It is a great gift and a true honor to introduce women who will be presenting work in myriad genres, exploring a wide range of topics that allow us to examine who we are as individuals and as a society.
Sanchita Malik and Vee Kumari, l to r, in “Late Sunday…”
Constance: Vee, can you share your background as an actress and producer?
Vee: Growing up in the south of India, I loved words and books and wanted to become an English professor, but went to medical school instead. At the UC Davis School of Medicine and the USC Keck School of Medicine, teaching neuroanatomy to medical students was my passion. But I continued to read fiction. Since my retirement in 2012, I have pursued writing and acting as careers.
I am also an actor and have appeared in TV shows, including Criminal Minds, Anger Management, and Glow. In 2019, I produced and was the lead in the short film “HALWA,” which earned the first prize for the directors in HBO’s Asia Pacific American Visionaries contest. In 2022, I was the Executive Producer and lead in the short film “YATRA: The Journey,” which finished a successful festival circuit, winning many recognitions. Currently, I’m working on a feature script based on my debut novel, “Dharma, A Rekha Rao Mystery.”
I live in Los Angeles near my two daughters and their families.
Constance: What do you hope audience members take away after experiencing this show?
Vee: Don’t stop dreaming! Your dream could come true if you put your mind to it with courage, determination, and passion!
Constance: What’s been your biggest challenge regarding your creation process?
Vee: Sometimes, working with only one other actor can be challenging. I believe my fellow actor and I did go through this process, but we worked our way through it to a bonding performance!
Constance: What are you enjoying most about your show?
Vee: I want to be able to act my age, respect older women, and never take anything away from their needs, wants, and passions!
Constance: What has been the most surprising discovery?
Vee: Originally, it was just a play, but the more we worked through it, the closer it became to real life. This could be my story of transitioning from decades of being a scientist and a professor to an actor and writer after retirement. I will enjoy this run as long as there’s breath in me because it’s a gift! My mom is gone, or I could tell her, “Look, Ma, I did it anyway!”
Constance: The work will be given away soon – How does that feel?
Vee: Great! We are ready to share our discoveries with an audience!
Constance: How long have you been sitting with this work?
Vee: For over a year!
Constance: Why Fringe? Why this year?
Vee: I did Fringe last year with an ensemble show, but due to COVID, I was unable to perform. I wanted to give it another try on a smaller scale. Fringe is tough to do!
Constance: Anything else that must be said – please add!
June is here and “Women on the Fringe” are again onstage!
There is nothing quite like the buzz that’s created during the Hollywood Fringe. It is a time filled with risk-taking, courage, hope and independent artists creating new work by any means necessary. Each year, I ask women writers a new series of questions influenced by the Proust Questionnaire and Bernard Pivot’s French series, “Bouillon de Culture.” The goal is to understand the artist’s work and their full nature while allowing them a space to reveal their authentic self. It is a great gift and a true honor to introduce women who will be presenting work in myriad genres, exploring a wide range of topics that allow us to examine who we are as individuals and as a society.
Constance: What do you hope audience members take away after experiencing your show?
Sunita: My hope is that the audience walks away from my show inspired and having experienced a true emotional journey. Laughter, tears, joy and ultimately spiritually uplifted.
Constance: What’s been your biggest challenge in terms of your development/creation process?
Sunita: Initially, when I chose the stories from my life that I wanted to tell, it was important for me to create a real beginning, middle and end. In addition, I had to choose songs that spoke to me but that also illuminated or supported the stories I was telling.
Constance: What are you enjoying most as you create your show?
Sunita: At this point, I’ve done the show quite a bit over the last few years, but in this incarnation, I’m actually on a stage without being married to a standing microphone. I absolutely love the freedom, in all capacities, that it has provided me as an actor.
Constance: What has been the most surprising discovery?
Sunita: Not necessarily a surprise, but more of a gratified awareness, that I am capable of performing a 75-minute show – singing 14 songs and holding an audience’s attention.
Constance: The work will be given away soon. How does that feel?
Sunita: It’s incredibly empowering to have written my personal story. I will have shared myself completely and allowed myself to be vulnerable. That is powerful.
Constance: How long have you been sitting with this work?
Sunita: I have been wanting to do a show like this for over 15 years. And finally in early 2020, I began writing the show and making song choices. I’ve performed it several times all over CA and on the East Coast in the last 4 years – most recently in February at the Whitefire Theatre’s Solofest. So when I heard about the Fringe this year, I thought, “Why not?” Especially since I had just performed it. It was fresh. I also was attracted to the fact that it wouldn’t be a one-off performance. Having 3 performances over the span of 2 weeks gives me the opportunity to tweak, adjust, or just plain make it better than the last performance.
June is here and “Women on the Fringe” are again onstage!
There is nothing quite like the buzz that’s created during the Hollywood Fringe. It is a time filled with risk-taking, courage, hope and independent artists creating new work by any means necessary. Each year, I ask women writers a new series of questions influenced by the Proust Questionnaire and Bernard Pivot’s French series, “Bouillon de Culture.” The goal is to understand the artist’s work and their full nature while allowing them a space to reveal their authentic self. It is a great gift and a true honor to introduce women who will be presenting work in myriad genres, exploring a wide range of topics that allow us to examine who we are as individuals and as a society.
Introducing Christina V. Anthony and her show, “I Hope You Heal.”
Christina V. Anthony
Constance: What do you hope audience members take away after experiencing your show?
Christina: The themes of the show are identity, forgiveness, self-love, hope, healing and many more! For one of the most beautiful experiences of my life to turn into one of the cruelest was, quite simply, a mind fuck. There was a lot to process, learn and heal from. I want to give audiences a path to healing. All my work is deeply rooted in my identity and staunch female empowerment. I hope audiences will leave feeling emboldened to be their most honest, strong and vulnerable selves. The message I plan to convey through the show is that even when you feel like you’ve lost your inner strength, you can heal and bounce back stronger!
