OBSESSED by Starr Shapiro
Eloise is 22 years old and about to graduate from college. Except, she’s not. She’s actually in her childhood home, checking that the oven is turned off. And that the stove is turned off. And that the door is locked. And that she has written down enough reminders. But don’t tell her older sisters! However, Kris and Sarah’s lives are not all what they seem either, and, as they slowly learn, neither was their mother’s. Through moments of levity and magical realism, Eloise finds her intrusive thoughts and irrational fears coming to life on stage as her family’s secrets unravel and they find it harder and harder to pretend that everything is fine. With themes surrounding mental health, sexuality, spirituality, and sisterhood, OBSESSED explores the humor and pain that coexist when grief knocks down the walls we have up and compels the people we love to see right through us when we desperately don’t want them to, but desperately need them to.
Coming to CVREP on January 7, 2025 at 2pm.
Starr Shapiro
Starr Shapiro is a Los Angeles-based writer and performer. In television, she has worked as a Writers’ Assistant on Netflix’s RANSOM CANYON and XO, KITTY. Her play, OBSESSED, was performed on the Santa Monica Playhouse Main Stage in Fall 2023 before being performed at the 2024 Hollywood Fringe Festival. With OBSESSED, Starr was chosen out of the 82 eligible playwrights and plays at Hollywood Fringe last year as the winner of the Loud Karma Emerging Female Playwright Award. Previously, she was selected to be a member of the Echo Theater Company Los Angeles Young Playwrights Residency. Starr graduated from Columbia University with a BA in Theatre and Psychology. And yes, for better or worse, “Starr” is actually the name her parents gave her.
ORIGINS: 2025
Read about the other great projects being developed in our 2025 Origins season.
THE ROMEO AND JULIET SENIOR CITIZENS PROJECT: A COMEDY
Written by Jami Brandli
Story by Jami Brandli, Nina Sallinen and Ann Hearn Tobolowsky (and William Shakespeare, too)
DOUBLE HELIX
By Vince Gatton
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S MUSICAL COMEDY : A musical adaptation
Book, Music & Lyrics by Johnny Elkins
For more information about Origins, please click here.
