The Bent is a non-profit theater serving the Palm Springs and Coachella Valley LGBTQ+ Community since December 13, 2022.
STAGED READINGS - SEASON 4
EXECUTION OF JUSTICE
By Emily Mann
Directed by Stan Zimmerman
Ripped from headlines, interviews, and trial transcripts, Emily Mann’s riveting play EXECUTION OF JUSTICE, explores the infamous “Twinkie defense” trial of Dan White, and the 1978 murders of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California history. In these times of judicial misconduct and slippery stories, this play is both a record of what happened and an attempt to understand why it happened, and it reminds us of the importance of documenting, instead of whitewashing, history. Execution of Justice feels as relevant as ever as we continue to debate the justice of our leaders and their laws.
Adult content.
November 25th and 26th @7pm
THE GREEN ROOM
A Modern Adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit
Written & adapted by Jason Reale
Directed by Jason Reale
A disgraced Republican senator, a cynical leftist journalist, and a canceled drag queen are trapped in the stark backstage holding space of a late night talk show. What feels like an awkward scheduling mistake soon curdles into something darker. The lights never dim, the cameras never roll, and the door never opens.
As time stretches and the truth fractures, each must confront the worst parts of themselves, projected not just through each other, but on a flickering screen that reveals what no one was ever meant to see.
Darkly funny, unnervingly intimate, and disturbingly current, The Green Room reimagines Sartre’s existential classic for our media-saturated age. There is no host. No audience. And…no exit.
“I’ve never heard of this play or this writer. How did you get this number?” — The New York Times
March 18th and 19th, 2026 @7pm
THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
By Jane Wagner
Directed by Kudra Wagner
THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE is a hilarious and timeless play about what makes us human. It was written in 1985 by the brilliant Jane Wagner as a one-woman tour de force for her partner (now wife), the incomparable Lily Tomlin.
The Tony Award was one of several Lily won during the play’s year-long Broadway run. The script called for Lily to play an incredibly wide range of characters including Trudy, the bag lady who advises extraterrestrials about life on Earth; Prostitutes Brandy and Tina; Chrissy, the overly energetic aerobics instructor and a wealthy California socialite. The characters include men and women ranging from a teenage punk rocker to a middle-age farm wife.
Jane Wagner’s play is often praised for its controversial feminist material which includes a deliciously abbreviated history of the feminist movement.
Our reading, directed by Kudra Wager (no relation to Jane), will shine a new light on the play by using multiple actors to bring these rich, varied characters and intelligent, thought-provoking and riotous stories to life.
April 22nd and 23rd, 2026 @7pm