Dope Queens

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The Hudson Theatres

Hollywood

Critics

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Reviews: 5

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TOMORROWLAND PRODUCTIONS & POP UP THEATER
ARE THRILLED TO PRESENT
A WORLD PREMIERE PLAY!
DOPE QUEENS
Written and Directed by Grafton Doyle

Limited Engagement Opens Friday, August 16
to the Hudson Mainstage Theatre in Hollywood!

Hard Womxn are Good to Find…

TomorrowLand Productions & Pop Up Theater are thrilled to present a world premiere play, DOPE QUEENS, written and directed by Grafton Doyle. DOPE QUEENS will preview on Friday, August 9 & Saturday, August 10 at 8pm; will open on Friday, August 16 at 8pm and run through Sunday, September 22 at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood.

In 2012, three friends: Goldie, Blake, and Angel, move to San Francisco after meeting in protective custody at a men’s California state penitentiary where they were just serving time. Goldie and Angel are transgender women of color, outcasts from their families and the society they live in. Blake is a drug addict whose family begs him to go back to rehab but continues to relapse despite sincere attempts at sobriety. Twitter has moved in and the Google buses and Uber drivers swarm the streets as the Tenderloin slowly gentrifies. In a world where their reputation on the streets is everything, they must secure a position of respect and dignity. As they try to change their lives for the better, the trio settle in an SRO Hotel and support each other as their “chosen family.” Despite true love and friendship, desperate times sometimes lead to desperate measures in this world premiere play.

ABOUT THE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM

GRAFTON DOYLE (Playwright/Director) originally began working as an actor in theatre in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Detroit and Boston. Acting credits include: Becky Shaw (Pop Up Theater), Three Days of Rain (Epsilon Theatre), Spike Heels (Pop Up Theater), The Cottage (Americana Theatre Co.), Almost an Evening (Gennitti's Detroit), The Curious Savage (Mirror Theater), Give It Back (Atwater Playhouse). Serving as Founder & Artistic Director for Pop Up Theater, he has also directed and produced shows that include: Seminar, The Woolgatherer, Becky Shaw, Three Days of Rain, Pterodactyls, and Pizza Man. He has previously worked in creative film development for NBC/Universal at Marc Platt Productions, Warner Bros. at MadChance Productions and Gunpowder & Sky, ran by MTV’s Van Toeffler. He holds a B.A. in Narrative Studies and Screenwriting from USC and is currently an MFA 2021 Dramatic Writing Candidate at USC. Grafton is interested stories that thematically delve into identities of persons stuck between two worlds focusing on “otherness”, queer identities, and addiction. He is also attached to direct the film version of the story of Dope Queens, which is currently in development at TomorrowLand Productions.

The Cast of DOPE QUEENS will feature: Donzell Lewis as Goldie, Malaya as Angel, Michael Antosy as Blake and the voice of Rob Callaway as the Radio Announcer.

DOPE QUEENS features an award-winning design team; Set Design is by Tom Buderwitz; Lighting Design is by Andrew Schmedake; Sound Design is by Cricket S. Myers; Costume and Make-Up Design is by Sasha Markgraf. The Production Stage Manager is Kajal Ardestani. DOPE QUEENS is produced by John Reyes, Julio Lopez Velasquez and Melanie Weisner.

Calendar Listing:

DOPE QUEENS
Written and Directed by Grafton Doyle

OPENS FRIDAY, AUGUST 16 at 8pm
through SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 at 3pm.

PREVIEWS: FRIDAY, AUGUST 9 & SATURDAY, AUGUST 10
at 8pm

PERFORMANCES: Friday & Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 3pm

HUDSON MAINSTAGE THEATRE
6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles
Tickets: Fridays/Saturdays/Sundays; $35.00
Previews; $20.00
VIP FRONT ROWS/CENTER SEATS; $40.00
For tickets or more information, please visit www.dopequeensplay.com
or call 323-960-7738.