Constance: What’s been your biggest challenge in terms of your development/creation process?
Christina: One of the biggest challenges was editing. My first draft was over 30 pages long and I had to get it down to 10 pages. When I started writing the piece, I wasn’t positive if I wanted it to be for print or the stage. I wrote it in a more prose style, so after I realized I wanted to perform it, I had to rewrite the whole thing to work better for a live performance.
Constance: What are you enjoying most as you create your show?
Christina: I am enjoying the strength I’ve gained by reframing one of the most painful experiences of my life into one of the greatest gifts of my life. It took a lot of time, reflection and self-awareness for me to see the beauty in pain. I now feel like the smartest, strongest, sexiest version of myself. I owe a lot of my growth to the wisdom I gained by writing this show.
Constance: What has been the most surprising discovery?
Christina: One of the most surprising discoveries was how much the audience laughed watching the show. I have been producing and performing in comedy shows for 8 years, so I do try to find humorous moments in my writing. This piece can be very sad and I thought that would be the overwhelming tone, but instead I was greeted with laughter throughout the piece. I’m proud of the balance I managed to create and the moments of levity I am able to give the audience.
Constance: The work will be given away soon. How does that feel?
Christina: It feels scary and exciting to debut this show. I’ve never felt so exposed before in my work. Theater gets different criticism than comedy shows, so this is new for me. I hope people like it and understand that this was intentionally the bare-bones version and I would like to keep developing different performative elements. I know there are always improvements that can be made, but for right now I just want to celebrate the fact that I put this dang thing up and put my whole heart into it!
Constance: How long have you been sitting with this work?
Christina: It took me 3 years to write this show. It has gone through over 20 drafts and has changed dramatically from the 1st draft. I would meticulously edit the piece and then not be able to look at it for a couple of months, then repeat the process of detailed revision. After I brought on a director, we went through another 10 rounds of edits. It was exhausting, but I’m so glad I stuck with it. I’m so proud of the final piece. I’d love to share it with as many people as possible!!
Constance: Why Fringe? Why this year?
Christina: I’d been holding on to this piece for years and honestly wasn’t sure if I’d ever have the guts to put it up. A friend asked me to do their show where artists do live readings of something they’ve been working on but have never been in front of an audience. I did a live reading of a cut-down 10-minute version. The audience loved it! I was so overwhelmed by the praise, that I knew I had no choice but to go through with it. I debated whether I wanted to just rent a space and put it up, but ultimately I wanted its debut to be a part of a community. I chose Fringe 2024 because of the community aspect of the festival. 2024 marks the 8th year that I’ve been performing and I approached this year as the year I would do everything that scares me. No fears in 2024!
Constance: Anything else that must be said – please add!
Christina: There are two more shows! Tuesday, June 18th @ 6:30pm and Sunday, June 30th @ 7:00pm at The Broadwater Second Stage. You can find more of my work on my website: christinavanthony.com and the show’s Insta is @ihopeyouhealshow. Thanks!
June is here and “Women on the Fringe” are again onstage!
There is nothing quite like the buzz that’s created during the Hollywood Fringe. It is a time filled with risk-taking, courage, hope and independent artists creating new work by any means necessary. Each year, I ask women writers a new series of questions influenced by the Proust Questionnaire and Bernard Pivot’s French series, “Bouillon de Culture.” The goal is to understand the artist’s work and their full nature while allowing them a space to reveal their authentic self. It is a great gift and a true honor to introduce women who will be presenting work in myriad genres, exploring a wide range of topics that allow us to examine who we are as individuals and as a society.
Constance: What do you hope audience members take away after experiencing your show?
Marisa: I hope more than anything that audience members leave with more questions of their own. Our show talks about a lot of big ideas in a very silly and absurd way, which I love, but I hope it can serve as a conversation starter for some of those big ideas.
Constance: What’s been your biggest challenge in terms of your development/creation process?
Marisa: Allowing myself to just let the project go. I found myself still trying to make edits, and it got to a point where I had to just cut it off and give it up to creatives who I could trust to bring it to life.
Constance: What are you enjoying most as you create your show?
Marisa: Watching my director and actors find new nuances and meanings that I didn’t even realize I was writing into the show. In particular, some of the jokes are being added to both visually and sonically in a way I couldn’t have ever imagined. Though that makes sense – my friends and co-creators are all funnier than me!
Constance: What has been the most surprising discovery?
Marisa: In the rehearsal process, we ended up finding mantras that we started repeating at the beginning of every run. One of those was to “find the love” and compassion in every scene, no matter what was happening in it. This isn’t exactly groundbreaking I suppose, but it served as a reminder that theater is about caring deeply, and even in moments of anger or tragedy, it’s impossible to carry out without a strong core of love – for the characters and for the craft.
Constance: The work will be given away soon. How does that feel?
Marisa: Definitely anxiety-inducing, but also cathartic in a way! I’ve been sitting on it for so long that it’s nice to finally call it done – at least for this phase of its lifespan.
Constance: How long have you been sitting with this work?
Marisa: I wrote the first draft of this play in 2019, and largely forgot about it until recently, when I went back and reread it and found myself genuinely entertained. Since then, I started soft pitching it as just an informal table read, and when we finally did the read this past October, I had actors come up to me afterward asking that I please put it up somewhere. That felt like the kick I needed to actually take the next step and produce it.
Constance: Why Fringe? Why this year?
Marisa: In a world that feels increasingly disconnected from community and the events that shape our lives, Amen questions how things have been, and how we can take back control over our narratives. Who decides the way that things are, or how we think? If they were relevant once, are they relevant now?
Constance: Anything else that must be said – please add!
