Tag Archives: Fringe Femmes

#FringeFemmes Check-Ins: El Mago Loco

Fringe Festival, playwriting, , , , , ,

by Constance Jaquay Strickland

Quick peeks at #HFF25’s “Women on the Fringe” by Fringe Femmes who are behind the scenes this year. Click Here for all Check-Ins

Fringe Femmes

WHO: Linzy Beltran

WHAT: El Mago Loco

WHERE: The Cats Crawl, 660 N Heliotrope Dr

WHY: Because Linzy Beltran blows your mind with her fearlessness, candor, and heart at a time when our city needs it most. Because her physical soliloquy – where she glitches in and out of Latino stereotypes, falsities, and cultural behaviors – was mesmerizing and executed with off-kilter precision, power, and authenticity.

Because El Mago holds space with tenderness and fire, daring us to think together about the hard truths without ever losing our joy. Because the way the character transitions through moments is so fluid, it’s hard to tell what’s improvised and what’s choreographed.

Because this was my first clown show, and I left the theatre empowered, not defeated. Because Linzy reminds us in the funniest of ways that now is not the time to turn the other cheek, for we are in exigent times.

[From Linzy – Go Here for local organizations and links to stay informed and get involved]

HOW: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/11938

#FringeFemmes Check-Ins: No

Fringe Festival, playwriting, , , , , ,

by Constance Jaquay Strickland

Quick peeks at #HFF25’s “Women on the Fringe” by Fringe Femmes who are behind the scenes this year. Click Here for all Check-Ins

Fringe Femmes

WHO: Annalisa Limardi

WHAT: No

WHERE: Eastwood Performing Arts Center (Main Space), 1089 N Oxford Av

WHY: Because No is a fully embodied physical piece that pulls you into a guttural experience. Because it makes you question how we engage with our own inner thoughts, how we use our voice, and what it means to stand by what we believe in. Because this isn’t just performance… it’s conviction made tangible.

Because this piece doesn’t fit inside a box. It stands in a category all its own. Because I’ve never seen an artist have such a raw, exquisite relationship with a microphone. Because every gesture is dynamic, intentional, and speaks volumes.

Because the way Annalisa moves through space with awareness and connection is a
marvel. Because her fluidity is like a swan, and yet every moment is grounded, deliberate,
and unshakable.

Because this is the kind of work that reminds you: Saying no can be a complete sentence, a
political act, a reclamation.

DON’T MISS THIS SHOW!

HOW: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/11855

#FringeFemmes Check-Ins: Riding in Cars with Girls

Fringe Festival, playwriting, , , ,

by Constance Jaquay Strickland

Quick peeks at #HFF25’s “Women on the Fringe” by Fringe Femmes who are behind the scenes this year. Click Here for all Check-Ins

Fringe Femmes

WHO: Aditi Pradhan

WHAT: Riding in Cars with Girls

WHERE: 905 Cole Theatre, 905 Cole Av

WHY: Because this show grabs you by the heartstrings. Because Aditi found a beautiful, clever way to frame vignettes as a TED Talk inviting us to explore the history of women earning the right to drive, while also celebrating girls in tech. Because it’s both educational and emotional, and makes you think about freedom not just who gets it, but what it costs. Because driving isn’t just about movement, it’s about agency and self power.

Because one vignette broke my heart in a way I wasn’t prepared for. Because it reminded me that a woman’s right to leave does not always come easily, and is far too often met with consequence or violence. Because Aditi delivers these truths with care, attention, and deep love.

Because for every revolution and societal shift, there is loss but there is also hope. Because the future always brings change.

HOW: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/11833

#FringeFemmes Check-Ins: Fancy’s Hookin’ for Love

Fringe Festival, playwriting, , , , , ,

by Constance Jaquay Strickland

Quick peeks at #HFF25’s “Women on the Fringe” by Fringe Femmes who are behind the scenes this year. Click Here for all Check-Ins

Fringe Femmes

WHO: Chris Farah

WHAT: Fancy’s Hookin’ for Love

WHERE: The Hobgoblin Playhouse,  6440 Santa Monica Bl

WHY: Because Hookin’ for Love is a funtastical dive into what it means to be human. Because Chris Farah is fully locked in as Fancy, and her commitment lets us go on a wild ride of witty
banter, hilarious antics, and moments that unexpectedly hit you in the gut. Because it’s not just funny, it’s revealing. Because Fancy makes us laugh while nudging us to examine what we’re missing in each other.

Because in a world of endless scrolling, AI, and digital distractions, we’ve become experts at avoiding intimacy. And Fancy isn’t having it. Because love still matters. Because connection is still worth fighting for. Because Fancy reminds us with sparkle and grit that human interaction is still our most valuable currency.

