Acclaimed Drama FRIENDS LIKE THESE Returns to the Hollywood Fringe Festival, 6/7-28

After playing to sell-out crowds in both L.A. and New York, critical endorsements from local press and nominations in multiple theatrical awards, the acclaimed and heavy-hitting drama Friends Like These is coming back to the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

An original Theatre Unleashed work by co-founder Gregory Crafts, Friends Like These takes a candid and poignant look at the staggering issue of violence in our high schools. Garrett is an outsider who spends most of his troubled existence in a fantasy world called Haven...that is until he meets Nicole, the popular cheerleader with a curious mind. As quickly as things begin looking up for Garrett, they come crashing down, forcing him to face both his past mistakes and his harsh present reality while he struggles for redemption. This gut-wrenching piece unswervingly explores the emotional trauma brought on by social mores during high school, forcing a confrontation with the causes and tragic consequences that left us staggered as a nation during Columbine and other high school shootings.

"I wanted to bring 'Friends Like These' back to the Fringe this year because, in light of events like Sandy Hook, or even the recent fatal stabbing of a student in Milford, the story of the play is tragically still very relevant to our society," Crafts said. "This year also marks the 15th anniversary of the Columbine Massacre, which was a major inspiration for the play. I would love to mount a production of this show one day where we as a society can watch it and look back at how violent and horrible we 'used to' be to each other. Maybe, in some sort of ideal world, that could be the case."

Friends Like These features a brand new cast and is being helmed by Wendy Gough Soroka, who received critical acclaim with her 2012 Hollywood Fringe show The Divine Madness of Isabella. The show, which is being co-produced with Mad Magpie, pairs up with TU's other entry into this year's Hollywood Fringe, the wildly popular 25 Plays Per Hour, which, this year, will feature a new cast performing some of the best pieces of the past four years.

For more information on both shows, check out www.theatreunleashed.com or http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/1594?tab=tickets for Friends Like These and http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/1595?tab=tickets for The Best of 25 Plays Per Hour.

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