FRINGE FESTIVAL SOLO SHOW EXPLORES IDENTITY, CHOICE AND SURVIVAL

Hello Susanna

Los Angeles, CA, (May 6, 2016) — The Stephanie Feury Theater premieres writer and performer Susanna Leonard solo show “Hello Susanna” on June 4th, at 2:30 p.m. in Hollywood, California. In her first solo performance, she uses the memoirs of her great aunt Clara to bring her ancestor Anna Ruth Lisser nee Tishler to life. The character Susanna has recently left her husband, her adopted country Israel and is struggling with her identity and her religion. Anna Ruth, who died in 1961, has some commentary on the subject, as all Jewish mothers do. Anna Ruth connects Susanna to her ancestors through stories and sits Susanna down to tell the long story of their family history, the connection to Judaism and her fight for survival in a world that did not want Jews.

It is also Leonard’s first Hollywood Fringe Festival performance as a writer or performer. “Hello Susanna” marks her first deviation from comedy. “I’m am so proud of this show. It’s a story that only I can tell because it’s mine, because it’s an admission of guilt, because it’s a revelation of shame and because it’s a message of hope,” says Leonard. “It’s like a second coming of age and it’s taken a lot of courage to write some of the feelings I have because it might make people close to me uncomfortable, but it’s my truth and I’ve proclaimed it.”

There are a total of four performances during the Festival, the premiere (June 4) and three Thursday shows: June 9, 16 and 23 at 7 p.m. all at the Stephanie Feury Theater. Tickets are $12.

Susanna Leonard

Comedian and writer Susanna Leonard writes comedy in the form of pilots, features, sketches and web series. She improvises with Accidental Ruin, a three-woman comedy troupe (winners of 2014 Funny Women Festival Cage Match and featured at San Diego Improv Festival, Orange County Improv Festival and the California Improv Festival). Her latest pilots: Lady Blue and Absolute Zeroes will be featured at a Pilot Reading on May 22 at The Lounge Theater. Susanna has also begun directing shows at Second City, namely: Jack Valentine Seduces You.

Contact:

Susanna Leonard
Writer/Producer
559-288-8462
[email protected]
http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/3537?tab=details

1. # #