Solo Fest 2025 Spotlight: Safiya Fredricks’s THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!

Join us for PlayGround’s eighth annual Solo Performance Festival, a curation of the best in California solo performance! The festival runs January 24-February 9, 2025 (Fri-Sun), presented live on our stage and also simulcast online. More…

Today we’re spotlighting Safiya Fredericks’s The Birthday Girl! (1/24 at 7 pm, 1/25 at 4 pm & 1/26 at 1 pm). This show has been described as a comical drama/dark comedy/dramedy. It takes place over the course of a day where I am trying to have a celebratory birthday rather than a “spend the day alone” kind of day. In my attempt to do this there is an underlying tone of grief which some years takes more of a front seat than others. “My parents are dead.” Throughout the meticulously planned day there are run ins with various characters, stories of past dates all the while looking forward to a night out with my best friend, which paints a clearer picture of what it’s like to be a single gal navigating life solo. There’s a lot of music sung or played and a simple set would be nice if possible depending on what is available in the space.

Hear from the playwright:

What was the seed of this play? What inspired you to write it?
I had a really big birthday coming up and was on the fence as to how I was going to celebrate. My friends pushed me to do something and I made a plan that everyone seemed to support. When the day came so did the flakeage and I was really disappointed that they didn’t show up in the way they’d promised. I expressed my displeasure as that’s what friends are for, and they seemed to understand. As the next year rolled around those same friends were disappointed I decided to spend the day solo. I really sat with how every year I feel like I’m on this roller coaster as how to celebrate, or whether or not I want to celebrate and who I’m actually celebrating for. I struggle to selfishly make it about me and and miss the people who made that day possible at all.

Why is a solo show the ideal way to tell this story?
You’re the only one with your birthday and your unique birthday story. In a solo show I’m able to go on the journey of my experience and through that hopefully others are able to reflect on their experiences as well.

What are your artistic influences for this show?
I always enjoy all art that incorporates storytelling, music, and movement. I don’t have any direct influences just the inspiration.

What surprised you during the creation of this piece?
The simplicity and complexity of a single significant yet insignificant day.

Safiya Fredricks (THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!) has been happily navigating the acting world for several years. After studying at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and bumbling around New York, she found her way to a steady career in regional theater. She is the recipient of the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actress for her work in ‘black odyssey’ at CalShakes and was most recently seen in ‘Can I Touch It?’ At Rogue Machine Theatre in Los Angeles. Film/TV credits include Bitter Melon, I’m Charlie Walker, Sorry to Bother You, Book of Boba Fett, and 911.