PRESS RELEASE: THIS SHOW IS SURROUNDED BY TRUE EVENTS

(Hollywood, CA) – “Our justice system is all over the place. As is the tone of this play. Sacred Fools Theater Company is proud to bring to life Pamela Quinn Eberhardt’s This Show is Surrounded by True Events at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. This Show Is Surrounded By True Events highlights the frustrations in our justice and prison systems with comedy while leading an unsuspecting audience to a gut punch of truth. Produced and directed by Scott Leggett, This Show Is Surrounded By True Events runs or seven performances at the Broadwater Black Box June 9th through June 30th in Los Angeles.

About the Show 17 years ago, Penny was the foreman on the jury of a murder trial that shook the nation. She’s lived with the guilt of having put an innocent man on death row by leading the jury to vote guilty based on circumstantial evidence and her infatuation with the manipulative prosecuting attorney. Now she must face her past and fight to right the wrongs that led to the conviction and sentencing of Mr. Shiloh Beck. “Pamela Eberhardt and Bailey Burcham came up with the concept for this play about the absurdity of the criminal justice system. Pamela then went off and wrote the script at my urging and what she came back with was hilarious… and horrifying.”, says director Leggett. “The exploration of how human lives can be dismissed at the whim of the system seemed very powerful and the play is a gut punch. I think Fringe audiences are going to laugh their butts off before crying their eyes out”

Who
Writer Pamela Quinn Eberhardt has been writing and producing plays and musicals since she was 17 years old in both Los Angeles and New York. Since 2013, Pam has been supporting organizations like The Innocence Project in their mission to exonerate those who are wrongfully convicted. Pam is delighted to premier this piece to the Hollywood Fringe Festival where she has been participating as a writer and performer since 2017. Her favorite Fringe works include: 13th Grade, The Runaway Clone (2018 Nominee for Best Musical), Wigfield, Most Likely To (2022 Nominee for Best Cabaret), School for Love (2023 Nominee for Best Cabaret) and Under the Influence (2023 Theatre Theater Nominee for Best Playwright). You can also find her on the internet singing with her dog.

Director Scott Leggett (he/him) is a Fringe veteran, having won Best Two-Person Play, along with Nedra Gallegos for Ronnie Larsen’s If I’m Good. He performed multiple characters in Burglars of Hamm’s critically acclaimed production of Resa Fantastiskt Mystisk, which won Top of Fringe in 2017. He was Monster in Cookie and the Monster at the HFF ‘15, which won Best Ensemble. He earned praise playing Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle opposite French Stewart in the critically acclaimed Pasadena Playhouse production of Stoneface: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Buster Keaton. At Sacred Fools, he played the titular character in Watson: The Last Great Tale of the Legendary Sherlock Holmes as well as its sequel. He studied theater at Penn State University and has appeared in several films, commercials and TV shows. Scott is also an accomplished director, having staged the hugely successful adaptation of Neil
Gaiman’s Neverwhere at Sacred Fools. He also directed The Poe Show, which won Best Comedy at the HFF ’15, and Skullduggery: The Musical Prequel to Hamlet. He currently serves as the Producing Director / Interim Artistic Director for Sacred Fools.

Actor Tyler Hayes Stilwill (they/them) spent most of their first life (pre-transition), bouncing from world to world, pretending to be a variety of “men”. The Artistic Director of a Children’s Theatre, an actor, a writer, a tattoo artist, a singer/songwriter, an international marketing executive, an acting professor and even spent a few years stocking shelves at Trader Joe’s. Since the rebirth in 2019, they have been working to deepen their relationship with the Trans community, and focus in on telling their incredibly compelling and often completely ignored stories. Still an acting professor, writer, director and film maker; they have become a committed advocate for all the under-heard voices of their students, friends and heroes; both in class and in the world outside. In 2023 they directed a reading for ACTNOW’s Trans/Gender-Nonconforming play reading festival, which further locked in their powerful and personal mission to tell the stories of Transgender folks.

Where
The Broadwater (Black Box), 6322 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038

When
This Show is Surrounded by True Events runs for seven performances June 9th – June 30th.
Sunday June 9 2024, 6:30 PM
Thursday June 13 2024, 8:00 PM
Friday June 21 2024, 9:00 PM
Sunday June 23 2024, 3:30 PM
Sunday June 23 2024, 3:30 PM
Wednesday June 26 2024, 6:30 PM
Saturday June 29 2024, 10:30 PM
Sunday June 30 2024, 8:00 PM

Tickets
Single tickets are priced at $15 and available online at
https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/10772

Sacred Fools Theater Company
Founded in 1997, Sacred Fools has been described as “…uniquely representative of what our Los Angeles theatre scene can achieve, on its own terms… singular, distinctive and elevated standards…” Sacred Fools is committed to work that is unique, inclusive and relevant to this evolving moment in Los Angeles theater. We seek to create and present our own work that is intrinsically “theatrical”. We mean to utilize our experience and resources to create connection and space (figuratively and literally) for both our established peers and in support of emerging stage artists, especially from historically under-represented backgrounds. In doing so, we strive to cultivate a vibrant theatrical hub within the L.A. Intimate theater environment and a community of communities.