BLOSSOMING 2020: the virtual edition
When The Political Becomes Personal
The Last One by Mercedes Segesvary; directed by Carly Weckstein
THE LAST ONE is the story of Kranbary, a woman who was once a National Dart Throwing Champion, but now, in her 30s, struggles to find purpose in her day to day world. Her best friend, Bucket, is in a similar state and one day decides to become a Life Coach/Motivator. As Bucket learns new techniques to face his life’s challenges, Kranbary notices that Bucket has forgotten a portion of his negative memories. She’s turned off by Bucket’s sudden intense positivity and begins to pull away from their friendship. But she can’t get far from this Goop-y positivity, for everyone around her is rapidly going through a similar change. This sudden mass human consciousness shift leads Kranbary down a rabbit hole to discover the source of the Shift. 
when we breathe by Jaisey Bates; directed by June Carryl
Two twins. Half-siblings. Strangers. Their authoress, four days gone. A sheep that speaks, recently deceased. A coyote. Possibly supernatural. A stormy night. Probably supernatural. A history-haunted mine-contaminated sacred storied thirsty imagined land. A play that asks: Who are we? Who will be the 'we' we write? 
Into the Side of a Hill by James Anthony Tyler; directed by Jamil Jude
At a Historically Black University in 2004, 6 fraternity brothers rehearse for the annual Homecoming Step Show. As they rehearse, issues such as mental illness, toxic masculinity, and war bring all of the young men into battle with each other. Is their brotherhood strong enough to keep them united? |
Slowly And Then All At Once by Katherine Vondy; directed by Hannah Wolfe
Naomi and Kiran have a nice life together. They work from home. They get their groceries delivered. They binge-watch streaming TV shows. But the earthquakes just won’t stop. And when Naomi’s destitute cousin unexpectedly appears on their doorstep, he brings the reality of the outside world--decimated by the effects of climate change--in with him, and their lives are shaken up even more. What are our obligations to family? How different are they from our obligations to strangers? Our obligations to our partners? Ourselves? SLOWLY AND THEN ALL AT ONCE examines the ways that our health, our safety, and our futures are inextricably intertwined with the well-being of our planet. 
Walk Like an Egyptian by Tamadhur Al-Aqeel; directed by Rachel Park
In an LA of the near future where water and food shortages are the norm, performance artist Miriam Louisa is hiding from the government in her parents’ garage. After the suspicious death of her father, and witnessing two strangers in the neighborhood stealing garbage, Miriam kidnaps both thieves only to discover they are part of a government program to steal DNA to plant at crime scenes. What follows between the prisoners and their captor becomes an argument over the role of the individual during a time of repression. 
*These readings were made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs & is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. *
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BLOSSOMING 2019
True Crime
Taciturn Beings by librecht baker; directed by Tamiyka White
Bay Area Playwrights Festival Semi-Finalist In the Night Child, the womxn are gated by their own rules, tend their gardens, and revel in their company while being anchored by Oni, an elder who knows the community's herstories. When the womxn's lives begin to uncoil, Oni helps them recombine with their unremembered parts of themselves. 
Nurse Cadden by Kate Mickere; directed by Theo Motzenbacker
O'Neill Semi-Finalist Everyone living in mid-century Dublin knows Mamie Cadden — she’s the boorish woman who motors around the city in her bright red sports car. She also happens to be a notorious backstreet abortionist who profits off the secrets of Dublin’s most powerful men. When the body of pregnant Helen O’Reilly is found dumped outside of Mamie’s flat, the infamous nurse is sentenced to hang. Can a Divine intervention save Nurse Cadden’s soul before it’s too late? 
Intertwined by Tracy Held Potter; directed by Gleason Bauer
It’s 1906 and Chinese immigrant Win Chow has fled his home country to create a better life for himself in San Francisco. After establishing a successful business, Win gets closer to his dream, but laws banning interracial marriage are pulling him from the woman he loves while anti-immigration laws push him towards a Chinese woman he barely knows. 
*These readings were made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs & is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. *
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Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?
by Katherine Vondy; directed by Jessie Lee Mills While wandering Worcester, England in 1943 in search of bird eggs, a teenage boy happened upon the skeleton of an unidentified woman inside the trunk of a large tree. An investigation commenced to determine who the woman was and how she died, but it raised more questions than it answered. Was she a spy? Was she a prostitute? Had she been part of an occult ritual? Theories abounded, but no definitive answers emerged. Then graffiti began to appear around town, asking a question that remains unanswered to this day... WHO PUT BELLA IN THE WYCH ELM? uses the historical mystery to explore the ways in which society imposes identities on women, and ultimately ask how much it's possible to truly know another person. 
Slur by Ilana Turner; directed by Diana Wyenn
In pre-World War One England, Maud Allan rises to world fame as one of the first ‘modern’ dancers, only to sue for criminal libel an ultra-conservative member of Parliament who accuses her of promoting sexual deviancy via her performances. Slur delves into the hypocrisy of moral mandates for women, how the legal system can be wielded as a weapon to suppress artists, and the effects of guilt by association. 
