SleuthFest 2026: Hollywood's Premier Mystery and Noir Festival Kicks Off This Month
Hollywood's Hobgoblin Playhouse to host SleuthFest 2026, a celebration of mystery and noir
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SleuthFest, Hollywood's newest celebration of mystery, suspense, and noir storytelling across live performance and film, returns to the stage and screen from February 19 through March 1, 2026 at the Hobgoblin Playhouse's new location in the heart of Hollywood's Sunset Square. Presented by The StageCrafts, this inaugural edition invites audiences and creators alike to uncover secrets, confront conspiracies, and enjoy classic suspense tales in an immersive festival atmosphere.
SleuthFest blends genre-rich theatrical productions, immersive theatre experiences, and curated film screenings into one dynamic ten-day festival, showcasing stories that range from hardboiled noir to quirky whodunits and narrative surprises around every corner.
2026 Festival Lineup:
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Girls On Film – A sharply comedic mystery about three women caught in a web of suspicion and shared history after being arrested at a funeral.
Playing: Feb 20 @ 9pm, Feb 21 @ 7pm, Feb 27 @ 8:30pm, Feb 28 @ 6:30pm, Mar 1 @ 6pm
Run Time: 40 minutes
Tickets: $25 GA -
The Casebook Collection – Six riveting 10-minute plays packed with deception, clues, and shocking twists in a fast-paced theatrical evening. Presented by Theatre Unleashed
Playing: Feb 20 @ 7pm, Feb 28 @ 8pm, Mar 1 @ 7:30pm
Run Time: 75 minutes
Tickets: $25 GA
Livestream available - Belladonna Highway – A washed up novelist's quest for a quiet writer's retreat leads him to the mysterious, decrepit Hotel Belladonna, a desert oasis full of dangerous secrets.
Playing: Feb 19 @ 7pm
Run Time: 55 minutes
Tickets: Pay-What-You-Want -
Did I Just Join a Cult? – A haunting immersive piece set in Boyle Heights where truth and terror blur in an eerie warehouse conspiracy.
Playing: Feb 27 @ 7pm
Run Time: 60 Minutes
Tickets: $25 GA -
D.O.A. (1950) – A screening of this classic noir in which a man investigates his own murder in a race against time.
Screening: Feb 21 @ 8:30pm
Run Time: 84 Minutes
Tickets: $10 GA -
Touch of Evil – A bold cinematic journey featuring moral conflict and corruption along the U.S.–Mexico border.
Screening: Feb 26 @ 8:30pm
Run Time: 108 Minutes
Tickets: $10 GA
Held in the intimate black-box setting of The Hobgoblin Playhouse, SleuthFest offers theatre lovers and film aficionados alike the chance to engage directly with creators and fellow mystery fans in a celebration of storytelling that thrills, chills, and delights.
“We're thrilled to continue our series of mini-festivals with SleuthFest,” said Gregory Crafts, one half of husband-and-wife team behind the festival. “I grew up obsessed with the Hardy Boys, Sherlock Holmes, Encyclopedia Brown, and more. As I got older, I fell in love with movies like Brick, Twin Peaks, and even lighthearted mystery fare like Clue. When we sat down to brainstorm which genres to explore next, mysteries and thrillers were absolutely at the top of the list!”
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Next to Normal Phantasma Arts (7/17-7/25) |
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After the Blast The Broadwater Second Stage (8/05-8/13) |
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Catch Me If You Can The Colony Theatre (9/17-10/18) |
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E=MC² Einstein The Musical Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center (7/03-7/26) |
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Fool for Love Santa Monica Playhouse (7/23-7/26) |
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Gershwin and the Golden Age Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) (10/11-10/11) |
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Studio Cabaret: Jess & Joe James Armstrong Theatre (10/09-10/10) |
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OTR: A New Play OTR: A New Play (11/23-11/27) |
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Riptide Film Festival James Armstrong Theatre (10/17-10/17) |
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The Totally Awesome Prom: The ’80s Night to Remember Torrance Cultural Arts Center (5/01-5/01) |