Marisa: I’ve had a few people come up to me and ask dubiously if the play was religious – and while it sure does feature God as a main character, I’d issue the disclaimer that God is as much a fictitious character as any other in this play. We don’t discuss or touch on any institutional religion at all – so feel free to come ready to laugh and immerse yourself in a world only slightly similar to our own!
June is here and “Women on the Fringe” are again onstage!
There is nothing quite like the buzz that’s created during the Hollywood Fringe. It is a time filled with risk-taking, courage, hope and independent artists creating new work by any means necessary. Each year, I ask women writers a new series of questions influenced by the Proust Questionnaire and Bernard Pivot’s French series, “Bouillon de Culture.” The goal is to understand the artist’s work and their full nature while allowing them a space to reveal their authentic self. It is a great gift and a true honor to introduce women who will be presenting work in myriad genres, exploring a wide range of topics that allow us to examine who we are as individuals and as a society.
Constance: What do you hope audience members take away after experiencing your show?
Rahvaunia: My show’s message is layered, much like life itself. I hope that the audience members leave with the understanding that we are all navigating this world, doing the best we can. We don’t always get it right, but if we lead with love, kindness, empathy and non-judgment, we may realize that we are more alike than different. It would truly make my soul smile if women, in particular, embraced self-work, the importance of sisterhood,and emotional work, which would allow them to recognize their immense importance to the world and the human experience. It is also important for all genders to understand how special the woman truly is. We are all here because of a woman.
Constance: What’s been your biggest challenge in terms of your development/creation process?
Rahvaunia: Outside of never writing anything other than a couple of short films and a few synopsis… The biggest challenge in my development and creation process has been managing my grand dreams and high expectations. I envision everything on such a grand scale and my perfectionist tendencies, combined with a touch of OCD, make it even more demanding. I aimed to create something so impactful that the HIV storyline connecting 3 of the 15 characters becomes unavoidable and deeply relatable. Often, we shy away from topics we think won’t resonate with us, but that’s precisely why I created this show… to challenge those assumptions. This journey has been incredibly challenging requiring me to dig deep and find my inner voice, reminding myself to let go and simply create. I had to learn to step out of my own way.
Constance: What are you enjoying most as you create your show?
Rahvaunia: I most enjoyed the discovery of small nuances that make each character relatable to a diverse audience. It’s incredibly fulfilling to layer the lives of these women beyond their diagnosis, exploring their journeys before, during and after. Creating characters with fragments of all of us, regardless of race or gender, allows me to connect with the audience on a profound level. This process of crafting multifaceted, relatable women was both challenging and deeply rewarding.
Constance: What has been the most surprising discovery?
Rahvaunia: That’s been my ability to create something that is both entertaining and, at times, humorous, while addressing a topic that many consider heavy or taboo. Even the most touching and emotional moments are crafted to take the audience on a journey that ultimately ends in hope and a smile, both on their faces and in their hearts.
Constance: The work will be given away soon. How does that feel?
Rahvaunia: I’ve been blessed to share this work before, and each time I put it out there and leave everything on the stage it’s an incredible feeling. Knowing that my contribution is raising awareness and serving the community is immensely fulfilling. As a BIOPIC woman, my work directly impacts my community, but it also resonates with the broader global community. This sense of connection and service is what makes this experience truly amazing.
Constance: How long have you been sitting with this work?
Rahvaunia: For 16 years or so before finally bringing it to life. Life has a way of keeping you busy and pulling you in many directions, but I never let it discourage me. I knew that when the time was right, it would happen. And it did, at the perfect moment, just as the number of diagnoses among Black cisgender women was on a constant rise.
Constance: Why Fringe? Why this year?
Rahvaunia: Why not? I’ve been a Fringe audience member for some time, and it’s one of the few times in Hollywood when small theatrical productions get the support they truly deserve. LA might not be known as a “theatre” town, but for 30 glorious days, Fringe transforms it into one. The energy and passion during this festival are unparalleled. I originally wanted to participate in the Hollywood Fringe in 2020, but we all know what happened that year. I decided to step back for a while, observing how theatre adapted to streaming shows to keep the art alive during such trying times. But I had a desire to connect with live audiences and that was a priority for my “important” show. And here I am. Hello, Hollywood Fringe 2024. Thank you for making space for me!
Constance: Anything else that must be said – please add!
Rahvaunia: “tHis Is Very IMPORTANT” is my first written piece for the stage. Stepping into unknown territory this project has not only taught me invaluable lessons but also ignited a yearning to create more theatre work. It is my hope to be able to bring those ideas to a stage near you. In the meantime, I am manifesting that TIVI (short for tHis Is Very IMPORTANT) will be performed on stages worldwide. It’s a human experience that deserves to be seen by all. Beyond its stage life, it will evolve into a mini-series. Many people have expressed a desire to know what happens next for my characters, and I hope they won’t have to wait too long to find out.
June is here and “Women on the Fringe” are again onstage!
There is nothing quite like the buzz that’s created during the Hollywood Fringe. It is a time filled with risk-taking, courage, hope and independent artists creating new work by any means necessary. Each year, I ask women writers a new series of questions influenced by the Proust Questionnaire and Bernard Pivot’s French series, “Bouillon de Culture.” The goal is to understand the artist’s work and their full nature while allowing them a space to reveal their authentic self. It is a great gift and a true honor to introduce women who will be presenting work in myriad genres, exploring a wide range of topics that allow us to examine who we are as individuals and as a society.
Introducing Joy Regullano and her show, “Body Count”
Joy Regullano
Constance: What do you hope audience members take away after experiencing your show?
Joy: I hope that people learn at least a little something about themselves from my story. Maybe a little a-ha moment of why their relationships ended the way they did or an insight into their own relationship with their parents or family. In my fantasy of fantasies, people who need help would feel inspired to get the help they need, whether it’s through reading one of my recommended books, going to therapy or something else. I also of course hope that they’ll be entertained and laugh.
Constance: What’s been your biggest challenge in terms of your development/creation process?
