TO CARRY THE CHILD In The Hollywood Fringe Festival

Back in February I received an email from a playwright friend of mine, Jon Courie, asking if I’d be interested in doing one of his plays in this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival. It was a play that I had done a reading of the first 30 pages of the previous fall and had really liked so I quickly said yes! I had also been itching to be a part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival since it had started a few years ago so I was extra excited! I’d be playing the role of Sissy, the youngest daughter of the family. It’s a compelling family drama about the transformative power of forgiveness. Filled with both heartbreak and humor, To Carry the Child tells the story of Ashley, a struggling young artist in a battle for her life, who leaves behind a fractured relationship in New York for the comfort of family and home, only to find broken picket fences along the way.

We started rehearsing in March (remember Pi Day?), just once a week doing a lot of table work. The staging would be kept simple so that we could focus on the dialogue. It’s a simple play in that respect, all the power of the play comes from the dialogue and the characters so we put a lot of energy into that side of the rehearsals. We started blocking it out at the beginning of May and have been working hard to be ready for our first performance on June 13th.

This process has been different from other plays, mostly because it’s not a theatre company putting up a play, but the idea of the playwright to mount the production in the Fringe Festival. So we won’t even get into the theater until June and for now we’re rehearsing in a house. This also means that the producer (aka, our playwright Jon) is using his own money to put the production up. When we asked about the costs of everything we were surprised to learn it would be almost $5,000 and hopefully he’d get about half that back in ticket sales. Hopefully. Oh wow. I suggested we do an Indie GoGo campaign like other fringe shows do to help cover the costs. I agreed to set it all up and the rest of the cast liked the idea and we all wanted to help get the word out and make sure Jon doesn’t go broke.

Amanda Phillips as ASHLEY

Sarah Allyn Bauer (moi) as SISSY and DIANE

Barbara Keegan as matriarch LIBBY

Robin Nuyen as patriarch BO

Our fabulous playwright and director Jon Courie

So now I’m asking you, my loyal followers, to help support this great piece of theatre. You can support in one of two ways. If you’re here in Los Angeles, buy a ticket (they’re only $10!) and come see me perform in June! If you’re unable to buy a ticket please consider donating to the cause. Things we have to pay for include the theatre rental ($2,600!!!), insurance ($650!), sets, costumes, props, publicity and more. We have set a deadline of June 7th to raise our funds. We’re not out to make money, we just want to make sure Jon doesn’t go broke. You can donate as little as $15 and get a shout out in our program. Small theatre (anywhere) runs on donations, as ticket sales rarely cover more than half the budget. I hope you’ll join me in helping to produce this great piece of theatre.

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