[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of Meg & Jess Productions’ “Welcome to the UA: Unmasked Anonymous,” starring Megan Caccamo and Jessica Jordan at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2023.
Imagine, if you will, you are an addict. Not to drugs, or booze or sex. But to faking it…taking on a persona and hiding behind it. Like a mask, this is the premise of “Welcome to the UA: Unmasked Anonymous.”
Megan Caccamo and Jessica Jordan perform their play with fearlessness and a determined focus to the theme. Hollywood is, after all, full of people trying to be or even longing to be someone else. Its a tricky place to navigate if you wear your heart and your truth on your sleeve.
The play is set up like an addiction meeting. Each ‘act’ centers around a specific type. Street smart, wise ass, ingenue, over achiever, they all make an appearance. But the underlying theme for me was fear. I suppose that’s the anchor of addiction. Fear is a taskmaster to us all. Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of fear. Being an actor is tugging on that thread pretty consistently. But these two actresses do an excellent job of convincing us that their own struggle with it all is conscious, hard-fought and thoughtfully actualized.
It’s a really interesting way of tackling this subject, something ever present in our lives but hardly ever discussed. It brings the audience right to the heart of it using very clever, funny, and engaging characters. I saw it late at night, after a few other Hollywood Fringe plays and it really did feel like a AA meeting! The Fringe is a great place for this kind of experimental show and these two actors were absolutely brilliant!
Tickets:
Get your free tickets! Use code: noho
https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/9984
Where:
The Broadwater
6320 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038
When:
June 16 at 5pm
June 21 at 5pm
June 25 at 2pm