“we don’t talk about the future”

Bruin Fringe Festival, UCLA | Fall 2024

Fly

by Cerulean Long

Two little girls meet between realities to share a secret.

Based on a true story, Fly contemplates girlhood, growing up, and saying goodbye. In a world that often dismisses young women as incapable of grappling with harsh realities, this play gives two friends the chance to talk about heavy things without fear. With communication comes understanding, and with understanding comes freedom.

This production used shadow puppetry to blur the line between reality and fantasy, inviting the audience to believe in the impossible, in the magic of escape.

photos by Andrew Angelastro

a note from
the playwright:

Postpartum depression is something that society often overlooks. It seems completely “natural” for a woman to just become a mother once she gives birth to a child, taking the weight and burden of motherhood, the responsibility that binds her to the “ground”. Through “Fly”, we would like to explore the trauma motherhood could bring to a woman, and how the experience of losing one’s identity and freedom can be entangled with the expression of love. We would also like to explore the vulnerability and courage of a child: how a girl doesn’t understand, how a girl tries to understand, and the cost of her understanding – the cost of growing up and saying goodbye.

  • Michaela Duarte

    DIRECTOR

  • Cerulean Long

    PLAYWRIGHT

  • Jeannine Vargas

    ACTOR | “KE”

  • Sophia Raye

    ACTOR | “CHEN”

  • Kyle Green

    PUPPETEER

  • Siavash Ford

    PUPPETEER

  • Ian Pirotto

    PUPPET DESIGNER

  • Bluu Luu

    STAGE MANAGER

  • Elisha Cigarroa-Diaz

    LIGHTING DESIGNER

  • Noé Cervantes

    COMPOSER

for ke and her mom

for bluu