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About Lola B.

Baltimore City - Station North A&E District
Lola B. Pierson is  a highly collaborative artist  who was born and raised in Baltimore City. She is a playwright, writer, and director. Her work challenges theatrical form, incorporating elements of social media, performance art, visual art,  switcheroos, and boredom. Other words she has used to describe her work in bios include: presence, explore, dynamic, and representation. A graduate of Baltimore School for the Arts, Bard College, and Towson University, she is passionate about the… more
See $2,500 Baker Artist Award Winning Portfolio
View Lola B.'s Resume
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The First Thing That Happens

Ironically, one of the last things to happen before the pandemic was The First Thing That Happens, a weird new opera with music by the band Horse Lords. Combining the ability of both groups (Acme and Horse Lords) to produce incomprehensible and beautiful work, this piece explored the human tendency towards recognition and comprehension, despite the near impossibility of accurately conveying thought and emotion. The opera was constructed in front of the audience as it was being performed where language, visual elements, and sound operated interchangeably. The work questioned what we exchange in order to connect with other humans, and the painful process of making art.
  • The singers present the aspects of a play
    The singers present the aspects of a play
  • Onset demo
    "Onset" demo
  • The actors reaching
    The actors reaching
  • Three singers have feelings
    Three singers have feelings
  • The First Thing That Happens script
  • Movement iii: For a moment nothing happens
    Movement iii: For a moment nothing happens
  • Movement vi: Here are the things we left out
    Movement vi: Here are the things we left out

    Two actors explain the life of the playwright for the previous year while 3 singers in the back sing the dialogue from a previous show.

  • Movement vii: Finally we are able to
    Movement vii: Finally we are able to
  • Movement v: We expect (by now)
    Movement v: We expect (by now)
  • Movement i: The First thing that happens
    Movement i: The First thing that happens
    •

    • The Institute for Counterfeit Memory

    A piece made during and about the pandemic The Institute for Counterfeit Memory is a play in a box that gets sent to audience members at their homes. The piece chronicles the creation of false worlds using an mp3 player, diagrams, and small props. The audio track asks the audience to imagine what we would have happened if the pandemic hadn't, and to turn our attention to and be present with what happened instead.

    The New York Times hailed The Institute for Counterfeit Memory as "bloodless," but The Washington Post said, "The Institute for Counterfeit Memory cannily employs the devices it provides to bring you back to the feeling of being in a room with other spectators, even as it reminds you that you are alone. Its ministrations so impressed me that when I turned over the final cue card instructing me to applaud, I actually did."

    • The Institute for Counterfeit Memory set illuminated by tiny lights
      The Institute for Counterfeit Memory set illuminated by tiny lights

      The audience turns on small LED bulbs and places it inside of the set (an etched jar with a slide glued to it)

    • The Institute for Counterfeit Memory feelings diagram
      The Institute for Counterfeit Memory feelings diagram

      A small card that demonstrates the correct feeling to have while watching the play. 

    • Box contents
      Box contents
    • The open box
      The open box
    • Box contents
      Box contents
    • Diagram cards
      Diagram cards
    • Audio track
      The audio for the piece that both tells a story and guides the audience through the experience of making the play at home.
    • Box contents
      Box contents
    • Instructions diagrams
      Instructions diagrams
    • The closed box
      The closed box
    •

    • Follow No Strangers To The Fun Places

    Written, co-directed, and designed by Lola B. Pierson.
    Premiered in May 2018. 

    Follow No Strangers To The Fun Places explores the attempts of the artists creating it to manufacture beauty and meaning. One of the directors said this description is rather "workman-like," but even though the other director (who is also the playwright) is sick, the first director wouldn't take on the simple task of writing a one-sentence description of this show.  

    Later they came up with this description: Follow No Strangers To The Fun Places is loosely inspired by the structure of Italo Calvino’s 1979 postmodern novel, If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler. However, admirers of Calvino will most likely be keenly disappointed, since the play bears little similarity to the book. Instead of focusing (like Calvino’s novel) on the act reading, The Acme Corporation’s piece deconstructs the audience’s experience of watching theatre. Follow No Strangers To the Fun Places lovingly follows two characters’ repeated—and constantly interrupted—attempts at making a piece of theatre. Through constant breaks, disruptions and disconnections, the show breaks down theatrical narrative; explores the relation of fiction to real life; and ultimately tries to answer the question of why anyone would want to make art in the first place.

    Follow No Strangers To The Fun Places was exactly 68 minutes long and was named Best Play of 2018 by Baltimore Magazine.

