The Trouble with My Hair: Coloring, Cutting and Coming into Who I Am a BFF 2026 Free Event

It’s BFF 2026, the 11th Annual BFF Binge Fringe Festival of FREE Theatre, October 13 through November 20, the only FREE Fringe Festival in the nation, offering 37 in-person plays, workshops and family-oriented events, presenting:

A transformative solo performance that examines Ada Cheng's gender, sexual, and racial identities through her evolving relationship with her hair—and the stylists who helped shape it. With humor, vulnerability, and sharp cultural insight, Cheng reveals how something as seemingly simple as hair can carry the weight of family expectations, beauty standards, queerness, and personal agency. This performance invites audiences into a deeply personal yet universally resonant journey of self-discovery, self-love, healing, and transformation. This solo performance is developed with and directed by Jessica Lynn Johnson, an award-winning director and founder of Soaring Solo Studios. Written & Performed by Ada Cheng.

“Brilliant!...I highly recommend that you see her show!” Samantha Simmonds-Ronceros, NoHo Arts

Special thanks to generous grants from the We Are Santa Monica Fund, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Arts Commission, and Playhouse PALS. The BFF celebrates the range and depth of the human condition and the idea that theatre arts experiences are vital, transformative, and must be available for all.

FREE as part of the BFF Binge Fringe Festival of Free Theatre. Live-streaming info can be found at SantaMonicaPlayhouse.com. No need to make a reservation If you are live-streaming.