SINCERELY A Filipina Coming-of-Age Play at BorderLight Fringe
Bryanna Lee's archive-based coming-of-age performance strikes an emotional chord with a deeply empathetic look at teenage life.
By: Emmy Rice Jul. 11, 2025
Award-winning theatre company, The Vagrancy will present Sincerely, (the diary play) by Bryanna Lee, directed by Caitlin Hart, as an official selection of the 2025 BorderLight Fringe Festival. Performances will be held this July at Allen Rehearsal Hall in the Theatre & Arts Building at Cleveland State University. Tickets available through borderlightcle.org.
A radical experiment in documentary performance, Sincerely, (the diary play) fuses personal archive with theatrical storytelling to navigate desire, devotion, and the search for self. Using over 15 years of diary entries, home video, religious pamphlets, therapy notes, text messages, and more, Bryanna Lee performs a tender and irreverent chronicle of growing up Catholic and Filipina in the Midwest.
Part collage, part confessional, the piece offers an unfiltered look into a young woman's interior world as she questions everything she thought she knew about God, sexuality and herself. Audiences have called the piece "an emotional rollercoaster," "sharp, funny, and emotionally real," and "absolutely brilliant," with one patron stating, "No performance has ever resonated with me as deeply as this one."
The cast features Bryanna Lee as Bryanna and Jude Libner as Luke. The production is directed and co-produced by Caitlin Hart, with Michael Empson also serving as producer. Breanne Blackwell stage manages, with sound design by Matt Richter and props design by Emma Dunlop.
TICKET INFORMATION
Performances will take place at Allen Rehearsal Hall in the Theatre & Arts Building at Cleveland State University on Thursday, July 24 at 6:00 PM and Saturday, July 27 at 1:00 PM. Tickets are $16.25 and available at borderlightcle.org/2025-show/sincerely-the-diary-play
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Bryanna Lee is a Filipina-American theatre artist, sustainability consultant, and voice actor based in Michigan. She earned degrees in Theatre for Change and Sustainable Business from Aquinas College and remains passionate about art-making that centers community, identity, and systems change.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Caitlin Hart is a critically acclaimed theatre director and certified intimacy professional known for bold, storytelling and championing new work. She has directed award-winning productions from Fornes to Shakespeare, serves as Resident Director of Capitol Comedy, and leads workshops in acting and intimacy choreography.
ABOUT THE VAGRANCY
Founded in 2007, The Vagrancy is a 501(c)3, award-winning theatre company dedicated to producing bold, visceral, and inclusive work, with a focus on developing new plays by historically marginalized voices. Their annual BLOSSOMING series supports new works in both Los Angeles and Michigan.
Cleveland Awards - Live Stats
Best Musical - Top 3
1.
ANNIE (Cassidy Theatre)
10% of votes
2.
COME FROM AWAY (Weathervane Playhouse)
7.3% of votes
3.
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (Near West Theatre)
6.8% of votes
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