Crowded Fire Presents the World Premiere of “limp wrist on the lever” by Preston Choi
Crowded Fire Presents the World Premiere of “limp wrist on the lever” by Preston Choi!
This raucous dark comedy by rising star Preston Choi puts teens at the helm of a revolution. A queer trio’s escape plan from a conversion camp takes a left turn as they face off against a straight-laced counselor with an unusual sadistic streak. limp wrist on the lever questions the necessity of violence and the paradox of tolerance, with the ever-present doubt: how can you ever be sure you’ve really changed someone’s mind? limp wrist on the lever, World Premiere by Preston Choi, directed by Becca Wolff. September 11 – Oct 4, 2025 at Potrero Stage, 1695 18th St., San Francisco, CA 94107. Tickets and details at CrowdedFire.org.
From playwright Preston Choi, “Though limp wrist on the lever is set at a conversion therapy camp, the play isn’t primarily about unpacking the state of anti-LGBTQIA+ conversion therapy in the U.S., whose ethics have long been a clear binary (it’s very bad). Instead, for leftists and liberals trying to make social change, this play spends less time reaffirming ideals and more time digging into the necropolitics of queer existence. Necropolitics, in a blithe definition, is how political systems decide who lives and who is pushed closer to death. What is at stake if we can’t change someone’s mind, say a bigot or malicious sociopath? What lengths would we go to do so? What should be done with them if we can’t change them? How much time do we really have? There’s also a ghost, which should be lots of fun.”
CFT Leader of Artistic Curation & Marketing Leigh Rondon-Davis writes, “Equal parts campy thriller, dark comedy, and messy teen drama (think But I’m a Cheerleader meets The Stanford Prison Experiment), limp wrist on the lever offers a bold and funny interrogation of power and the radical ethics of survival, brilliantly capturing the chaos of being young and queer. As queer and trans youth are targeted, and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and policy surge nationwide, the play speaks urgently to anyone fighting for autonomy, justice, and a liberated future—challenging audiences to confront systems of control and violence masked as care, and bravely asking if you will break, reform, or escape the system imprisoning you.”
limp wrist on the lever
World Premiere by Preston Choi
Directed by Becca Wolff
September 11 – Oct 4, 2025
Potrero Stage, 1695 18th St., San Francisco, CA 94107
CrowdedFire.org | 415.523.0034
CAST
Anita: Ashley Jaye
Charli: River Bermudez Sanders
Zo: linda maria girón
Thomas: Kenny Scott
Ghost: Landyn Endo & Annie Fraser
Understudy – Anita / Zo: Vivian Le
Understudy – Charli / Thomas: Tim Garcia
CREATIVE TEAM
Director: Becca Wolff ◼
Assistant Director & Wellness Doula: G Momah ★
Dramaturg: Caro Asercion ★
Choreographer: Adin Walker ◼
Fight Choreographer: Raisa Donato
Stage Manager: Nikki Eggett
Assistant Stage Manager: Elio Amador
Scenic Designer: Jenna Carroll
Props & Associate Scenic Designer: Ashley Méndez
Costume Designer: Buffy Yahyaa
Lighting Designer: Ray Oppenheimer
Sound Designer: Tab Mattos
★ Crowded Fire Resident Artist
◼ Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC)
Performance Times
Thursday – Sundays at 8 PM
Saturday & Sunday Matinees at 3pm
Monday, September 22 at 8 PM (Industry Night)
Mask-Required performances on Sunday, September 14th at 3 PM, Sunday, September 21st at 3 PM, and Thursday, October 2nd at 8 PM
Haptic Tour and Audio Described performance on Saturday, September 27th at 2 PM (Performance at 3 PM)
ASL-Interpreted performance on Sunday, September 28th at 3 PM
Ticket Info
Pay-What-You-Can Previews: starting at $1 online or Pay-What-You-Can at the door; pending availability
Tickets: General admission, $25+, no one turned away for lack of funds (NOTAFLOF).