KIND STRANGER … A MEMORY PLAY To Make West Coast Premiere At Zephyr Theatre
New work, adapted from Tennessee Williams’ memoirs, will run January 23–February 8, 2026.
By: A.A. Cristi Nov. 24, 2025
Ed’s Filmworks will present the West Coast premiere of Kind Stranger … a memory play, a new theatrical work adapted entirely from the memoirs of Tennessee Williams.
Conceived and performed by Rick Simone-Friedland and adapted and directed by Steven Simone-Friedland, the production will begin performances on Friday, January 23, 2026, at 8 p.m. and will run through February 8 at the Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles.
The piece traces Williams’ reflections on his life, relationships, craft, and legacy, drawing exclusively from the playwright’s own words. Presented as an intimate, 75-minute memory play without intermission, Kind Stranger examines the intersections between Williams’ personal history and the iconic characters and works that shaped American theatre.
Steven and Rick Simone-Friedland, who are married collaborators on the project, developed the adaptation through Williams’ original prose. Steven noted that the memoir provides an unfiltered record of Williams’ perspective on his work and artistic process, while Rick approaches the performance with both reverence and humor, describing his own long-held wish to embody Blanche DuBois in some form.
Rick Simone-Friedland is an Emmy Award winner known for his television work in Married People, Just the Ten of Us, A Year in the Life, Life Goes On, and the Discovery series Mob Scene. His theatre credits include The Me Nobody Knows, Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens, and Moose on the Loose. His recent film projects include How Do You Fall Out of Love with Country Music, Boystown, and Some Sorta Queer.
Steven Simone-Friedland is a filmmaker with credits across independent film, television, and documentary editing. His work includes contributions to The Yes Men Are Revolting, Donner Pass, and multiple Bravo and MTV series, as well as Los Angeles theatre productions such as Ourselves Alone, Oleanna, Betrayal, Scenes of an American Life, and Imagining Rachel, which premiered at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
TICKETS
Performances will take place Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles. Admission is $25 and $35.
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