HOW: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/12156

(You just might catch Fancy next living her best life in New York still hookin’, still lookin’, and always searching for love in all the wrong (and right) places. Visit https://www.instagram.com/chrislfarah/)

#FringeFemmes Check-Ins: In Her Head

Fringe Festival, playwriting, , , ,

by Constance Jaquay Strickland

Quick peeks at #HFF25’s “Women on the Fringe” by Fringe Femmes who are behind the scenes this year. Click Here for all Check-Ins

Fringe Femmes

WHO: Jasmine Scott

WHAT: In Her Head

WHERE: The Madnani Theater, 6760 Lexington Av

WHY: Because the poetry cracked something open. Because it offered a vulnerable and lyrical window into the character’s mindset and maybe, just maybe, into our own. Because the journey Jasmine crafted was insightful, imaginative, and emotionally layered. Because the way the character’s brain processed emotion through rhythm, image, and expression felt as textured and real as our own inner worlds.

Because the voice of a Black girl, in all her truth, brilliance, and vulnerability, is urgently vital. Because the time is now. Because for far too long, Black girls and women have carried our sorrow in silence, wearing pain like armor. Jasmine’s work reminds us we don’t have to anymore.

Because this is the season of release, healing, permitting ourselves to feel it all, and to speak it aloud.

HOW: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/11496

#FringeFemmes Check-Ins: πr2

Fringe Festival, playwriting, , , , ,

by Constance Jaquay Strickland

Quick peeks at #HFF25’s “Women on the Fringe” by Fringe Femmes who are behind the scenes this year. Click Here for all Check-Ins

Fringe Femmes

WHO: Pia Nicoletti

WHAT: πr2

WHERE: The Broadwater Mainstage,  1078 Lillian Way

WHY: Because what I witnessed was more than a performance—it was a full-body experience. Because the creative use of craft projections, natural elements like water and plants, and layered shadows turned the space into something mystical, something not of this world.

Because the projections by Catalina Nicoletti didn’t just illuminate—they conjured. Creating a world of memory and myth that danced across each of the four acts. Because the choreography of hands, light, water, and space was nothing short of divine.

Because watching Pia suspended in the air, fighting through space, felt radical—especially now, in a time of active global struggle. Because it wasn’t just movement; it was resistance, and it was survival.

Because the sculpture onstage—a magnificent Time Machine or cluster of clocks—was more than set design, it was a portal. It sits onstage like a relic or oracle, vibrating through your solar plexus with a quiet power that doesn’t fade.

Because Pia is utterly in command of her body, using it as an instrument to express a storm of emotions, questions, and longings. Because her performance felt ancient—tribal, ancestral—like something passed down through breath and bone.

Because she gave us a story told not through words, but through presence. Through embodied language. Through silence that spoke volumes. Because this is an amazing artist family that travels around the world to perform.

Because this international gem is in Los Angeles for a short time. Because this is ritual theatre. Because this is the kind of piece that swells through your whole body. Because this show reminds you: not everything about being human can—or should—be spoken.

HOW: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/11833

photo by Annie Lesser

#FringeFemmes Check-Ins: Outdated

Fringe Festival, playwriting, , , ,

Quick peeks at #HFF25’s “Women on the Fringe” by Fringe Femmes who are behind the scenes this year. Click Here for all Check-Ins

Fringe Femmes

WHO: Kirsten Vangsness

WHAT: Outdated

WHERE: Los Angeles LGBT Center (Davidson / Valentini Theatre) 1125 North McCadden Pl

WHY: Kirsten Vangsness is, quite simply, one of those performers you can’t take your eyes off of. She’s fearless and fragile and bold and breakable, ridiculous and self aware and polished and messy and a positively addictive presence onstage. Whether she’s embodying Tana, a Topanga femininity coach who wants women to embrace their “soft folds,” Aaron, Tana’s sweetly dedicated assistant, or baring all as herself in her deep dive into three particularly destructive dating experiences with men (the whys and hows and morning afters), Kristen is a force. And while her stories are very much her own, they speak to us all.

HOW: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/11774

#FringeFemmes Check-Ins: Godless

Fringe Festival, playwriting, , , , ,

by Constance Jaquay Strickland

Quick peeks at #HFF25’s “Women on the Fringe” by Fringe Femmes who are behind the scenes this year. Click Here for all Check-Ins

Fringe Femmes

WHO: Cristina Fernandez

WHAT: Godless

WHERE: Hudson Theatres (Hudson Guild), 6539 Santa Monica Bl

WHY: Because Cristina’s show is a wonderfully nonlinear comedy that invites you to let go of control and ride the current of her thoughts, quirks, and curiosities. Because she trusts her audience, and in turn, we trust her back. Because she breaks the rules with such ease, you forget they ever existed. Because it’s authentic, wholesome, and yes—experimental, that means you won’t see anything else like it at Fringe. Because there are beautifully human moments when she doesn’t have to say anything at all. Because the tilt of her head, or a single swan-like movement across the space, becomes a performance all its own. Because she takes us on an emotional, very human ride through the inner terrain of fears, anxieties, and quiet worries—but never forgets to remind us that joy, laughter, and love are how we make it through.

