NO HOMO Wins Hollywood Fringe Encore Producers' Award; Gets Three More Performances This Week

NO HOMO sweeps the Hollywood Fringe Festival Closing Night Awards, winning The Golden Elephant Award for Golden Playwright (Brandon Baruch); the Ezra Buzzington Spirit of the Fringe Award for Best Director (Jessica Hanna); the Fringe Freak Award for Best in Ensemble Theater; the Fringe Freak Award for Fringe First - Best World Premiere; and garnering nominations for The Golden Elephant Award for Golden Production; The O-Face Award for Most org*smic Playwright (Brandon Baruch); The Ezra Buzzington Spirit of the Fringe Award for Best Playwright (Brandon Baruch); and The Fringe Freak Award for Top of Fringe.

NO HOMO was also awarded the Encore Producers' Award and will receive three extension performances at Theatre Asylum (6320 Santa Monica Blvd) today, July 25, Wednesday July 30, and Thursday July 31, all performances at 8pm.

NO HOMO tells the tale of Luke and Ash, two 20-something Los Angeles urbanites who identify as heterosexual, even though their friendship is totally gay. Their friends and family refuse to acknowledge the platonic nature of their relationship, and eventually the men themselves start to question their own sexual identities, leading to a drunken evening that their friendship might not survive.

Playwright Brandon Baruch explains his inspiration for writing the play: "Growing up in and around West Hollywood, my sexual orientation has never been a big part of my identity. I feel like most LGBT theater, film, and literature concentrates on the characters' struggles to create an identity and find acceptance. But that's simply not my experience. NO HOMO is less about the struggle to accept one's sexual identity than it is about the quest to understand one's sexual identity. It also validates my theory that a person doesn't have to be homosexual to be really, really gay."

NO HOMO features Karen Baughn, Benjamin Durham, Elizabeth Ellson, AJ Jones, Henry McMillan, and Jonny Rodgers.

Production staff for NO HOMO includes Jessica Hanna, director; David Offner, scenic design; Ric Zimmerman, lighting design; Corwin Evans, sound design; Laura Wong, costume design; Brittany Blouch, properties design; Mara De La Rosa, assistant director; Max Oken, producer.

NO HOMO is Brandon Baruch's fourth original work featured in the Hollywood Fringe Festival. His last Hollywood Fringe play, Me Love Me, was also selected as an official participant in the 2013 New York International Fringe Festival, where it was lauded by critics as "a smart, satirical look at the moments of human crisis that erupt in the haze of LA drug culture" and "funny and disturbing, as it steers us down paths that make the viewers shift in their seats."

Director Jessica Hanna is a Los Angeles based theater artist. She is Co-Founder, Producing & Managing Director of Bootleg Theater. She has directed at various spots around town including Abundant Sugar at the Brewery and at Occidental College, where she first met playwright, Brandon Baruch. She has produced over 100 productions and events at Bootleg since 2006. And she was last seen on stage in Jami Brandli's SOE in March 2013. Her work is influenced by over 10 years of training and working with Anne Bogart and the SITI Co. She holds a BFA in Acting from DePaul University. She produced Michael Franco's THE INTERVIEW at last year's Hollywood Fringe Festival.

NO HOMO will also be featured as an official participant in the 2014 New York International Fringe Festival in August.

NO HOMO plays for 3 performances only:

Friday, July 25 at 8pm

Wednesday, July 30 at 8pm

Thursday, July 31 at 8pm

At Theater Asylum, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90038

90-minute run time

Tickets: $15.00 general admission. Tickets are available at www.theencoreawards.com/projects/1568.

For more information visit: www.nohomoplay.com.

Photo Credit: Clarke Surrey

Pictured: Henry McMillan and AJ Jones (L to R)

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