LOS ANGELES-BASED WRITER-PERFORMER JADE DAUGHERTY PREMIERES COMEDY MORPHO DANCE FITNESS AT THE HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL

Morpho Dance Fitness

LOS ANGELES, MAY 11, 2026 — Los Angeles-based writer-performer Jade Daugherty is debuting her absurdist dance-comedy, Morpho Dance Fitness, at this year’s Hollywood Fringe Fest, which takes place June 11-28 in theaters all over Hollywood. Daugherty co-wrote Morpho Dance Fitness with Matt Brooks, and the show is directed by Mike Swift.

“I am thrilled to be bringing Morpho Dance Fitness to this year’s Hollywood Fringe Fest along with my collaborators Matt Brooks and Mike Swift. Our piece combines movement, comedy and body horror to answer the question of what happens when our identity is defined by and reliant on impermanent structures?”

True to the tenets of Fringe Fest, Morpho Dance Fitness is a high energy, pop-fueled dance workout class that mutates into absurdist comedy and bodily nightmare. The audience is welcomed into a dance class environment led by Farrah (Daugherty), a magnetic instructor obsessed with control, vigor, and physical perfection, alongside her sycophantic assistant Francis (Brooks). What begins as an upbeat, tightly structured fitness class slowly devolves as Farrah’s body undergoes an unsettling, Kafkaesque transformation.

Farrah’s physical transformation is supported by a multilayered costume that slowly reveals her changing body. The innovative costume design and construction is by Franklin Hansen.
Morpho Dance Fitness will be performed at the Davidson/Valentini Theater at the Los Angeles LGBT Center (1125 N. McCadden Place, Los Angeles, CA 90028). Tickets are available now for the one-hour show on the following dates:

Saturday, June 6, 3:15pm (Preview)
Saturday, June 13, 1:30pm
Monday June 15, 5:00pm
Thursday June 25, 7:30pm
Sunday June 28, 11:45am

About the team
Jade Daugherty is a writer-performer based in Los Angeles, as well as the edgy half of a comedy writing team with Fred Soligan. Their work has been recognized by TriBeCa Film Fest, Catalyst Content Festival, Final Draft, and the Black List. Jade is also a member of the New York dance theatre company, cakeface. In 2020, she performed in their Bessie Award Honored piece “this is now, and now, and now.” She graduated from Beloit College with BAs in Creative Writing and Dance. jadedaugherty.com

Matt Brooks is a Los Angeles-based writer, director, and actor. His debut short film Birdwatching, which he wrote, directed, and stars in, hits the festival circuit in September. The script has already earned recognition from the Slamdance Film Festival and the Shore Scripts Short Film Fund. From 2021 to 2023, Matt spent two chaotically fun years on a national comedy tour with Sonja Morgan of The Real Housewives of New York City, where he spent two hours on stage singing, dancing, and performing stand-up across the country. mattbrooks.net

Mike Swift is an LA-based director and screenwriter. His short films have screened at Tribeca Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Catalyst Content Fest, and more. Mike started his career in New York as the assistant director for Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee at The Cherry Lane. He went on to work as a writer, director, and/or dramaturg for Adam Rapp, Karen O, and Spike Jonze. During that time, Mike wrote and directed over 20 plays produced Off-Broadway and regionally. A graduate of Fordham University for Theatre and NYU Tisch for Film, Mike currently does Development for Peter Horton at Pico Creek Productions.