"IMPROVISATION" PREMIERE AT HOLLYWOOD FRINGE

Improvisation

Heartland Plays is pleased to announce the premiere of “Improvisation” by Rebecca Ryland at Hollywood Fringe June 15-21. In this dark comedy/drama, three women come together for an acting exercise to root out ideas for a screenplay. But hidden agendas reveal potential truths that gravely affect their relationships and sanity while challenging the audience to distinguish what’s real from what isn’t. Although the title implies otherwise, Improvisation is a 90-minute scripted work cleverly crafted to lead audiences down one path only to discover that the truth, or what they may come to believe is the truth, lies elsewhere. Forty-something Sheila, a New York screenwriter with no substantial credits to her name, hires actors to help her develop film ideas in an attempt to chase an elusive life and fading dream. Her best friend, Manda, a seasoned actress, patronizes her by “doing these crazy films” of hers for free. Inexperienced Lacy, an unstable young woman with a troubled past, has worked with Manda and Sheila off and on all summer. In the current session, fed-up with Manda’s “silly, never-ending soap opera” with her long-time partner, Sam, and driven by a building resentment over their common “history”, Sheila presses the actors to “keep talking” in the pretense of uncovering something truly honest and interesting. Something much deeper and the secrets each holds about friendship, marriage, family, love, abuse and betrayal, become the driving force of the play. Just how far will Sheila go to expose the ugly truth? Perhaps even further then she imagined when no one, not even Sheila, knows the real story. For tickets and showtimes, please visit hff14.org/1639. Use code PRESS for Press Comp Tickets.