SWIPE Begins Next Month in Los Angeles

Playwrights’ Arena and Los Angeles LGBT Center have announced the world premiere co-production of SWIPE conceived and directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera. Inspired by Kroetz’s 1971 play Request Concert, this immersive, non-verbal experience offers a voyeuristic peek into the private moments of an older gay man living alone in Los Angeles - where technology and youth are the social currency. SWIPE transforms an empty art gallery into one man’s studio apartment, and you’re invited inside to witness the intimate rituals of independence and longing.

Ten years ago, Rivera, who produced the second production of Request Concert in Los Angeles in the late 1990s, wondered what it would be like if the person on stage was not an older woman, but an older gay man. “When he enters his single apartment at night, does technology make him feel more or less connected to the outside world? When he longs for physical connection, where does he turn to?”

The production stars: Dan Guerrero, Reggie Lee, Nick Salamone and Harrison White. The play is performed by only one actor each night. All four actors are performing in repertory every week.

Production Team includes: Leah Ramillano (scenic design), Matt Richter (lighting and sound design), Mylette Nora (costume design), Niall Sulcer (prop master), Letitia Chang (stage manager), and Zach Davidson (producer).

Jon Lawrence Rivera is the founding artistic director of Playwrights’ Arena and is the recipient of the inaugural Career Achievement Award (2015) and the Queen of Angels Award (2024) from Stage Raw. Rivera conceived and directed two previous productions for Playwrights’ Arena: The Hotel Play by Paula Cizmar, Velina Hasu Houston, Jennifer Maisel, Nahal Navidar, Julie Oni, Janine Salinas Schoenberg and Laurie Woolery (performed in an actual hotel), and March by Miss Barbie-Q (MJ), Amir Levi, Coretta Monk, Alex Budin, Chad Christopher, Matthew Clark, Brandon English, Mardoza, Jon Lawrence Rivera, Roland Ruiz and Nick Salamone (co-produced with the Los Angeles LGBT Center and performed in a parking lot during the height of the pandemic). He also directed the following world premiere plays: Three by Nick Salamone (co-produced with Los Angeles LGBT Center), Mix-Mix by Boni B. Alvarez (co-produced with the Latino Theater Company), A Hit Dog Will Holler by Inda Craig-Galván (co-produced with Skylight Theatre Company), Southernmost by Mary Lyon Kamitaki, Baby Eyes by Donald Jolly, I Go Somewhere Else by Inda Craig-Galván, Little Women by Velina Hasu Houston, Bloodletting by Boni B. Alvarez (also at Kirk Douglas Theatre), @thespeedofJake by Jennifer Maisel, Circus Ugly by Gabe Rivas Gomez, and The Anatomy of Gazellas by Janine Salinas Schoenberg. Other recent works include: Kim’s Convenience by Ins Choi, Bingo Hall by Dillon Chitto, Fairly Traceable by Mary Kathryn Nagle, Obama-Ologyby Aurin Squire, Criers for Hire by Giovanni Ortega, Stand-Off at Hwy #37 by Vicky Ramirez, Flipzoids by Ralph B. Peña (also in Manila). Rivera is also the recipient of a NY Fringe Festival Award and an LA Weekly Award for direction.

Dan Guerrero took a grateful bow after the 2005 premiere of his solo autobiographical play ¡Gaytino! at the Kirk Douglas theater produced by the Center Theatre Group. It had been 35 years since the last one in an off-Broadway musical at New York’s Mercer Arts Center. The performing detour included a decade as a Broadway theatrical agent and a couple more as a Hollywood TV producer and director of large-scale live concert events. He is currently doing staged readings of his new solo piece Aging: It Does Not End Well.

Reggie Lee is best known for starring as 'Sgt. Wu' on NBC’s hit sci-fi drama Grimm. He also starred as Deputy District Attorney Thomas Choi on CBS’s All Rise and Angelo Soto on Netflix’s Lincoln Lawyer. Most recently, he recurred as Undersheriff Bobby Zhao on CSI Vegas. Prior to Grimm, he was best known for playing Secret Service Agent Bill Kim on the popular FOX show Prison Break.Aside from numerous film and tv roles, Lee has also been seen on Broadway, national tours, and regional stage productions - most recently in the acclaimed production of God Will Do the Rest at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. 

NICK SALAMONE LA: Billy Boy, Barefoot Boy, Riffs & Credos (Playwrights’ Arena); Dogeaters (Kirk Douglas, Backstage West nom.); Arturo Ui (Classical Theatre Lab, Backstage West nom.); Glengarry Glen Ross (Egyptian Arena); The Tempest (Taper Amphitheatre); Medea (Boston Court); Garden (Coast Playhouse); All Souls’ Day (Heliotrope, LA Weekly nom.). NYC: Henry IV, Cymbeline, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, The Rivals, The Seagull, School for Husbands, Richard III, Hamlet (NY Classical Theatre); Loyalty (Hudson Guild, Summerfest Best Actor Award); Macbeth 3 (HERE); Hillary Agonistes (Bleecker Street); Nightshift (Westbeth); Design for Living (Masterworks). UK: Red Hat & Tales (British Stage Award nom.).

Harrison White Broadway: The Lion King, Sarafina, West End: Smokey Joe’s Café. Muny: Beauty and the Beast. Other credits: Sweeney Todd, Clue, Frankenstein, Dreamgirls, Seussical, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Full Monty, Gulls, Miss Saigon, It’s A Wonderful Town, Purlie, Ain’t Misbehavin, Once On This Island, Sister Act. Television: High Potential, Villains Of Valley View Generation, The Underground Railroad, Danger Force, The Kominsky Method, Fresh Off The Boat, How To Get Away With Murder, This Is Us, 9-1-1, Modern Family. Film: KillHer, I Got The Hookup, The Way You Look Tonight, Waiting In The Wings, Opening Night, The Muppet’s Movie, Se7en.

SWIPE opening is set for Friday, April 4, 8 PM (with previews on March 26-31), at the Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center’s  Advocate and Gochis Galleries at 1125 N. McCadden Place, Hollywood 90038 (one block east of Highland, just north of Santa Monica Boulevard). Underground parking is available.

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