Topanga resident Mary Guillermin is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, the author and editor of the award-winning book John Guillermin: The Man, The Myth, The Movies, as well as a playwright and collage artist. Her current solo show, The Island Queen: Part III of Love on the Other Side of Death, brings together all of these threads into an examination of grief and life, love and loss. The show won two awards at its premiere in November. Now, a 70-minute encore performance is scheduled to take place on Saturday, January 10, at 5.30 p.m. at the Zephyr Theatre on Melrose Ave in Hollywood.
“Many Topangans experience our home in the mountains as a magical and mystical place, not just a place of beauty filled with wildlife and interesting and creative people,” Mary says. “I am a resident of nearly 20 years and my adopted son, Michael, chose to move to the relative safety of Topanga at the start of the pandemic, only to die four years later at 37 years old. Thus my new play is a play by a Topangan about Topangans and the magic that flowed between two inhabitants of our mountain enclave in the present day, interwoven with a story of a past life where we were mother and son thousands of years ago. “
The play looks at questions such as: What are past lives? How do such stories relate to the present-day? How can we undo bad karma? How does unconditional love heal? The Island Queen: Part III of Love on the Other Side of Death is written and performed by Mary Guillermin and developed with and directed by Jessica Lynn Johnson of Soaring Solo Studios. The play is one of 8 solo shows in the Stars Encore Series, running from January 8 through 11, 2026.
For more information, visit www.soaringsolostudios.com/solo-events/
The Zephyr Theatre is located at 7456 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046. Tickets are available at https://theatreplanners.stagey.net/projects/12700?tab=tickets
Mary invites all Topangans (and Malibuites) to use the discount code: friendsoftopanga
