ORIGINAL ONE-ACT PLAY INSPIRED BY RACIAL INJUSTICE

Dismissed

“Dismissed” – premiering at the 2022 Hollywood Fringe Festival – sparks a conversation about family, civic duty and serving an underserved community

May 22, 2022, Hollywood, CA – The racial injustices over the past few years have inspired many people to take action. For Carol Becker, it inspired her to write a one-act play, which will premiere at this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival.

“Dismissed” revolves around two black senior citizens, Gus and Connie, who meet in the jury waiting room. Given their similarities in age and race, their opinions on jury service wind up being surprisingly different, and then something unexpected happens in the way they affect each other. What unfolds for these two strangers goes beyond whether or not they have a connection. As they spend time learning about each others’ quirks, families and opinions on civic duty, their conversation and their differences spark a much deeper conversation about what it means to serve an underserved and too frequently neglected community.

The show stars William Warren and Veronica Thompson, who are both members of Towne Street Theatre (TST), the premiere African-American theatre company in Los Angeles. Becker was introduced to TST by a colleague with Fierce Backbone – a local company dedicated to developing plays and people – when she was preparing to host a reading of her original piece, and she was equally-inspired by the immense amount of talent among TST’s members.

“Dismissed,” written and directed by Carol M. Becker, will be performed at the Howard Fine Acting Studio (Main Space), 1320 N Highland Ave, Hollywood, CA 90028. Tickets are $10 and the show has a running time of 30 minutes. The show previews on Saturday, June 4 at 8:00 p.m. with performances on Saturday, June 11 at 6:00 p.m., Sunday, June 12 at 1:00 p.m., Saturday June 25 at 6:00 p.m., and Sunday, June 26 at 1:00 p.m. Audiences can also purchase tickets to watch the June 25 and June 26 performances virtually. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit bit.ly/dismissed-hff22.