Because at the end, just when you think it’s over, Cristina leads the entire audience out the door in a spontaneous Conga. Because yes, it takes a second to realize what’s happening—but when you do, it’s exactly what you need. Because it was wild, warm, and unexpectedly unifying. Because that one shared moment won’t fade from memory anytime soon.

HOW: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/10321

Click Here to Find More “Women on the Fringe!”

#FringeFemmes Check-Ins: Grief Baby’s First Road Trip

Fringe Festival, playwriting, , , , ,

by Constance Jaquay Strickland

Quick peeks at #HFF25’s “Women on the Fringe” by Fringe Femmes who are behind the scenes this year. Click Here for all Check-Ins

Fringe Femmes

WHO: Adedana Ashebir

WHAT: Grief Baby’s First Road Trip

WHERE: Hudson Theatres (Hudson Guild), 6539 Santa Monica Bl

WHY: Because my heart exploded as Adedana let us into her cycle of healing after the loss of her father. Because I wasn’t raised by my own father, and it was deeply moving to witness a daughter keep the memory—and voice—of her father alive with such tenderness. Because grief is hard to witness when you’re still in the thick of it.

Because it didn’t hit me until the next day, walking alone, that I, too, had my own ‘grief baby’—and I hadn’t allowed myself to name the losses I carry: my grandmother, and four dear friends. Because Adedana became a vessel for that release, for all of us. And that is a rare and beautiful gift an artist gives her audience.

Because Adedana has an extraordinary ability to connect. Her presence made me feel like we were friends gathered in circle—sharing, listening, remembering. Because her show is a tender meditation on what one life means to another. Because the sudden loss of a parent shifts your reality in a heartbeat, and she captured that surreal unraveling with grace and humor.

Because her journey—of discovering lessons tucked in her father’s parables and quotes, of deciding to learn to drive and make the brave solo trip to the Grand Canyon—was jaw-droppingly inspiring. Because it spoke to a young woman reclaiming agency, finding out who she is and what she’s made of.

Because this is the question pulsing underneath: Who are you after your parent dies? And who gives you permission to grieve out loud?

Because Adedana taught us how to hold space—for others, and for ourselves. Because we don’t always realize how our words land when someone is grieving. Sometimes, the most compassionate thing we can offer is silence, or presence.

Because this is a season of healing. The people are demanding a release. And Adedana answered that call with an open heart and outstretched arms.

Because she reminded me, and maybe will remind you too, that our ‘grief babies’ are real—and they deserve to be named and remembered. Because you have two more chances to this show!

HOW: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/11821

Click Here to Find More “Women on the Fringe!”

#FringeFemmes Check-Ins: How Do I Hold It?

Fringe Festival, playwriting, , , , ,

by Constance Jaquay Strickland

Quick peeks at #HFF25’s “Women on the Fringe” by Fringe Femmes who are behind the scenes this year. Click Here for all Check-Ins

Fringe Femmes

WHO: Tabatha Myers

WHAT: How Do I Hold It?

WHERE: Thymele Arts (Kansas Room), 5481 Santa Monica Bl

WHY: Because this show doesn’t ask for your pity—it earns your presence. Because her words are spoken like a gust of wind: sudden, sweeping, and unforgettable. Because it’s rare to witness a performer this willing to blend absurdity with honesty, grief with punchlines, and horror with lightness. Because I walked away from this show with a keener sense and understanding of what it means to not let anyone steal your light. Because trauma isn’t linear, and neither is healing.

Because Tabatha reminded me to laugh. Because Tabatha reminds us all that expression doesn’t have to be tidy to be true. Because watching her on stage feels like sitting with a friend who finally lets you in. Because she never asks you to feel sorry for her—only to feel. Because joy and resilience are not opposites of pain, but its unexpected companions. Because her story holds both the weight of what she’s survived and the shimmer of who she’s still becoming. Because you’ll walk out seeing your own light a little clearer. Because this is a show that leaves room for you to heal sideways. Because the stage needs more writing like this. Because laughter in the dark is a revolution. Because Tabatha had this profound ability to see through violation, confusion, pain, and disappointment and find a way to keep living.

Go support this show, you won’t be sitting hoping to be entertained, instead, you’ll go through a quiet revelation of self. 

HOW: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/11783

Click Here to Find More “Women on the Fringe!”