Reviews

With such specific characters making up the tale, playwright and director Grafton Doyle went on a nationwide search to find three perfect actors to portray them, two of whom needed to play trans women with brutal honesty. And he found them in Donzell Lewis as Goldie, Malaya as Angel, and Michael Antosy as Blake, all of whom present a real-life examination of how you cannot change your life until you face the challenge of changing within yourself and taking responsibility for your actions. I could go on and on about these three marvelous actors who give so much of themselves to these challenging roles, and the wonder of Doyle's script and direction, but I would rather inspire you to order your tickets and experience DOPE QUEENS for yourself. Be sure to arrive early enough to read through the incredibly thorough and highly informative program notes relating to the realness of the places, situations and characters to enhance your appreciation of how this World Premiere play really reflects The Tenderloin and its residents, as well as the struggles of trans women in the world, exactly the way they truly are. And be sure to bring tissues.

sweet - Shari Barrett - Broadway World - ...read full review

Doyle wrote “Dope Queens” as part of his development of a film version of the same story, a work which is still in progress. Given the obvious talent and vision he brings to the project, if that movie ever sees the light of day it will be well worth seeing – but don’t wait for it. The play stands on its own merits as a complete and cohesive work of art, and it deserves – no, demands – to be seen. Los Angeles theatre scene is notoriously full of outstanding productions being performed for half-empty houses; it’s up to you to make sure this is not one of them.

sweet - John Paul King - Los Angeles Blade - ...read full review

Playwright/director Grafton Doyle builds the world of the play through masterful, vivid storytelling, as the action heats slowly to a heart-pounding final scene.

...Dope Queens isn’t a play about issues. It’s a play about people, whose stories need to be told onstage. Character is queen here, and these three memorable characters played by three magnetic actors earn Dope Queens its crown. - RECOMMENDED

sweet - Taylor Kass - Stage Raw - ...read full review

The dialogue is hard hitting, its characters are real, and the city it all takes place in are for those that either have everything, or for those that must find that everything someplace else!

sweet - Rich Borowy - Accessibly Live Off-Line - ...read full review

Dope Queens, Grafton Doyle’s seamy dissection of the go-nowhere lives of three drug-addicted, fresh-out-of-prison LGBTQ street walkers (two of them gender non-conforming POCs and one a GWM) is not just a major downer, it’s an overwrought, all-over-the-place two-acter that overstays its welcome by at least half an hour.

sour - Steven Stanley - StageSceneLA - ...read full review

With such specific characters making up the tale, playwright and director Grafton Doyle went on a nationwide search to find three perfect actors to portray them, two of whom needed to play trans women with brutal honesty. And he found them in Donzell Lewis as Goldie, Malaya as Angel, and Michael Antosy as Blake, all of whom present a real-life examination of how you cannot change your life until you face the challenge of changing within yourself and taking responsibility for your actions. I could go on and on about these three marvelous actors who give so much of themselves to these challenging roles, and the wonder of Doyle's script and direction, but I would rather inspire you to order your tickets and experience DOPE QUEENS for yourself. Be sure to arrive early enough to read through the incredibly thorough and highly informative program notes relating to the realness of the places, situations and characters to enhance your appreciation of how this World Premiere play really reflects The Tenderloin and its residents, as well as the struggles of trans women in the world, exactly the way they truly are. And be sure to bring tissues.

sweet - Shari Barrett - Broadway World - ...read full review

Doyle wrote “Dope Queens” as part of his development of a film version of the same story, a work which is still in progress. Given the obvious talent and vision he brings to the project, if that movie ever sees the light of day it will be well worth seeing – but don’t wait for it. The play stands on its own merits as a complete and cohesive work of art, and it deserves – no, demands – to be seen. Los Angeles theatre scene is notoriously full of outstanding productions being performed for half-empty houses; it’s up to you to make sure this is not one of them.

sweet - John Paul King - Los Angeles Blade - ...read full review

Playwright/director Grafton Doyle builds the world of the play through masterful, vivid storytelling, as the action heats slowly to a heart-pounding final scene.

...Dope Queens isn’t a play about issues. It’s a play about people, whose stories need to be told onstage. Character is queen here, and these three memorable characters played by three magnetic actors earn Dope Queens its crown. - RECOMMENDED

sweet - Taylor Kass - Stage Raw - ...read full review

The dialogue is hard hitting, its characters are real, and the city it all takes place in are for those that either have everything, or for those that must find that everything someplace else!

sweet - Rich Borowy - Accessibly Live Off-Line - ...read full review

Dope Queens, Grafton Doyle’s seamy dissection of the go-nowhere lives of three drug-addicted, fresh-out-of-prison LGBTQ street walkers (two of them gender non-conforming POCs and one a GWM) is not just a major downer, it’s an overwrought, all-over-the-place two-acter that overstays its welcome by at least half an hour.

sour - Steven Stanley - StageSceneLA - ...read full review