27th Annual Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival Opens March 26

The Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival (LAWTF) marks 27 years of producing well over 500 extraordinary multicultural and multidisciplinary solo performers from around the globe.

The longest-running Annual Solo Festival for women in Los Angeles, LAWTF will take place March 26- March 29, 2020 at Theatre 68, 5112 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood, CA 91601.

The overall theme of the Festival will be 2020 Vision!

The Champagne GALA and Awards Ceremony will take place on March 26, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. and will be hosted by Hattie Winston (Becker) and Starletta DuPois (The Notebook) and directed by Denise Dowse (Ray). The event will honor five women of exceptional achievement and contribution to the world of theatre The honorees will be announced separately.. There will be live performances in addition to the awards presentation. Theme: Empowered Women. Performers include:

Jacquelyn Brown-Benefield. Rise Up and I Am Enough. These two uplifting songs celebrate personal empowerment.

Juli Kim in Abandon. In this dance piece, the woman abandons both beauty and docility in favor of inner strength and power.

Sunjoo Yeo in Quando me'n vo, from La Boheme. In this Puccini soprano aria, Musetta uplifts herself by acknowledging her attributes.

Friday, March 27 at 8:00 p.m. Theme- Boxed In, Set Free.

Heather Dowling in Fertile. Explores the expectation and ultimate resolve of procreation.

Dagmar Stansova in Loose Underwear. From exorcisms to org*sms, the daughter of a New Age Holocaust survivor is compelled to "cha-cha" away the wounds of her ancestors.

Ashley Wilkerson in Freckle in My Eye. The poignant, shocking and sometimes humorous story of Shesee Jones, a young woman living on Texas' Death Row.

Saturday, March 28 at 3:00 p.m. Theme- Truth to Power.

Cynthia Lee in Lost Chinatowns. A dance-theatre work that explores the destruction, lost vibrancy and historic erasure of Chinatowns in Santa Cruz, CA from 1860-1955.

Miriam Reed in Susan B. Anthony Says A Word. A young Susan B. Anthony discovers why women MUST have the vote.

Raissa Simpson in Codelining. Through dance, Codelining explores a dialogic process that builds bridges between communities, especially African American, which have often been set against each other in San Francisco's affordable rent crisis.

Saturday, March 28 at 8:00 p.m. Theme- Unbound.

Corina Calderon in From Lapdance to Sundance. This show recounts the upbringing and journey of Corina Calderon from working as a stripper in Austin, Texas to being cast as the lead in a feature film that was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and all the challenges she experienced along the way.

Crystal Bush in Chrissy Meth. Somehow, from the depths of drug addiction, Chrissy Meth finds hope, and through spirituality and yoga begins to put the pieces of her life back together.

Jannica Olin in (Im) Perfekt. A solo show that takes a look at identity, beauty and labels, and how you sometimes need to (literally) lose a part of yourself in order to discover who you truly are.

Sharon Nyree Williams in Dare to Claim the Sky. Based on her self-published anthology of the same name, Dare to Claim the Sky is an honest and unfiltered spoken word journey of one woman that addresses family, religion, depression and being Black in this society.

Sunday, March 29 at 3:00 p.m. Theme- Balancing Acts.

Lynne Jassem in Tapping My Way to the Nuthouse. One child dancer story of mental pain and ultimate mental health is told through the lenses of multi-media, tap dance, mime, music and humor.

Petal Walker in Forgetting, Not Forgotten. Petal's life is abruptly interrupted when her mother is diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in this story of triumph in a shattered world.

April Wish in My Name is Mommy. April Wade Wish moves back and forth through time, exploring the pressures and the promises of parenthood.

Sunday, March 29 at 7:00 p.m.- Theme: Secrets.

Vanessa Boss in Uprooted. Buckle your seat belts as the creatures of Vanessa's inner world take you on the flight of her life amidst disturbances that trigger violent weather on a journey that ultimately safely lands on Vanessa's strength.

Dee Freeman in The Poison Gun. Dee, a naïve 6-year-old Black girl from rural Louisiana becomes a key witness in a murder investigation as she fights to keep a secret from a racist cop who has his own agenda for finding out the truth.

Pamela Najera in Too Old, Too Asian, Too Short. Through story telling, dance, and multimedia, Pamela recounts growing up in a family with secrets and lies and connects the dots of a life that land her a career as a production dancer and magician's assistant on a cruise ship!

Founded by Executive Producer Adilah Barnes and Miriam Reed, the Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival is an annual event unique among Los Angeles cultural institutions and should not be missed as LAWTF celebrates its 27TH Anniversary.

The Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival is a non-profit organization. The Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival organization is supported this year in part by the Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of Los Angeles; City of West Hollywood; Los Angeles County Arts Commission; City National Bank; KPFK 90.7 ; and Adilah Barnes Productions.

Admission to the Gala is $50 or two tickets for $90 (includes reception and Champagne). For the other programs, ticket prices this year include general admission single show tickets at $25.00 in advance or $30.00 at the door. A VIP all-access pass for the entire weekend is available for $150. Reservations: (818) 760-0408 or go to http://www.lawtf.org To join and follow LAWTF on Facebook and Twitter, click on their links at http://www.lawtf.org

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