Sex, Lies, and Social Media

Mariah Bonner strikes quite a figure as the narrator of these 5 short plays by The Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights (ALAP). Encouraging the audience to post on social media about the show, many in the audience were more than happy to oblige! Each of the 5 plays poses questions about sexual orientation, attraction, and how social media has affected our relationships. Each story is simple in the telling, but deep in human interaction. HAPPY AND GAY by Mary Steelsmith centers on two women decorating a church hall for a gay wedding reception. Veronica (Mary Steelsmith) is the more conservative of the two, confused and disappointed that her church and Reverend is allowing such an event to take place within the walls. Betty (AnnaLisa Er... full review

Originally posted on Bitter Lemons - "Fringe Femmes" | “Sex, Lies, and Social Media” plays by Mary Steelsmith, Elin Hampton and Lorin Howard | First of all, how fabulous to see the very traditional (read, male) Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights shaking things up a bit with some female energy in its first Fringe outing! On their bill of five short plays, three are written by women. Nice! There’s nothing wildly experimental or risky here, but these plays (all of them) work together to make a cohesive evening of theater that speaks to ALAP’s longstanding reputation as a community of solid and supportive writers. A few of the pieces have a successful track record of productions, including Mary Steelsmith’s clever Happy and Gay; ... full review

ALAP's “Sex, Lies, and Social Media” is a mixed bag, but highly entertaining for the most part. The three pieces contributed by Lorin Howard, Mary Steelsmith and Elin Hampton are all consistently clever and amusing. The two short plays by Dan Berkowitz and Ron Burch are not without laughs but tend to fall back on stale ideas and clichés.... full review

Review by Pauline Adamek. ***This review first appeared on www.StageRaw.com *** A mostly dull collection featuring corny humor, "Sex, Lies, and Social Media" is a loosely connected evening of five 10-minute short plays by different writers; Dan Berkowitz, Ron Burch, Elin Hampton, Lorin Howard and Mary Steelsmith. Live tweeting is encouraged between each play by the evening’s sultry hostess, Mariah Bonner, who introduces each play and appears as a succubus in the final one. These five were selected for presentation after a competition staged by the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights (ALAP). Common themes in each include sexual inclination, relationships and an examination of the effect of social media on daily interaction. Regrettably on... full review