NOW ON STAGE Through May 17 AT Ruskin Group Theatre:
All bets are off from the moment 17-year-old Susan arrives at 31-year-old Todd’s one-bedroom apartment for her first SAT tutoring session because if you think you know where things are going in Blue Kiss, Stephen Fife’s riveting two-hander now getting its World Premiere at the Ruskin Group Theatre, you’ve got another thing coming.
That doesn’t mean you won’t be adding up the clues from the get-go.
Why, for instance, did Susan (Carolina Rodriguez) insist that they meet in Todd’s (Casey Morris) “personal sanctuary” and not in a more chaperoned place, like the house she shares with her grandmother?
Why too should Susan be concerned about her essay skills when the sample she reads aloud to Todd already reveals her to be a promising and perhaps even gifted writer?
And what’s up with Susan’s interest in Todd’s relationship (or lack of such) with his 17-year-old high-school quarterback brother Mitchell, whom Todd has scarcely seen since heading off to college for reasons the elder sibling is reluctant to reveal.
There’s also the matter of Susan’s own back story, one involving a personal tragedy she’s only too willing to share with a virtual stranger.
All of this adds up to seventy-five of the edgiest and most suspenseful minutes you’re likely to spend in a theater anytime soon, and never more so than when Susan suddenly…
Ruskin Group Theatre, 2800 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica.
Through May 17. Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00, Sundays at 2:00.
21 Production-Ready
Stage Projects:
7 Comedies, 10 Dramas
4 Family-Friendly Musicals!
“‘The Keeper,’ written and directed by Stephen Fife, is a play that highlights the fact that even a great artist may not be able to monetize his work in his lifetime. The play has contemporary relevance and is a must watch.”
- Tarun Agarwal, theatre critic, Mumbai Theatre Guide
“The play ‘The Keeper" by Stephen Fife, brought the close relationship of the two Van Gogh brothers to life with the script and direction. Adding to the delight was the fine performance by the actors, especially the compelling portrayals of Vincent and Theo Van Gogh in the simple but stark stage settings. All in all a delightful and slick production.”
– Seema Kapur, theatre critic/creative consultant
Grand Prize, Best Screenplay, at the Silicon Beach Film Festival,
for SIZZLE SIZZLE, a wild comedy by Stephen Fife and Yuval Shrem
"DEFINITELY MAYBE NOT by Stephen Fife is thoughtful and compulsively readable, inventive and fast-paced, with well-timed, darkly comic moments... Holly's story is explored with candor and nuance, as her moods shift wildly on a daily basis... A haunting and keenly observed meditation on relationships, parenthood, and the vagaries of celebrity and fame.” – Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews
Check out his new novel on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or at a bookstore near you!
click on cover to enlarge
ON SALE NOW
“Stephen Fife, who completed his 10,000 hours decades ago, is a life-wisened, hopelessly romantic, funny sonuvabitch.”
– Stephen Adly Guirgis
“A terrific selection of work … often about sex, and how it can be a wonder of the world.” – Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Courbet’s Blue Parrot is a collection of 46 poems – both heady and sexy – about Love and Sex that span 50 years of Stephen Fife’s poetry, from his youthful worship of feminine enchantments to feelings of pain and bitterness following his divorce and other breakups.
"Stephen Fife's poems are powerful, edgy, and utterly alive." – Thomas Lux
ON SALE NOW
click on cover to enlarge
OTHER WORKS BY STEPHEN FIFE
CURRENT PROJECTS
His books include COURBET’S BLUE PARROT: Poems of Love and Sex, published by ShiftPoetry Press, who will also put out his next collection, THE LITTLE DOG STARES INTO THE VOID, in 2022. Cune Press has published two earlier volumes of poems, DREAMING IN THE MAZE OF LOVE-GRIEF-MADNESS and TWISTED HIPSTER, as well as his two memoirs (BEST REVENGE: How the Theater Saved My Life and Has Been Killing Me Ever Since and Amazon bestseller THE 13TH BOY: A Memoir of Education and Abuse), as well as his first novel, Angel’s Glance – soon to be re-issued as LOVING HOLLY. Kirkus Reviews called it “A haunting and keenly observed meditation on relationships, parenthood, and the vagaries of celebrity and fame.
Stephen recently participated in a panel discussion at the Jewish Executive Leadership Conference. To watch a video of his panel discussion about the state of the Entertainment Industry, especially from a Jewish point of view, follow the link below, put in the password — "JGSI" — and search for the video with “Fife” (Session 3A: Entertainment I).