Written by orange• February 5, 2026• 4:34 am• Irvine, News, Press Releases, Uncategorized

The Wayward Artist Presents JU1CE: A Secret Revealed at its Third Annual New Play Festival

Sourced from the press release: https://thewaywardartist.org/

A secret will be revealed in each 10-minute one-act as local playwrights explore new ground

IRVINE, CA, February 5, 2026 — The Wayward Artist presents the third season of JU1CE: A Secret Revealed, March 6 – 8 at 7:30 pm. Three evenings of original 10-minute plays will explore the power of truth and discovery. Local playwrights bring fresh stories to life that are funny, bold, and heartfelt. Directed by Artistic Director Craig Tyrl and Teddy Page, this program is in co-production with the Orange County Playwrights Alliance.

Anteros Was Here by AJ Layague

A myth-inflected Western where cowboys, gods, and choral figures collide. On a ranch, violence, desire, and power unfold as the god Anteros watches humanity wrestle with love, justice, and consequence. Ritual, poetry, and physical storytelling lead not to resolution, but reckoning.

The Gravity of Black Holes by Linda Goddard Schmenk

A quiet, poetic two-hander linking a contemporary Japanese-American science student with a woman from another era. Through physics, grief, and time, the play explores loneliness, inherited pain, and the unseen forces that draw people together across generations.

The Green Grocer by Joni Ravenna

A sharply funny and tender story about aging, desire, and self-image. When Katie develops an unexpected crush on her younger grocer, fantasy and insecurity collide with the reality of her marriage. Humor meets emotional honesty in this reflection on love and longing.

Merely Players by Eric Eberwein

Three lives intersect around faith, death, and moral compromise: a priest, a hospice nurse, and a woman in emotional free fall. Darkly comic and deeply human, the play questions hypocrisy, grace, and the difference between performing belief and truly living it.

Tempus Fugit by Greg Atikins

A playful but pointed look at time, ambition, and regret. When Cynthia meets her future self, youthful idealism clashes with lived experience. Fast-moving, imaginative, and funny, it asks what we owe the people we are still becoming.

The Takeaway by Linda Goddard Schmenk

Two estranged sisters reunite in a Chinese restaurant, navigating old wounds and cultural expectations while waiting for food that becomes a catalyst for truth. A perceptive restaurant owner observes it all, adding warmth and perspective. Themes of family, identity, and silence linger.

Trapped in Limbo by John Franceschini

Set in a psychiatric institution, this unsettling drama collapses past and present as a wealthy baroness relives childhood trauma under clinical observation. Mandated doubling exposes cycles of power and abuse, revealing the brutality hidden beneath respectability.

Your Pleasure Is All Mine by Nikki Pearson

A near-future grief story where a woman coexists with an AI replica of her deceased partner. As intimacy, consent, and autonomy blur, the play explores the ethics of artificial love and the human need to be deeply known—even when the risk is real.

ABOUT THE WAYWARD ARTIST:

The work of The Wayward Artist is edgy and unafraid to push the envelope of politeness, political correctness, and propriety. It doesn’t shy away from adult content, language, and mature subject matter. It’s about innovation and re-invention and, wherever possible, delight in showing audiences a mirror to challenge pride, prejudices, and point-of-view. Its mission is to be the home for wayward artists – the lost, the naked, the vulnerable and to produce wayward works of professional quality works that are new, edgy, and reimagined. www.thewaywardartist.org

CREATIVE TEAM

Director: Craig Tyrl

Director: Teddy Page

Producer: Eric Eberwein

Stage Manager: James Tran

Asst. Stage Manager:Jared Onesto

Lighting Designer: Axiom Cutler

Costume Designer: Christophe Aveces

Scenic Designer: Kristin Campbell

Projection Design: James Tran

Properties: Craig Tyrl

ACTORS