Joy: It’s such a deeply personal show – more personal than anything else I’ve written and shared publicly, and that’s saying a lot because almost everything I write is very personal. So there’s a part of me that fears that anyone who is mentioned in the show will come to see it, haha! I’ve also been pushed by multiple people to go more into the dramatic and emotional, and as a comedian that’s not always my favorite place to go. But I hope that exploring those areas has helped make it more profound.
Constance: What are you enjoying most as you create your show?
Joy: It’s always really fun to see what the audience laughs at. What the audience responds to. Especially when it’s something I didn’t even think was funny. It’s a feedback loop – their reaction inspires me to tweak the show, which then hopefully causes them to laugh even more. I suppose what I’m speaking of is the workshopping process. I also enjoy connecting with people after they see the show and hearing what they resonate with, whether it’s a relationship with their parents, a way they’ve moved through the world in their romantic relationships, or something else.
Constance: What has been the most surprising discovery?
Joy: Just how many people resonate with what I talk about in my show? A lot of it is such a taboo topic, that it’s not like it’s the typical everyday conversation that always comes up. So I’m really glad to be part of an effort to normalize talking about these issues.
Constance: The work will be given away soon. How does that feel?
Joy: It’s scary!! I already feel the postpartum depression. And once you give it away, you can’t control how people take it. But it will also feel fun, connecting, and… relieving?? Haha. How long have you been sitting with this work? I’ve thought about writing something around this topic for a few years, but I think I needed some distance away from the events that actually happened in my life that inspired it before I was ready to shape it into a public show. So maybe like … 5 years? haha.
Constance: Why Fringe? Why this year?
Joy: I absolutely loved my last experience with Fringe in 2019 with my musical SUPPORTIVE WHITE PARENTS and wanted to do it again! I loved all the “fringeships” I made, and I love the community, and I found it to be an incredibly connecting experience. I had just come out of a solo show class at East West Players with a draft of this show, and it was either do Fringe now or wait until next year, which felt like an awfully long time to wait. So I did drag my feet a little bit, but I eventually pulled the trigger.
Constance: Anything else that must be said – please add!
Joy: Hope to see you at the show! I’m on IG @joyregullano and @bodycountsoloshow.n Our first show on Sun 6/9 @ 11pm is PWYC. No code is necessary! (And if you miss me at Hollywood Fringe this year, I’m taking it to NYC for a couple of show dates in late June as part of Pan Asian Rep’s NuWorks Festival! Check out the program here: https://www.panasianrep.org/nuworks-2024.)
June is here and “Women on the Fringe” are again onstage!
There is nothing quite like the buzz that’s created during the Hollywood Fringe. It is a time filled with risk-taking, courage, hope and independent artists creating new work by any means necessary. Each year, I ask women writers a new series of questions influenced by the Proust Questionnaire and Bernard Pivot’s French series, “Bouillon de Culture.” The goal is to understand the artist’s work and their full nature while allowing them a space to reveal their authentic self. It is a great gift and a true honor to introduce women who will be presenting work in myriad genres, exploring a wide range of topics that allow us to examine who we are as individuals and as a society.
Perhaps it’s been too long since LA theatre has seen a good bloody fight to the death on stage.
School of Night remedies that with “Battlesong of Boudica”, an “epic revenge tragedy” based on the real-life Iceni Warrior Chief Boudica’s uprising against the Roman empire in 61AD. Multi-hyphenate Jen Albert produces, fight choreographs, and stars as the queen herself. Onstage, Jen as Boudica slashes, stabs, and beheads her way through one epic battle after another. Offstage, we chatted a bit about her work as a fight choreographer, being a woman with rage, and stage fighting as catharsis.
Elana Luo: How did you get into fight choreography?
Jen Albert: I went to school in Chicago, I went to Columbia College [for acting]. One of the classes on offer was stage combat, and I immediately knew I wanted to take that . I loved it, and every semester I just kept taking more and more classes and weapons : ‘Now I’ve learned swords, okay, now I’ve learned quarterstaff, okay, now I’ve learned shield.’ I just kept going.
Elana: Why did you want to take that class in the first place?
Jen: I think just as part of being an actor. You watch movies, you watch plays, you see all these actors doing these cool cool stunts and things, and you’re like, ‘I wanna do that.’ And I also think at that time I was an angry person, and I liked to hit things. I think the opportunity to hit things and create a cool fight sequence was just a way to get my rage out.
Jen Albert – photo by Shandon Photography
Elana: I feel like the stereotype is that men are the ones who are angry, or it’s mostly men who want to fight. Do you work with a lot of women who are also full of rage, or this fighting drive?
Jen: Yeah. I don’t know that people see how much rage women actually have. I’m surrounded by women who have rage, for a multitude of reasons. It’s not over being less equal than other folks, it’s the violence. I’m certainly tired of being scared all the time or worried about my life because somebody’s just going to be angry and do something to me. Just in general, you know, we all have rage. The idea that women don’t have rage is silly. I know a lot of very, very, angry women.
Elana:Does the character of Boudica have any special significance to you?
Jen: There’s a scene in the beginning of the play where she’s sort of beating her daughter a little bit. When I read that, I was like, ooh, that’s a lot. And Chris [longtime collaborator Christopher William Johnson, Battlesong of Boudica writer and director] was like, ‘Well, I kind of wrote it to be a bit like your mother.’ And not that my mother was abusive, but she didn’t know any better. That’s how she disciplined. Back in the 80s and 90s, that was not weird, that was standard. And [in the play] it’s 61AD. There was no line about what’s abusive and what’s not. There’s no line about animal sacrifice. These are humans at the beginning of time, doing what they do with what they know how to do.
Elana: So that initial response of ‘oh, I don’t know about that,’ was that modern-day you thinking?