    • The fake Sam Shepard Play
      The fake Sam Shepard Play
      The three women smoke in unison as part of a deconstruction of Sam Shepard and Pina Bausch.
    • Follow No Strangers to the Fun Places silhouette
      Follow No Strangers to the Fun Places silhouette
      Thing 1 admires her handiwork.
    • big light box.jpg
      big light box.jpg
      Part of the set made of pages from previous versions of the script.
    • Thing 1 and Thing 2 hard at work
      Thing 1 and Thing 2 hard at work
      Thing 1 and Thing 2 program the light board
    • Xrays in Dark.jpg
      Xrays in Dark.jpg
      Light boxes made of X-Rays (part of the set)
    • The headphones sign
      The headphones sign
      When the sign is on audience members put on their headphones.
    • Empty chairs
      Empty chairs
      The view of the audience as the headphones gives them an introduction about what their experience will be.
    • Follow No Strangers to the Fun Places script
      A full script of the play.

    • Putin on Ice (that isn't the real title of this show)

    by Lola B. Pierson

    Directed by Yury Urnov
    Premiered September 2018. 

    Everything that happens on stage is a lie. This spectacle is a fantastical new portrait of Vladimir Putin. This ostentatious piece blends counterfeit ancient texts, falsified scientific data, and manipulated video evidence to create something entirely new and thrillingly strange. Putin is elevated from man to myth, stretching through time to become more deity than dictator. You are free to leave at any time. 


    • Bees attack!
      Bees attack!
      Zsa Zsa Gabor (actor Ben Kleymeyer) is attacked by bees
    • Bees attacking Zsa Zsa Gabor
      Bees attacking Zsa Zsa Gabor
    • Romeo and Juiet
      Romeo and Juiet
      The Cult of Putin performs Romeo and Juliet (annotated with secret messages from Shakespeare about Putin)
    • Putin on Ice (that isn't the real title of this show)
      Putin on Ice (that isn't the real title of this show)
    • Franz Ferdinand and his Wife Sophie
      Franz Ferdinand and his Wife Sophie
      The inception of World War I as told by table top puppets (including the truth about Putin's hand in it).
    • Putin on ice (that isn't the title of this show) script
      The script of the show.

    • Help

    A collaborative project created, directed, and produced by Lola B. Pierson and Cricket Arrison, Help premiered on Adult Swim's Live Stream on October 26, 2018. 

    Help follows a woman through terrifying scenes into everyday situations. No matter what the scenario she can only say one word: Help.
    • Help | Adult Swim Smalls
      A woman finds herself in several terrifying situations and calls for help, but none is forthcoming. As she transitions into normal life again she learns that she can only say "help."
    • The Woman Swimming
      The Woman Swimming
      A still from Help
    • The Scary Phone
      The Scary Phone
      A still from Help
    • Swamp Thing The Cat
      Swamp Thing The Cat
      Still of Swamp Thing the cat being transported.
    • Period Sponge
      Period Sponge
      The Woman rinses out her bloody period sponge.
    • Doctor's Visit
      Doctor's Visit
      The Woman visits the doctor and tries to get Help.
    •

    • Thr3e Zisters

    Lola B. Pierson's Thr3e Zisters is an amalgamation of a modern adaption of Chekhov's Three Sisters, a literal translation of the original Russian text,  dramatic criticism of Chekhov's work, and some "sick of this shit" feminist anger. The piece explores the innate conflict between performing classic texts and the changing roles of gender and performance in contemporary culture. Oh, and the sisters are zombies.

    The Austin Chronicle's Top Ten Theatre Riches of 2015: #1
    Austin Critics' Table Winner 2014/2015 "Best Production, Comedy"
    • Gesture
      Gesture
      The three sisters are taught gesture.
    • After the feast
      After the feast
      The three sisters relax after the zombie attack.
    • Irina eats
      Irina eats
    • Video of Thr3e Zisters (password protected)
      Password: Zisters15
    • Preparation
      Preparation
      The three sisters get prepared for their performance.
    • Irina rebels
      Irina rebels
      Jenny Larson as Irina turning into a Zombie.
    • Script of The Thr3e Zisters
      "Olga: To-day thou all shinest, thou-seemest extraordinarily pretty. And Masha also is-pretty. Andre would be good, only he filled-out very, this to him not goes. And I grew-old, grew-thin strongly, from-that, it-must be, that am-cross in college, on girls. There to-day, I-am free, I at-home, and by me not aches head, I feel myself younger than yesterday. To-me twenty eight years only...All well, all from God, but to-me seems, if-I-should-go-out for-husband, and whole day sat at home, then this would be better."
    • Show poster
      Show poster
      Designed by Salvage Vanguard
    • Thr3e Zisters
      Thr3e Zisters
      The three sisters, Andrei, and Vershinin pose for the audience.
    •

