It was easy to miss the Narrative Loft, a creative studio and event space and the intimate setting of the Santa Barbara Summer Repertory Festival, which featured performances part of On the Verge theater company’s summer festival.
On the Verge featured a wide array of talent from area artists, actors, and playwrights in both the Santa Barbara and greater Los Angeles areas. Sponsored by the Elements Theatre Collective (also in Santa Barbara), On the Verge artistic director Kate Bergstrom introduced the first performances of her company’s festival Thursday, July 16, with a double-feature premiere of two very distinct but equally intriguing plays. The company’s emphasis focuses on “Re-imagining Female Narratives,” a unique theme that was clearly evident in both of playwright Roxie Perkins’s Caylee’s First Big Show!!! and Sweet Child.
In Caylee’s First Big Show!!!, small town Arizona native-turned aspiring musician Caylee James (played by Riley Berris) graced the small stage with the appropriate pop star persona, minus the pop star experience (and talent). Despite Caylee’s unprofessionalism onstage whilst performing original songs like “Shots” and “Sorry I’m Not Sorry,” Berris’s portrayal of the self-proclaimed “Queen of Fun” was anything but.