Jen: That was me being the actor going, ‘people are not going to like her.’ And on top of that, later in the play, she burns down entire towns of civilians. She’s not actually a nice person. And so I don’t think we really knew how people were going to receive that.
Allegra Rodriguez Shivers and Jen Albert in “Battlesong of Boudica” – photo by Jessica Sherman
Elana: When you were playing her, did you feel unlikeable? Did you want people to root for her?
Jen: Honestly, after I read it and started playing it, I didn’t really think about it, nor did I care. I’m playing a human being going through whatever she’s going through, it doesn’t really matter what anybody thinks about it. And if they don’t like her, great! And I think it makes for more interesting drama if we’re [having] feelings about the character. Yes, she’s in the right, but also… not.
Elana: She’s complex!
Jen: I used to… I still get a little irritated when people are like, ‘You’re playing a strong female character.’ I don’t want to play a strong female character. I want to play a complex character. I don’t need her to be strong. Women are not always strong. We get to give in to our vices. We get to be bad. We get to be evil. You know, like, we’re not saints and I don’t want to play a saint. I want to play somebody who’s complicated. She’s not perfect. She’s so not. She gets bloodthirsty!
What do you see as the importance of showing violence on the stage?
I think in our normal lives we don’t normally get to react with violence. And so I think that [the] stage is sort of an outlet for that. I think theater in general is an outlet for feelings and emotions or thoughts, situations that we don’t normally get to have or be a part of. So I think that translates to stage combat as well. It’s just like watching an action movie. We all want to be able to do that or participate in that. It gets our adrenaline going, it gets us excited.
It’s just like musical theater. When the emotions get to be too much, you sing. So when the emotions get to be too much, you are violent. And I always say that an actor has to have a reason to fight. So if it’s executed well, then it supports the emotional context of the show. It’s telling the story as it should be told.
What were your goals with choreographing the fights on this show?
Jen Albert as Boudica fights Jesse James Thomas as Camulos – photo by Jessica Sherman
Jen: My goal is always to tell the story. What is the story, what are we trying to say with it? Like with the fight with Camulos [one of Boudica’s many enemies, played by Jesse James Thomas], my goal was to build tension. What I really wanted out of that was for her to make him angry, because that’s her strategy. If he’s angry, he’s gonna be off balance. And Jesse and I talked about this, because we worked on this fight together. And he [as Camulos] plays up the anger of it. Then I [as Boudica] can calm down and go, ‘Okay, great. Now you’re now you’re going to do something stupid.’ So each fight has its own sort of story.
Go see Jen destroy the need to be well-liked, as well as a respectable chunk of the Roman Empire, in School of Night’s Battlesong of Boudica at The Hudson Backstage, running for one more weekend, April 28-30. Click Here for Tickets. For more information about School of Night and what the company is up to next, visit schoolofnight.org.
How many times have you heard that in the last two months?
Living in the thick of Los Angeles County, one can’t deny the effects that COVID-19 has had on the LA community, especially within the arts. Before the pandemic, theaters were getting ready to launch their 2020-2021 seasons, clean their venues for incoming Hollywood Fringe productions, and hold long-awaited annual galas, festivals, and workshops. Now? Companies are relying on Zoom and other streaming platforms to continue providing artistic content to the community, including readings, webinars, and even full-blown theatrical productions – some prerecorded, some live!
Because these times are unprecedented, because we’ve never had to bring theater into a virtual space, we’re left with the questions: What is theater now? Is it changing? And what does our future look like now that this has happened?
We (virtually) sat down with Tanya White, artistic director of Santa Monica Repertory Theater, to talk about SMRT’s upcoming 2nd Annual Playreading Festival; the eerie relevance of the Festival’s predetermined theme, #BraveNewWorld; and the reading of AGELESS by Bridgette Dutta Portman, directed by SMRT co-founder and resident director Sarah Gurfield. The Festival, held on May 16th via StreamYard, includes a Special Kick-off Conversation on May 14th, a playwriting workshop, and pre- and post-show discussions concerning Portman’s intriguing piece.
LAFPI: Tell us a little bit about Santa Monica Rep’s mission and why it’s important to you.
Tanya White: Our mission is using theater to tell stories and also engage our community in the process, both in the creation of work and also in the discussion with the artists & production. Whatever it is that we are doing, we always have a post-show discussion.
Tanya White
We’ll be actually talking about why that mission is important at our Kick-Off Conversation next Thursday, preceding our Festival . The panel is going to discuss what theater is and why it matters. I believe that theater is kind of an essential piece of a society that allows people to step out of their own experience and look at something from somebody else’s point of view.
Of course, you have the playwright’s point of view and the director’s perspective of the piece. But what you’re also seeing is walking, talking people who are experiencing things that you can mostly identify with, even if you are different than the character. We all experience the same kinds of feelings. But it’s communal in the fact that we’re all witnessing the same thing. It’s how it’s expressed, I think, that makes us unique.
LAFPI: This is Santa Monica Rep’s 2nd Annual Playreading Festival, spotlighting women artists. What has it been like transitioning from providing the event in-person to providing it online?
Tanya: Before this, we really didn’t focus on recording a live theater event. If we did, usually it’s for archival purposes, not actually to rebroadcast or stream. People are at different levels of comfortability with technology. So that that’s been challenging.
And one of the things we were challenged with before this pandemic was getting the word out about us. We’re a really small group of people, so our capacity is limited. Our audience has largely been people who have followed us for the 10 years we’ve been in existence, which has been great. But the exciting thing is that now we have more reach. The idea that somebody can be anywhere in the world and see this is really exciting. We can say, “You don’t have to be in Santa Monica to come see us!” So having suddenly having a virtual space is great for us.
LAFPI: The theme of #BraveNewWorld was decided well-before the global pandemic. What kind of new questions do you think have arisen that are going to be a larger part of these conversations because of what’s going on right now?
