TRICKSTER To Be Presented By The Clown School Company at Hollywood Fringe Festival 2026

Acclaimed Los Angeles based The Clown School Company will return with its latest production.

In 2024, The Clown School, the renowned LA based organization devoted to exploring and promoting the practice of clowning, announced the formation of The Clown School Company, a professional performing arm of the School, offering inventive contemporary theater informed by physical theater and clown practices.

The Company's first production, A Kind of Electra, based on the Greek tragedy by Euripides, was a 5-star (Edmonton Journal) smash hit at the Edmonton Fringe Festival in Canada in August 2025. Now the Company returns with its sell-out second show, Trickster, playing at The Hollywood Fringe Festival 2026.

Trickster, hilarious and haunting, weaves together a series of mythical tales from around the world to explore the mischievous and profound aspects of the archetype in our lives. An initial run of the show at The Stomping Ground LA in Fall 2025 was a sell-out hit.

Trickster is directed by Sarah Painter, who has been working on and off in the theater for the last 25 years in both New York and Los Angeles as a performer, producer, writer and director. Most recently she performed with Living Room Shakespeare as Lady Macbeth (Macbeth) and Henry Bolingbroke (Richard II), as well as devising shows with various clown ensembles. Additionally, Sarah is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker practicing psychotherapy in Los Angeles.

Trickster features a script by David Bridel, the multi-award-winning artist, scholar, author and educator whose credits as a director, choreographer, and playwright span the globe. Some highlights include his work on productions at The Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles Opera, Classic Stage in New York, the Louisville Orchestra, the Kennedy Center, the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, and the Theatre Du Chatelet in Paris. He has worked with actors in multiple notable films, television shows and stage productions, including Waiting for Godot (now on Broadway), Babylon, Euphoria, Wolfs, Gen V, The Consultant, The Seagull/Woodstock NY, and The 100.

Trickster's Artistic Team includes Art Directors Jessika Pilkes and Stefan Rambousek, dramaturgy and assistant direction by Jess Esa, music by Steve Duchardt, and Lighting Design by Camille Roberts.