HOLY O Comes to Rochester Fringe

Lauren Hance, a Houston-based playwright and actress, will bring her award-winning immersive one-woman show Holy O to the 2024 Rochester Fringe Festival, September 11-21, for six nights only.

"The show is a cross between Fleabag and The Vagina Monologues. It's for audiences who are up for something playful, heartwarming, and experimental," says director and developer Amelia Peterson.

Holy O is a solo dramedy performance where the audience becomes part of the play directly from their seats. Main character Vera contemplates becoming a nun, but can't let go of her vibrators. Her situation is complicated by the onset of rapturous prayers leading the audience to step into the role of advice-giving "saints."

As Vera's story unfolds, it intertwines with choose-your-own-adventure stories that explore the connection of body, spirit, and sexuality. Along the way, the audience helps Vera make some of the biggest decisions of her life, starting with what shirt to wear.

Co-Director Cathy Lam-Patrie emphasizes that, "This play offers not only a safe space to listen to the stories of women, but also a chance to reimagine a world of honesty, intimacy, and hope." Holy O received the "Best of Fringe" award by DC Theater Arts and was described by reviewer Ari Rogers as "a deeply moving, uniquely intimate, and spiritual exploration of sexuality." Most recently, Holy O received the Golden Lanyard Award from the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Buer Carlie of Lavender Magazine proclaimed that "Hance is an amazing storyteller. She gives an energetic performance.... She has a great sense for balance: drama balances comedy, sacred balances profane."