Tanya: Right now, we’re having a shared experience. We’re in the same space and time together. I mean, this is not a recording. To engage at this level, we have to be present. And so maybe the question is, “what is space” versus “what is theater?” But that’s what we’re jumping off from. So what is theater? And does this count as theater?
A question that comes up for sure is “how can we help each other?” Not just on an individual level, but also how we talk about theaters. How do we support each other? How do wesupport arts and each other? I feel there’s gonna be a lot more collaboration, a lot more people working together, because there used to be the feeling that everybody’s competing for the same audience, and the idea that that’s a finite thing. Like, if somebody comes to see a play in Santa Monica Rep, they’re not going to go see something at LA Women’s Shakespeare. So I think it is the question of how open and loving people are to helping each other? How can we cross promote? How do we how do we help each other get what we need to keep doing this work?
Maybe people will start also looking again at who our audience is. Because people do target, right? We look at who we’re reaching out to. Or if we’re selling tickets, we get in front of people who can afford to buy them. But the other day a friend of mine was saying how they’ve been to every museum in the world because they can now, virtually. I mean, access becomes a whole a whole new thing. So now somebody who doesn’t [ordinarily] go see a play has access to theater in this way. We have a Festival ticket where you can participate in a playwriting workshop and a panel with two playwrights, or you can just register for the reading, which is free. You know, we say a suggested donation, but it’s not a ticket price.
LAFPI: What in the programming for the Festival are you most excited for audiences to take part in?
Tanya: The reading of AGELESS. I think we’re using the technology really well (God willing, it works!). I’m really excited about the about how the play translates into a virtual experience, and how we’re using the technology to tell the story. So I’m excited for everybody to log in and be part of that.
And it’s a good play. The subject matter is great and interesting, but it’s a good story. Well-told.
LAFPI: That rolls in right into my next question – Why this play right now?
Tanya: Well, we put the call out to women playwrights to send us stories of dystopia or utopia. We got several plays that we were going to do and, originally, we were set for June. Then we had to pare down and look at taking it online. We decided to do it sooner, not knowing when the stay-at-home order would be lifted, and we picked AGELESS because it had more roles for company members. We always serve our company members first.
And the theme of aging seems to be not just relevant, but especially of interest to women, as well. We’re highlighting plays written and directed by women. And again, it’s a good play. And really that’s always what it comes down to. Also, will it get some discussion going? We like to pick things that we know people want to talk about.
LAFPI: Who should attend this Festival and why?
Tanya: Anybody who’s really interested in examining what our future could look like. Such a great time to do that, when we’re all in a place where we’re reflecting. We have to. We’re alone. And we’re all aging. So I think anybody could come in and find themselves in this play because it follows characters as they age and characters as they don’t physically age, which I think is kind of an LA thing, too. The whole idea of not aging is a big deal.
So, yeah, I really think anybody anybody could enjoy the play. Maybe not young children, but I would say anyone from maybe fifteen or sixteen. But particularly, young women should come, because the play examines so many women. So who should see it? Everybody. Right? Except toddlers. No toddlers! Don’t bring your toddlers to your Zoom.
Santa Monica Repertory Theater’s 2nd Annual Playreading Festival will start with a Special Kick-Off Conversation on May 14th, and officially begin May 16th at 11am. The Festival features a virtual staged reading of AGELESS by Bridgette Dutta Portman, directed by Sarah Gurfield. With a $25 Festival Pass, audiences can participate in the Kick-Off and all events. The reading alone is free with a suggested donation. For more information, visit santamonicarep.org/bravenewworld.html
Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non‐profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of LAFPI must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” only and are tax‐deductible to the extent permitted by law.
For the final installment of my “Creatives Check-In” series, we welcome and hear from…
Maia “Vik Floyd” Villa (top left), Lelde Cauka – Bracken (top right), and Nahal Navidar (bottom).
Before we get into the interview, I just want to say how thankful I am to everyone who participated in this series. I know that the times we’re living in are not easy and we’re all in taking in the days as best we can but I am so thankful that you took the time to share your story with me.
Featured Creatives – A Short Bio:
Lelde Cauka – Bracken is a Latvian born visual artist living and working in Los Angeles, CA. Lelde comes from a background of classical fine art training since the age of 10. Her work ranges from a realistic still life and portrait illustrations to exploration of color and shape. Her current work voices abstractionism and simplicity. It is deeply rooted in her northern European upbringing while intertwining with the exposure of her surroundings. Mostly working with watercolor and acrylics, Lelde finds these mediums the most soothing allowing the audience to connect and find harmony through her work.
Nahal Navidar is an Iranian-born playwright raised in upstate New York. Her plays are motivated by the exploration of social issues while employing magical elements to embody the expanse of human emotions. Nahal’s plays have been developed at Boston Court, Silk Road Rising, Ensemble Studio Theatre LA, The Vagrancy, Rogue Machine, Coeurage Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Playwright’s Arena, Troy Foundry Theatre, The Last Frontier Theatre Conference, Golden Thread Productions, Company of Angels, The Kennedy Center, and The University at Albany. Nahal holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from USC and is a member of the Dramatist Guild of America.
Maia “Vik Floyd” Villa is a fifth generation Chicanx Los Angeleno, most at home between taco trucks and boba tea. They’re a lifelong performer and writer, particularly in love with sketch comedy, ancestral reparation, and rock’n’roll. Passionate about liberating marginalized voices through creative expression and cultural enrichment, Maia has worked with various non-profit arts organizations throughout Los Angeles to empower others through storytelling. You can catch them in sketch/improv shows in Hollywood and performing rey metalero drag all over the Eastside—after quarantine that is.
Instagram: @maia.villa (For Maia stuff and comedy) and @mx.vikfloyd (For more openly queer, mentally ill stuff—oh and drag!)
How have you been spending your time at home during the quarantine?