Molly by Howard Ho;
directed by Arthur Keng A Musical Journey through the surprising rise and fall of Ecstasy, the drug that changed how we move and groove. From her birth in a German lab in 1912 to the Rave scene's Summer of Love in 1988, Molly sings her intoxicating song and, along the way, ignites a movement. |
BLOSSOMING 2018
Classics Re-Imagined
Hedda Gabler: Re-imagined by Lena Ford; directed by Nagham Wehbe
Hedda Gabler keeps her maiden name instead of taking her husband’s to separate herself from someone who proudly voted for the current President whom she dislikes. Andy is a white conservative who tends to lack worldly compassion at times, but Black West Indian Hedda knows he is deeply devoted to her. Things are going as well as expected until friends from the past visit dredging up old wounds and new expectations. 
The Snake God of Fiji (A Hedda Gabler Prequel) by Katherine Vondy;
directed by Darcie Crager In Ibsen's play, Hedda Gabler burns the manuscript written by Eilert Lövborg, her former lover. The world never knew what was written in that book. Until now. Exploring the roles that memory and desire have in storytelling, The Snake God of Fiji (A Hedda Gabler Prequel) tells the peculiar tale of this mysterious book's creation. 
Celebrity Trash by Nicholas Pilapil;
directed by Miranda Stewart Harlow is an “It Girl” famous for her fame. After a sex tape scandal, she tries to rehab her image, but when her father throws a lavish party in their mansion, she's tempted again by Hollywood's excess—and by one her father’s social-climbing employees. What follows is a dangerous game of seduction as the two battle each other in a struggle for power and an escape from their trapped existences. An adaptation of Miss Julie, August Strindberg’s iconic play about class and sex, Celebrity Trash adds explorations of race, white male privilege, and celebrity culture to the mix by setting the action in 2007—before the social media age and just as Britney Spears had shaved her head. |
The Wicked One (formerly The 626 Project) by Lisa Dring; directed by Hannah Chodos
O'Neil Semi-Finalist 2018 Relentless Award Finalist Bay Area Playwrights Festival Finalist Seven Devils Playwrights Finalist The 626 Project is inspired by the true story of a mother faced with a brutal decision. Set in Rosemead, CA, a terminal cancer diagnosis forces a first generation Laotian immigrant to confront her son's schizophrenia. Using traditional Asian instruments to create a hybrid of contemporary and classical music, this operetta explores the piercing isolation experienced by single immigrant mothers, the shame around mental illness that often plagues Asian families, and the heft of having to carry your culture with you in a foreign land. 
The Last, Best Small Town by John Johnson; directed by Arthur Keng
THE LAST, BEST SMALL TOWN tells the story of two neighboring families--one Latinx and one white--who live in the small southern California town of Fillmore. As the first decade of the 21st century unfolds, the children of these families come of age, fall in love, and suffer loss, as they continually hunt for their place in a world that can no longer promise them a better life than their parents. 
*These readings were made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.*
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BLOSSOMING 2017 |
BLOSSOMING 2016 |
BLOSSOMING 2015 |
Mercy Station by Abbey Fenbert;
directed by Darcie Crager |
Metamorphosis by Cort Brinkerhoff; directed by Eric Hoff
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The Scrambling Class by Amy Tofte; directed by McKerrin Kelly
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Young Dumb Broke High School
Kids by Nicholas Pilapil; directed by Arthur Keng |
Various Emporia by Howard Ho;
directed by Doug Oliphant O'Neill Finalist David Henry Hwang Writers Institute Playwriting Scholarship |
I Want Her Wet Like Gasoline by Megan Breen; directed by Carly Weckstein
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The Ocean Deep by Katherine Vondy; directed by Miranda Stewart
O'Neill Semi-Finalist |
Child by Abbey Fenbert; directed by Caitlin Hart
O'Neill Finalist |
OP by Jesse Shao; directed by Caitlin Hart
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Disappointment
Island by Howard Ho; directed by David Mancini O'Neill Finalist |
Horse by Cort Brinkerhoff; directed by Reena Dutt
(2015) |
The Charlie Play by Nahal Navidar; directed by Doug Oliphant
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BLOSSOMING 2014 |
BLOSSOMING 2013 |
BLOSSOMING 2012 |
The Tale of a Girl by Annette Lee; directed by Doug Olipant
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The God Particle by Annette Lee; directed by Doug Olipant
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Jackson Demands by Megan Breen; directed by Doug Oliphant
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Dolls of America by Boni B. Alvarez; directed by Caitlin Hart
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The Bomb Plot by Cort Brinkerhoff; directed by Sabina Ptasznik
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The Vermillion Hand by Cort Brinkerhoff; directed by Caitlin Hart
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Falling Slanted, Sad & Crazy by Chelsea Sutton; directed by Sabina Ptasznik
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Marabella by Boni B. Alvarez; directed by Efrain Schunior
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The Dead Woman by Chelsea Sutton; directed by Raina Pratto
O'Neill Semi-Finalist |
The Nightmare Room by Cort Brinkerhoff; directed by Doug Oliphant
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H.A.P. by Chelsea Sutton; directed by Caitlin Hart
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Chardust by Niki Blumberg; directed by Noam Rubin
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She Cries Rivers of Diamonds and Dust/
While the Sky Bleeds Flames/ and the Earth Hums a Lullaby by Donald Jolly; directed by Laura Steinroeder |
The Special Education of Miss Lorna Cambonga by Boni B. Alvarez; directed by Sabina Ptasznik
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