Off the Page Productions announces that its trio of women-written short plays, “Paper Trails,” is premiering at the 2019 Hollywood Fringe Festival from June 7 to 29.
“Paper Trails” is a collection of three funny and poignant short pieces that showcase the records we keep and the stories they tell.
In “Dear Diary,” a queer woman discovers eighth-grade diary entries detailing her first-ever crush on a girl; in “Eguchi,” a woman recounts her great-grandmother’s efforts to preserve her family’s legacy amidst the austerity of World War II Japan; and in “Snow,” congressional archivists piece together official documents torn to shreds by an impulsive president.
“Hard as we try to bury the past, sometimes it emerges in unexpected ways,” said producer Jillian Profeta. “These three plays are prime examples of how our personal and cultural memories inform our present and influence our future.”
All three plays are based on stories personal to the playwrights, told in their unique and authentic voices. Just as “Eguchi” tells the true stories of writer Isabelle Moreau’s great-grandmother and “Snow” reflects an ongoing situation faced by archivists in Washington, D.C., all of the journal entries quoted by writer/director Helen Burak in “Dear Diary” are real quotes from her eighth-grade diary.
“Comedy is a great way to work through challenging feelings, and I wrote ‘Dear Diary’ largely as a way to deal with my sense of betrayal at all the fear and internalized homophobia I discovered coming from 13-year-old Helen,” she said. “It was important for me to find a way to forgive my younger self.”
“These plays are about silver linings,” Moreau explained. “They’re all very different, focused on different personal issues, but at the core they’re united in a mutual pain and the struggle to smile through it.”
Originally from D.C., Moreau grew up in a home with gothic paintings, books in foreign languages, and a mummy in the basement. Her French father and Japanese American mother are to blame. “Eguchi” is her first play. To read her random thoughts and bad puns, you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram @island_moreau.
“Dear Diary” is directed by Molly Shalgos and Burak, and stars Audra Leffingwell and Burak.
“Eguchi” is directed by Joanna Cross and stars Amanda Noriko Newman, who is so excited to be part of this show and playing her own ethnicity for the first time ever. Her recent acting credits include “Lady Injustice,” “12 Angry Jurors,” “Macbeth,” “Julius Caesar,” “All We Know Is Not Enough,” and “Unreal City,” which won Best Immersive Show at the Hollywood Fringe Festival last summer.
Newman has eight weapons certifications through the Society of American Fight Directors, and has choreographed fights for several shows. She also writes and directs, and has had her work featured at both the Hollywood Fringe Festival and 2Cents Theatre Company’s annual Acting Out INK Fest.
“Snow,” written by CJ Hoke, is directed by Nate Myers and stars Christine Weatherup and Tim Dvorak.
“Paper Trails” opens at Asylum’s Studio C, 6448 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, with a preview on Friday, June 7, at 8:30 p.m. There will be four more performances: Saturday, June 15, at 3:30 p.m.; Friday, June 21, at 10 p.m.; Sunday, June 23, at 2 p.m.; and Saturday, June 29, at 9:30 p.m. Run time: 30 minutes.
Tickets are $7 on the Hollywood Fringe Festival website (http://hff19.org/6198) or at the door, and $6 with the purchase of a Fringe Button.
For more information, visit the website or find the creative team on Instagram or Twitter (@papertrailsplay) or Facebook (https://bit.ly/2YR0NWT).