The Tank's LimeFest has to Present Marissa Alaniz's ELIZABETH
Directed by Alysia Homminga, Elizabeth will open at The Tank on August 20.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Jul. 29, 2025
The Tank's LimeFest has selected Marissa Alaniz's play "Elizabeth" as a part of its festival line up. Elizabeth Short is iconic, known more for her death than her life. Alaniz's play, Elizabeth seeks to change that by recentering her voice and looking at the story through a feminist lens. Elizabeth does not aim to solve the legendary cold case, but rather to remind audiences of the personhood of victims and investigate the ethics of engagement with the true crime genre.
On July 29 would have been the 101st birthday of Elizabeth Short, better known as The Black Dahlia. On January 15, 1947, the body of Elizabeth Short was found after she was gruesomely murdered in Los Angeles. Since then, true crime fans have flocked to her story with morbid fascination. But for the first time, the story of her life is being told on stage.
Directed by Alysia Homminga, Elizabeth will open at The Tank on August 20 (with Alaniz in the title role) before moving to The Centre at West Park (with actor Sharon Lita taking over for Elizabeth) on September 10.
The play also stars Kristin Smith as Aggie Underwood, Heather Lee Rogers as Elizabeth's mother Phoebe, Bennett Saltzman as Red Manley and Leslie Dillon, Maura Rygg as Dr. de River, Meagan Sisler as Ann Toth, and Gigi Brown as Betty Bersinger.
For every $10 raised on the production's GoFundMe, the Production Team of Elizabeth will donate $1 to My Friend's House, a Los Angeles-based charity that helps provide resources for the unhoused.
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