PRESS RELEASE: WORLD PREMIERE OF “EMERGENCY OPERATION” AT 2017 HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL

News Release
For Immediate Release
Press Contact: Maureen Lee Lenker
[email protected] (310) 849-2865

LOS ANGELES (May 1, 2017)—Fans of romantic comedy, heartfelt pathos, and local, female-produced theatre will delight in the world premiere of “Emergency Operation” from Cockeyed Optimist Productions. Playwright Lauren Gorski brings the world premiere of the full-length version of her hit short “Emergency Operation” to the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival. Collaborator Maureen Lee Lenker directs.

Based on a 10-min play developed through Playground-LA and winner of People’s Choice, Emergency Operation is a love story about a break-up. When Adam discovers his girlfriend Kelsey has cheated, he decides to fix his broken heart with surgery. While Adam has the opportunity to start fresh, Kelsey can’t let go of a relationship she thought meant everything to her. In a dramedy full of humor, emotion, and surprises—characters learn that actions have consequences and there is no such thing as a quick fix in matters of the heart. Driven by an all female production team, Emergency Operation tackles heartbreak with humor, wit, and love.

Gorski and Lenker came to collaborate through a fortuitously placed vision board and their mutual love of rom-coms and theatre.

“I knew I had to direct this play from the moment Lauren showed me the 10-minute version,” says Lenker. “Lauren looks at love and heartbreak with a gimlet eye, but never veers so fully into satire that she loses the well of ache and longing at the heart of us all. Imagine if Nora Ephron wrote Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and you’d have Emergency Operation.”

“I am so thankful Maureen decided to take on this journey with me and push me to complete this play,” says Gorski. “As a director, she has an eye for casting and her passion for the romance genre has helped elevate this work to an emotional and compelling piece.”

The ensemble features: Benjamin Bergstrom, Gordon Brown, Alan Ehrlich, Pat Loeb, Colleen Elizabeth Miller, Jess Moore, and Tahmus Rounds.

Lauren Gorski is a writer in Southern California and received her Master’s in Professional Writing from USC in 2015. She is the Stage and Screen editor of Exposition Review. Her work has been featured in apt, Underground Voices, Jersey Devil Press, and on stage through Playground-LA and The Athena Cats. She’s been nominated for a Best of the Net award for her poem “Surrogate Pet” in 2016 and received People’s Choice for her short plays “Emergency Operation” and “Nothing Left To Lose.”
Maureen Lee Lenker is an award-winning journalist, author, actor, and director. She served on the artistic board of Slanderous Tongues Theater while at USC and co-directed their production of “The Importance of Being Earnest.” While pursuing her Master’s degree in British History at the University of Oxford, she produced and directed William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in the New College Gardens. She assistant directed the award-winning production of “Top Girls” and “Henry IV, Part One” at the Antaeus Theater Company in Los Angeles and has also worked as an AD at the Colony Theater. Her work as a journalist has been featured in The Hollywood Reporter, LA Weekly, Ms. Magazine, Turner Classic Movies, Entertainment Weekly, and more.

Cockeyed Optimist Productions will present Emergency Operation at Sacred Fools Second Stage (6320 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90038) in June as part of the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival. Tickets are $15 and the Preview on June 4th is $8. For more information, visit http://hff17.com/4481/

DETAILS FOR CALENDAR LISTINGS
EMERGENCY OPERATION

WHAT
Emergency Operation—Based on a 10-min play developed through Playground-LA and winner of People’s Choice, Emergency Operation is a love story about a break-up. When Adam discovers his girlfriend Kelsey has cheated, he decides to fix his broken heart with surgery. While Adam has the opportunity to start fresh, Kelsey can’t let go of a relationship she thought meant everything to her. In a dramedy full of humor, emotion, and surprises—characters learn that actions have consequences and there is no such thing as a quick fix in matters of the heart. Driven by an all female production team, Emergency Operation tackles heartbreak with humor, wit, and love.

WHO
—Written by Lauren Gorski
—Directed by Maureen Lee Lenker
—Starring Benjamin Bergstrom, Gordon Brown, Alan Ehrlich, Pat Loeb, Colleen Elizabeth Miller, Jess Moore, and Tahmus Rounds
—Produced by Cockeyed Optimist Productions
—Presented as a production of the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival

WHEN
Preview: June 4th, 5:30 pm
Performances: June 11th (Opening Night) @ 7:30 pm, June 16th @ 6:00 pm, June 17th @ 8:00 pm, June 18th @ 1:00 pm, June 23rd @ 10:00 pm, June 25th @ 2:00 pm

WHERE
Sacred Fools Second Stage
6320 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(Allow time to find street parking)

HOW
http://hff17.com/4481

TICKETS
Preview: $8
Performances: $15

PHOTOS
Contact Maureen Lee Lenker at [email protected]