    • The Determination of Azimuth

    "Determination of Azimuth" is a math-space operetta that tells the story of Katherine Johnson, one of the true, but hidden heroes of the Space Age. Katherine was a human computer who rose above the limitations of color and gender to become one of the most trusted mathematicians in the space program and an essential part of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. Directed by Lola B. Pierson with music originally by Andrew Bernstein as part of the BROS Six Pack in 2015. Remounted at Arena Players in 2018 with music by Zack Branch. Written by NASA employee Heather Graham and Eric Church. 
    • The Determination of Azimuth
      The Determination of Azimuth
    • Space dance
      Space dance
      Using minimalist music and abstract geture the human computers act out one of the mathematical principles used in Katherine Johnson's work, "All Moments Are Zero Math."
    • Katherine Johnson solves equations
      Katherine Johnson solves equations
      Surrounded by a whirlwind of activity including projections and puppetry Katherine uses Newton's 3rd law (equal and opposite reactions) to calculate space travel.
    • Meeting
      Meeting
      The white male engineers exclude Katherine Johnson, who is responsible for much of the math used on the mission, from a meeting.
    • Katherine Johnson teaches other computers
      Katherine Johnson teaches other computers
    • Song about orbit
      Song about orbit
    •

    • Kaspar

    Winner of Baltimore City Paper's Best of Baltimore "Best Use of Video In a Play"
    Baltimore City Paper's Top Ten Stage Productions 2014

    Directed with portions of the video production by Lola B. Pierson, the Acme Corporation's Kaspar was a contemporary version of Peter Handke's play from 1967. Using video, internet, and the audience members' own cell phones the show explored the idea that language and society simultaneously make us more connected, but less ourselves. Using over 60 local Baltimore artists the show parodied various shows and genres using the text of the original play. Included amongst them were Law & Order, exercise videos, the Eastern Motors commercial that plays on 92Q, movie trailers, soft core pornography, and unboxing videos.
    • Kaspar speaks
      Kaspar speaks
      Sophie Hinderberger as Kaspar speaks with a different effect on each microphone
    • Kaspar and Other Kaspars
      Kaspar and Other Kaspars
      Kaspar's identity splits into Other Kaspars.
    • Kaspar's final moment
      Kaspar's final moment
      "Already with my first sentence I was trapped."
    • Kaspar on Facebook
      Kaspar on Facebook
      Kaspar learns about Facebook.
    • Video part 3 of 3
    • Video part 2 of 3
    • "KASPAR": directed by Lola Pierson, written by Peter Handke, (Part 1)
    • Show poster
      Show poster
      Designed by Jennifer Strunge
    •

    • Play

    Co directed with set design by Lola B Pierson. This show was a combination of theatre and performance art. It was performed on loop for 24 hours continuously by the same actors.Considered one of Beckett’s seminal texts, Play presents three characters trapped in a Purgatory-like situation.

    Winner of Baltimore City Paper's Best of Baltimore for "Best Production of 2013"
    • Woman 2 monologue
      Woman 2 monologue
      Sophie Hinderberger as Woman 2
    • Woman 1 Monologue, 24-Hour "Play"
      Naomi Kline performing a monologue version of her lines from the piece after performing for 20 hours continuously.
    • British Dinner Party, 24 hour Play
      Taken at the 23rd hour of the continuous performance, this video displays one of the 4 incarnations of the script. The directors and cast affectionately referred to this version as "The British Dinner Party."
    • Office Worker version
      Hour 23
    • The finale, 24-hour Play
      The cast reaches the conclusion of the piece after performing for 24 hours continuously.
    • Traditional version, 24 hour Play
      The cast performs Beckett's Play exactly as it is written with no liberties taken. This video was taken in the 22nd hour of the performance.
    • Traditional version
      Traditional version
      Naomi Kline, Nathan Cooper, and Sophie Hinderberger perform the play traditionally.
    • Woman 2 Monologue, 24 Hour Play
      Sophie Hinderberger performing a monologue version of her lines from the piece after performing for 21 hours continuously.
    • Show poster
      Show poster
      Designed by Jennifer Strunge
    • Woman 1 and Woman 2
      Woman 1 and Woman 2
      Naomi Kline as Woman 1 and Sophie Hinderberger as Woman 2.
    •

    • Office Ladies

    Written and directed by Lola B Pierson, Office Ladies featured music composed and performed by Alex Scally. The show explores obsession, ants, the atomic bomb, and how we use art to construct meaning for ourselves.
    • Foumi's Ant Dance
      Foumi's Ant Dance
      Sophie Hinderberger as Foumi dances about ants.
    • Self
      Self
      Jenna Rossman as Self talks to Rosie (Deirdre MacAllister) about holidays.
    • Midori makes it rain
      Midori makes it rain
      Caitlin Weaver as Midori sprinkles the lower level with rain made out of punched paper holes.
    • Script of Office Ladies
      "ROSIE: Hey, how is your ant infestation? FOUMI:Oh, you know what? I finally just decided to let them in the house. I mean if they want it that badly then as far as I’m concerned they can just come on in. It was easier than fighting them. ROSIE: I know exactly what you mean. We’re planning Christmas with my husband’s family right now and it’s just a complete nightmare."
    • Show Poster
      Show Poster
      Designed by Jennifer Strunge
    • All six ladies
      All six ladies
      Each of the ladies working at her desk.
    •