Lelde Cauka – Bracken (LCB): Quarantine has certainly raised awareness of what is essential in our lives. Whether it is food or a creative outlet to sustain your mental wellbeing. The current time and circumstances we have discovered ourselves in, is simply another reminder that the beauty of life is its unpredictable ways. Yes, the future may seem uncertain, especially if one’s routine has been disrupted, but it has always been this way! This is how I continue to look at my day-to-day life in the creative field as well as in my domestic life. I try not to put a pause on everything simply because we are leading a more simple and isolated life. In many ways, I find it more inspirational and motivating than ever before despite the crisis. With that being said, I am also aware of the negative side of this virus and the different degrees of impact it’s leaving on so many lives around me – seeing so many people around the world including my family and friends be so deeply affected is heartbreaking without a doubt, but we also have to find a way to function for ourselves and others. I feel like we have been given an opportunity to re-establish values for ourselves and decide how we want to continue this journey. I am a strong believer in “less is more”. Letting go of what I have no control over, is my gasoline that keeps me moving forward. It is also strongly reflected in my artwork.
This might sound cliché, but I’ve been focusing more on my mental and physical health by staying active through late-night running and my continuous yoga practice as I did before the quarantine. Once you discover it in your own unique way, it really does wonders to your body and mind and this is something I put a big emphasis on because all of these aspects are connected and play a tremendous role not only in my happiness but also in my creative flow. I strongly recommend it!
Being lucky enough to have full-time job during this pandemic, I have also taken the time to get back to my roots and focus more on cooking. I grew up in the luscious Latvia and preparing your daily meal with homegrown ingredients runs in my DNA. It has always been a passion of mine, but now that my current “office” is around the corner from my kitchen, it makes it that much easier and brings me so much joy. This time has most certainly brought renewed love for many simple things in my life and has made me appreciate what I have and how far I have come.
Maia “Vik Floyd” Villa(MVFV): This is almost everything I ever wanted—but with a horrific societal landscape. To explain: Since I was preteen age, I had this recurring vision of a brick wall always slowly moving behind me, as I had to keep up and move forward. In deep spells of depression, I’d get the vision of my little body jogging slowly and getting tired—or worse, falling completely limp in exhaustion as the wall pushed on.
I grew to realize that this is not only a metaphor about time, but a metaphor on societal pressures—not to mention anything my young psyche had picked up from loving Pink Floyd’s concept of The Wall. 12 years later, I’m grateful we live among communities working and collaborating to decolonize. Now, before you think I’m just going to go into a rant about how white supremacists or capitalism is the root of all evil…well I slightly am, and also very much not. I believe that, in the lifetime of any society throughout history, more often than not the structures used to build a large scale society are the same structures that eventually stop working until the society collapses or revolutionizes itself.
How is this an answer to your question? HA.
I do not feel I have extra time. I still feel the wall moving. Above is the beginnings of the thoughts I’ve been having while trying not to let the stress take over too much. Despite being in a personally privileged position (I’m able to work from home, and I am grateful to have time at home because I’m normally running around all over the place), my arms are aching all the time and I do not feel as though I have any extra time to spend. I still feel like there isn’t enough time to release all the spinning thoughts, I still feel like there isn’t enough time to get ahead of that wall, I still feel all the pressures and anxieties — and the silver lining gift is to be able to observe those emotional patterns removed of some factors that normally keep me distracted and busy.
Did the quarantine affect any of your creative projects or plans?
LCB: It has most certainly left an impact – public shows in galleries might be out of the question for a while, but this situation has also expanded my creativity and made me search for alternative ways to make my art accessible to others, for example, utilizing the mighty worldwide web, especially social media has been a great tool. I am definitely very thankful for technology.
Daylight plays an instrumental part in my creative work and it has been wonderful to not spend any time in traffic and have easy access to it daily. So overall, I must say the quarantine has made a positive impact on my workflow.
For more of Lelde’s work, visit her on IG @visual.intermission
Nahal Navidar (NN): The world premiere of my play My Dear Hussein was cancelled on what would have been the first preview performance. We were in tech week when we had the initial conversation about COVID-19 and things rapidly unraveled from there.
MVFV: It pushed forward a plan: to stop doing theatre. I’ve been a “Yes” person in the theatre world for 12 years, and funny thing is that a project was ending on March 10th. So all throughout February and beginning of March, I was telling myself, “March 11th, you start saying no; March 11th, you get rest and focus on your solo work. March 11th you start spending more time at home—“ and WHOOP! Look what happened!
I was about to say no to all creative projects so that I can narrow my focus to a dream that’s been dear to me for a very long time: I auditioned for and got accepted into Second City Hollywood’s Grad Revue. After 8 levels of improv, this is the final 6-month program in which you build a sketch show with an ensemble. I’m telling you, Zury, this is the number one fucking DREAM—the road to the dream—and I am tearing up that it’s been put on pause.
I work for a nonprofit I’m very passionate about (I’m an emerging actor who sees having a platform as an opportunity for social progress), so March and April haven’t been easy. Trying to catch relief fund opportunities like flying dodgeballs. I’ve been laughing about the March 11th thing; this is almost what I wanted…But it’s very much not.
How, if at all, has this time affected your creativity?
NN: With the cancellation of my production, I can’t anticipate when I’ll have the emotional fortitude to write again. As an immigrant, woman, and artist of color, getting a theater to commit to producing my work has been a grueling task. To come this close and then watch it fall apart during tech week has been devastating. Unearthing my childhood memories of war for the rehearsal process was intrinsically a trying experience, but the point is to share in the communal experience of catharsis with an audience. Otherwise, there is no release, like a hand is squeezing my larynx. My body is anticipating the breath, but my mind knows that air is not coming. I will channel this into my writing one day, but right now I am in shock.
