Current Show
“The Fairy Tale Monologues”
A princess hiding a trail of bodies, a witch and a prince in a torrid affair, and a baker’s wife trying to figure out how to find happiness–this dark musical fairy tale flips old stories on their heads with murder, sex, friendship, and true love. From Riot Productions, award winning, critically acclaimed women’s theatre, this original musical by Sarah Alida LeClair (“Audition Sides”, Outstanding World Premiere 2024, “Death and Murder and Poison and Scene”, Best Ensemble 2025) combines her signature witty, balanced writing with sweeping romantic music and a focus on the real women behind these ancient stories: sex positive and queer, lonely and seeking genuine friendship, unhappy in motherhood, navigating mental health.
“The Fairy Tale Monologues” will premiere at San Diego International Fringe Festival at the SDSU Prebys Theatre for the World Fringe Congress. Opening May 19th in abridged workshop form starring Delia Mejia, BJ Robinson, Sylvie Nechev, Josalyn Johnson, Tim Benson and Sarah LeClair. Music direction and accompaniment by Christopher T. Miller, direction by Julie Benitez and Alicia Gonzalez, choreography by Danielle Muckle, intimacy coordination by Camelina Cedillo and violence coordination by Nicolas Castillo.
Preview the music now!
Previous Shows this Season
“Reservoir Dolls”
Erika Anne Sorensen reimagines Quentin Tarantino’s violent pulp classic for women in “Reservoir Dolls”, directed by Marti Gobel. When a bank heist goes wrong with deadly consequences, the surviving thieves must figure out who among them is the mole that betrayed them all before it’s too late.
With femxle-led action scripts like “Gunpowder Milkshake” and “The Long Kiss Goodnight” all-too-rare in Hollywood and almost nonexistent on theatrical stages, Riot Productions presents “Reservoir Dolls” during International Women’s Month to push back on assumptions: is violence a genre reserved only for men? How do women talk when they’re alone? If it’s jarring to hear women speak with this kind of profane, graphic language…why? Are women capable of this kind of brutality to each other?
Staged reading directed by Marti Gobel and starring Delia Mejia, Ruth Russell, Portia Gregory, Kylie Young, Kaylin Saur, Denise Lopez, Trixi Agyao, Alyssa Schechter, Josalyn Johnson and Dave Rivas, with Jamie Feinstein. Presented at the MOXIE Theatre Venue, through the generous support of the Conrad Prebys Foundation.
WARNING: This script contains graphic, profane language which may be shocking to some audiences.
“Audition Sides”
Two actors whose disastrous relationship blew up both their lives are trapped together in an uncomfortably romantic callback–forcing them to say the things they never said and figure out what to do with the love left over.
“Audition Sides” by Sarah Alida LeClair is a critically acclaimed, award-winning short play originally premiering at San Diego International Fringe festival in 2024 where it won the Outstanding World Premiere Award. Sarah Alida LeClair is the recipient of the William Male Foundation Fellowship for 2024 and 2025 for playwriting and producing.
Critics said:
“Smart and witty…universally relatable. LeClair and Benson have strong stage chemistry. Sarah LeClair as The Woman is multilayered and intense, bringing strength and fragility, honesty, passion, and heartbreak with prime expression. Benson …has a cool flair, great diction, and poise. Josalyn Johnson provides comedic relief, delivering hilarious lines [and] recognizable… real characters in the industry. Plenty of laughs and play.” Alejandra Enciso, From Another 0/Desde Otro Cero
“An adult relationship full of contradictions, where these two people may understand each other more deeply than anyone else and still know they can’t stay together without destroying themselves. LeClair charts The Woman’s unraveling from controlled irritation at the unfairness of the process, to jealousy, vulnerability, and the brittle smile she keeps offering the relentlessly cheerful Proctor. Benson matches her beat for beat, creating a relationship that is intimate one moment, defensive the next, and always charged. Josalyn Johnson lands big laughs as the Proctor, with her bubbly obliviousness and a Starbucks coffee that should have an airtag on it, while subtly revealing the scars of someone who has also been shaped and damaged by this industry.” Erin Marie Reiter, Broadway World/Talk Theatre to Me.
“Love Loss and What I Wore”
“Love, Loss and What I Wore”, the play by Nora and Delia Ephron, based on the book by Ilene Beckman, is a hilarious and touching collection of monologues and scenes about the experience of being a woman, in failures, flops, triumphs, and joys, with each memory connected to an article of clothing.
“Funny, compelling, but not a comedy: a story about cowboy boots becomes a tale of beig underappreciated in a relationship; a tale of two women shopping for their wedding outfits ends bittersweetly; and the recollection of a new bra is a quiet testament to a woman’s search for dignity while undergoing treatment for breast cancer. “The New York Times.
Starring Portia Gregory, Denise Lopez, Megan Tafolla, Rhiannon McAfee, and Cinda Lucas; directed by Mary Smith. October 19-20, 7:00 p.m.
All Riot performances are in residence at the MOXIE theatre venue this season thanks to generous support from the Conrad Prebys Foundation.
We are proud to have partnered with the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer research and the Helen Knoll Foundation for Breast Cancer education, as well as creating a Riot team for the More Than Pink Walk in Balboa park, November 2nd.
