50 Hours
In January 2026, Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre Group hosted its 23rd Annual Drive-By Theatre Festival - a 50-hour sprint in which playwrights write, casts assemble, and companies rehearse and perform entirely original work, with props assigned by lottery.
Douglas Clarke pulled his props - Krispy Kreme paper hats, ski goggles and a desert cap, a "Clayface" action figure with a note in his mouth, a framed picture of a Day of the Dead woman - and started writing. He'd been listening to a podcast four days earlier: "Attachment Hacking and the Rise of AI Psychosis" from Your Undivided Attention, aired January 20, 2026. It hadn't left him.
Anxious Attachment came out of those 50 hours. So did Something Ancient, written by Michael Silva in the same festival, with his own lottery props: a briefcase with keys, plastic grapes, two laser pointers, and an Eiffel Tower statue with a hidden knife built in.
Two plays. Two families. Written simultaneously in North Hollywood in under two days. That's the whole origin.
The Desert
Anxious Attachment didn't stop at ZJU. Douglas Clarke brought it to the Bombay Beach Biennale - a contemporary art event held at Bombay Beach, a ghost town on the eastern shore of the Salton Sea in Southern California.
Cameron Gregg, who had played Tyler in the original production, stepped into the director's chair for the Biennale and also played the role. Tarcila Neves joined the cast as Leila, and created the artwork that became the visual identity of the show. Edward Nyahay's music filled the desert air.
The audience sat outside under string lights, in the ruins of a former resort, watching a play about what technology does to the people who let it love them. The setting made everything hit harder than it would have in a black box.
Something Ancient didn't make the Biennale trip - it was still being developed. But it was always coming.
"We're putting the minivan in second and heading over the hill. Hello Hollywood."- Something Anxious: A Double Feature
The Double Feature
After the Biennale, the question became: what next? The two plays had been born at the same festival, written independently, about completely different families in completely different situations - and they rhymed.
Both were about what tears a family apart. Both asked what steps into the gap. One went dark and intimate. The other went strange and wide. Together they gave an audience the full spectrum of what family does to us.
The idea of packaging them as a double feature came naturally. One hour. Two plays. One ticket. Presented together for the first time at Hollywood Fringe Festival 2026, by Zombie Joe's Underground and Razorwire Productions, at McCadden Theatre in Hollywood.
Both plays born in 50 hours in North Hollywood. Now crossing the hill.
January 20, 2026
The podcast
"Attachment Hacking and the Rise of AI Psychosis" - Your Undivided Attention. Douglas Clarke listens four days before putting pen to paper.
January 2026
50 Hour Drive-By Theatre Festival
Both plays written from scratch in 50 hours at Zombie Joe's Underground, North Hollywood. Props assigned by lottery. Zombie Joe producing.
January / February 2026
Bombay Beach Biennale
Anxious Attachment world premiere in the desert. Cameron Gregg directs. Tarcila Neves joins as Leila and creates the artwork. Audience: string lights, ruins, the Salton Sea.
Spring 2026
Fringe registration & casting
McCadden Theatre secured. Both plays cast for Fringe. Michael Silva takes the director's chair for Something Ancient. Douglas Clarke directs Anxious Attachment.
June 2026
Hollywood Fringe Festival
Something Anxious: A Double Feature. McCadden Theatre, Hollywood. Hello.
The People Behind It
The Companies
Presenting Company
One of Los Angeles's most vital independent theatre companies, Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre Group has been producing experimental, fearless work in North Hollywood for decades. The Drive-By Festival is where both plays were born - and ZJU is co-presenting them at Fringe.
Presenting Company
Douglas Clarke's production company. Razorwire produced Anxious Attachment at the Bombay Beach Biennale and is co-presenting the Hollywood Fringe double feature. The company's focus is on new work that moves between unconventional venues and established festival circuits.
Soulmate Productions Inc
Legal Entity
The legal entity behind Something Anxious: A Double Feature. Soulmate Productions Inc is the producing structure through which Douglas Clarke manages production, contracts, and the business of bringing the work to stage.
Now Playing
Hollywood Fringe Festival 2026
Two plays. Two families. One hour. $15 general / $12 with discount code.
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