Josefina Lopez is an acclaimed playwright and screenwriter. Hipsteria is set in Boyle Heights where Lopez’ Casa 0101 Theater is based and is dedicated to encouraging the future storytellers of Los Angeles through community and diversity.
A heartfelt production from this young team, it focuses on the issues of gentrification which impacts areas in Los Angeles where marginalised communities have made their homes. Forced out onto the streets with homes to be replaced by a doggy hotel, neighbourhoods are broken up and scattered; this is about protesting to save the right to have genuinely affordable homes in the area they grew up in. Battling racism, gangs and poverty, nothing is easy for these residents: their lives are portrayed with energy and compassion by the team of American High School students, who come from Los Angeles where the play is set.
Shows like Hipsteria are exactly what the Fringe open access platform can debut: new aspiring actors with a story to tell. These actors have travelled across an ocean to share their story with audiences: some stories are universal, as this production demonstrates, but sharing it with compassion and verve is a timely reminder that voices can be heard and that theatre has a voice that can cross boundaries.
What might have strengthened this production is the actors allowing themselves to slow down in the telling of this tale. Energy leads to very fast talking which means that text is lost at key moments and the drive to tell the tale means that commitment to character is sometimes lost in the urge to communicate. Despite this, it is clear how determined these young actors are in bringing their story alive and there is much to be celebrated from this.
Show Time: 9 August @ 17:45
Ticket Prices: £5
Greenside @ Infirmary Street
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/hipsteria-by-josefina-lopez
Accessibility: Not fully wheelchair accessible; 20+ stairs; Contains distressing or potentially triggering themes, Scenes of violence, Strong language/swearing
Suitability: 12+