"Who Do You Think You Are?," a staged reading of eight original 10-minute plays presented by The WhatNext? Collective will take place Saturday, May 2 at 5 p.m. at Old Town Theatre, 4040 Twiggs St., San Diego, CA 92110. Tickets and information are available at thewhatnextcollective.com/tix The evening spans a full range of female defiance, from two soccer moms on a bleacher finally finding their voices, to a cancer survivor turning her diagnosis into a stand-up set, to a compliance officer who approved the destruction of $9 million in contraceptives and decides she has to do something about it. There are mothers and daughters, secrets kept for 35 years, and a suburban housewife who has been surveilling her neighbors with binoculars for two years and will not be stopped. The ensemble cast features Julie Alexandria, Maria Costello, Kelley Goode, Melissa Jordan Grey, Ali Impey, Laura Jackson, Jena Joyce, Analia Romero, John Tessmer and Connie Terwilliger. The plays are written by Lisa Balderston, Aleta Barthell, Caroline Gilman, Melissa Jordan Grey, Lolo Moreno Ines, Lindsey Salatka and Connie Terwilliger. Jena Joyce serves as dramaturg. The production is directed by Lisa Celia Balderston, Aleta Barthell, Melissa Jordan Grey, Jena Joyce, Charles Peters, and Jenn Peters. Featured New Works: 200 Coffee Filters by Connie TerwilligerA woman tracks her whirlwind romances in coffee filters—until she realizes love might require more than just good chemistry and a fresh brew. Bittercake by Melissa Jordan GreyThree generations of women wrestle with food, body image, and inheritance as a simple cake reveals what’s been quietly baked into them all. Confetti Time by Aleta BarthellTwo women on a covert mission to blow up a pharmaceutical warehouse discover that waiting for orders is harder than pulling the trigger. Off Sides by Lindsey SalatkaAt a high school soccer game, two moms channel their sideline outrage into a full-blown reckoning with fear, politics, and finding their voice. Still Standing by Lisa BalderstonA stand-up comic battles Cancer as her most relentless heckler, proving that if she’s going down, she’s taking the mic—and the last word—with her. The Gossip by Lolo Moreno InesAn empty-nester turns neighborhood gossip into a high-stakes surveillance operation, blurring the line between curiosity, conspiracy, and self-discovery. Thirty-Five Candles by Melissa Jordan GreyAt a reunion decades in the making, two women confront the choices that shaped their lives—and the daughters they still imagine. Under the Influence by Caroline GilmanA perfectly curated influencer mom goes viral for all the wrong reasons when her live stream exposes the chaos behind her “perfect” life.