MVFV: I’m being kind to myself. Of course I want to shit out the album, the solo performance, the comedy sketch that will break open our bipartisan divide…I want to create and release and produce all of that. But I can’t have that expectation when this time is uncertain and scary for all of us. It’s tiring.
I’m allowing myself to take everything slowly. To sit in my backyard and breathe, and instead of having the pressure to practice guitar via scales or metronomes, just deep listening to the sound and to the wind.
I’m part of the drag community, and I must mention how wildly impressive and beautiful it is how quickly and strongly and innovatively the drag community has created and produced digital drag nationwide. It’s fucking beautiful! It’s been frustrating for artists like me who have more theatrical skill than digital, but all of us punkass bitches at least are enjoying ANY quality of digital drag. I said no to some digital drag opportunities at start, and am now gradually creating some videos whenever I feel the need for release and have the time. What a beautiful action to use this time to join together globally.
SIDE NOTE, From Maia: I really would love it if people were able to catch the following drag shows, because I am releasing personal healing that I hope is good for everyone else:
May 5th at 7pm, Drag Kings of the World @dragkingsworld
May 7th at 7:36pm (full moon sunset time), Golden Hour @goldenhourdragshow
May 14th at 7pm, Mandemic by @mancandykings
*All streaming on Twitch
Personally, do you feel that it’s necessary/important to keep creative during this time?
LCB: Yes, absolutely! It’s part of my ecosystem. For me, personally, it’s something irreplaceable and essential. It has always been that way.
NN: No. I don’t think it’s important to do anything but follow the stay-at-home order, keep social distance, and be present with the shared trauma that humanity is experiencing. If one wants to process feelings through creativity, then of course, create, but a global pandemic shouldn’t be treated as an extended writer’s retreat. It’s an offense to the millions of people who have lost their lives, are sick, and to the essential workers who don’t have the privilege to stay at home and protect their families.
MVFV: Hell no. Priority is self-care. Society is not going to go back to “normal” — if you look at the natural course of history, you know that more painful change, more eye opening to weak structures—all of that is coming. We need rest. Only rest will make us stronger. If creative collaboration brings you rest, comfort, and strength—great! If spinning around your bedroom throwing paint at a poster brings you, rest, comfort, and strength—great! But is “keeping creative” necessary? Hell no.
What have you found most frustrating about this time, creatively or otherwise?
NN: I have a deadline coming up for a commission. I’m three scenes away from finishing the play, but what I need now is to process the fallout of production and digest the reality of the world around me. However, my integrity as an artist and commitment to deadlines are very important. It’s a frustrating conundrum.
MVFV: The crowds of people deeply believe that Newsom’s initiatives are a ploy to entrap us in a communist police state. That this can be a global issue—with multiple countries having shelter-in-place guidelines or restrictions—and I still have 2 MAGA family members on both sides who believe this is an exaggeration to fuck with Trump’s election. And even more frustrating, Zury, is that the Democratic Party is a fucking disaster, and I don’t blame anyone who decides to join the #WalkAway movement and become a patriot focused on freedom. Nearly every politician has some personal interest, some money to go into their pocket. I’m losing my mind because we have one side screaming about communists, and the other side screaming about fascists, and all the radicalists are either moving further to the left or further to the right—without anyone finding any common root belief or behavior.
Once our young nation has citizens who, during a GLOBAL PANDEMIC (geez, I have to say “global” when pandemic does mean global), are holding up protest signs reading, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.” Oh, man, it’s over. This country was founded on the concept of Liberty (a false liberty) and no one even knows what liberty means.
I’ll continue to collaborate with people who will work tirelessly “until justice is truly for all” but I am tired and pessimistic.
What is something that you’ve learned about yourself during this time?
LCB: I have learned how adaptable I can be to this ever-changing life and cope with disruption. Instead of feeling frustrated about the current situation in the world and any other newness that comes my way, I simply accept the change and most often transform it into a case study, a creative process. Life is constantly full of hidden gems and other rocks. I have learned to appreciate them all equally.
NN: I’m too immersed in the experience and can’t see beyond the muck. I do feel exhausted and know that we will all feel the impact of this pandemic for generations to come.
MVFV: Observing my bipolar patterns removed of all the busying/distracting factors is pretty fascinating, and also a little scary. On the one week a month that I’m in an optimistic mood, I worry it’s going to spiral into mania, yes, but also my nervous system is just such a fucking nuisance. I’ve been breathing, grounding myself, staying patient and forgiving for the most part. I am in a safe environment, with little stress. Whenever I do have stress spikes where I act grouchy, I am grateful I’m with my family where we’re all just used to our behaviors and laugh at each other.
I am still worried about my anger. I have been for many years now. So I’ve said Fuck it to traditional workouts, and now I am essentially combining my “at-home gym” time with Viewpoints in order to release anger.
What is something/someone that has brought you joy during this time?
LCB: I feel extremely lucky to share this time with my partner in creative journeys and life as well as play with our always-comical husky pup. We actually got engaged the other week. This came as a wonderful surprise and is another great example of how to continue your life despite the quarantine.
NN: Making new Iranian recipes I’ve never attempted before. Reading. Practicing my violin. Consuming mindless content. Spending time with my husband and our new puppy, Pashmak. Checking in on my cousin, Emily, who is a NYC nurse and texting her silly gifs and YouTube clips. Being thankful every day for the health of my family and loved ones.
MVFV: My friend Daniel Luna reached out to our team for Borracho: Spanish for Drunken Bum (a play by friend Abe Zapata Jr. I directed in February—I fucking love that play; I’d be tired all over again for that beautiful, hilarious play—) so we could read a script he’s working on all together via Zoom. That was my fave. It was a very low pressure, one-time commitment scenario where we all get to enjoy Daniel’s comedy, and I loved it. (Shout out to @luna.tico and @abe_zapatajr — peeps should follow their work!) Also, I highly recommend taking an incredibly aimless walk around your neighborhood without any technology on you.
