Soph Fuchs & Elliot Evans & Their Outstanding "Vanlyfe" Prepare for a Long Shelf-life
Updated: Aug 25
Saturday, August 24, Los Angeles, CA
Written by Entertainment Editor, Dan Ruth
Los Angeles is deeply ensconced in its often passive, sometimes aggressive attitude toward the homeless, as it continues to be a complicated, hot potato issue with many disturbing parts that no one wants to hold on to, think about or involve themselves with for too-too long, lest they end up branded with the mark of Cain. By doing nothing however, many of us are guilty of allowing its existence and once and for all, this is not an issue relating only to Los Angeles or California alone, this particular scourge is nation and worldwide and it’s not going away. For this articles’ sake however, we are transported to Venice Beach, to a curbside community consisting of a few tents, a broken-down van aptly named “the spaceship,” and a community of actual living, breathing human beings that society has clearly failed. Fresh from the 2024 Hollywood Fringe, comes Vanlyfe, an original play written by Soph Fuchs & Elliot Evans, who have succeeded in turning their own personal homeless history in Venice Beach into an often hilarious, very enlightening and remarkably honest and tenderly written play. Evans states, “I wanted to show obviously, the communal aspect, but also the joy that exists in many of these communities.” Evans, Fuchs and the cast of Vanlyfe deliver just that and more, in a thoroughly engrossing ninety minute theatre experience.
Staged with an actual van in a Los Angeles outdoor parking lot, Vanlyfe follows the journey of Sunny and Finn, a queer couple on the verge of losing their “spot” in a street encampment that’s also home to Willow, a fellow survivor who like many in this world of tents, sweeps and drug abuse, suffers from mental illness. Vanlyfe is an amalgamation of Fuchs and Evans’ street experiences, from pre-Garcetti to recently. “I never slept rough,” says Fuchs, who was able to maintain a job as a manager at Target while homeless, “I always had a car, which I always viewed as making me not homeless. . .there’s just so many different layers and levels and experiences of it. I’m 17 and living in a car. It’s a profoundly lonely time when you first end up homeless and you learn to take it on and deal with it in isolation, and through hiding.” While Fuchs managed a 9 to 5, Evans was getting cast in television shows while living on the street. “I literally went to shoot something that turned out to be a hit show on Netflix," Evans says, “I went on set, did my part and then I had to go back to sleeping in a van. People don’t realize, especially in this town, how many people are in those situations.”
Vanlyfe might make you a tinge uncomfortable, with its tattered tales of displaced youth, homophobic and transphobic family histories and helplessness, and you will also hear unfamiliar words and stories that aren’t always passed around the American dinner table, but this play of course, is a call to arms to do just that. The show is also user-friendly, so in case you don’t know what “pressies” are, or what a “5150” is, have no fear, Vanlyfe offers a “hobo lingo” glossary in its program. Vanlyfe masterfully removes the invisibility cloak from its subject, long enough to not only shine a beautiful light on these “disposable people” that surround us in Los Angeles and beyond, but artistically, it introduces us to a resplendent and wildly talented group of actors and writers who make Vanlyfe a must-see experience. With its well-crafted story and through line, Vanlyfe offers something that perhaps I wasn’t expecting. It’s built and structured with outstanding dialogue that is smart, accessible and that rings true. Vanlyfe smacks of a modern-day take on street life, which sets comfortably alongside works such as Eric Bogosian’s Suburbia. And like Suburbia, it offers no solutions, but Vanlyfe doubles down, exposing truths about this country’s LGBTQ communities. You hear it often in media, that things may have gotten a tinge better for queer youth, but it’s never been harder for the trans community.
Vanlyfe may not offer up an olive branch to those that willfully refuse to understand or accept the differences that make people individuals, but it does succeed at opening the dialogue and removing the stigma, giving its subjects some much needed dignity and its audience, a softer spot for this invisiblized community. “What I think the show is effective at doing,” says Evans, “is not only humanizing these characters, but it also shows people how close they could be. . . one, two, three paychecks and a medical emergency away from finding themselves in this position.” Vanlyfe is awash with fine performances from its stars. Elliot Evans is front and center, and his Sunny is truly an antihero that will tear your heart out. Alongside Evans, is Andy Casillas as Finn, who also delivers a heartbreaking, well-rounded and fragile performance. You will not soon forget Becca Khalil as the unforgettably high-strung heart-breaker Willow, who is always seeking joy despite her personal darkness. Rounding out the ensemble is Sol Joun as Otto, Soph Fushs and Jocelyn Michelle in multiple rolls and Jessica Bowe as Judy, a housed woman with a heart of gold. Vanlyfe shines on many levels, and is absolute proof that the homeless communities in our country and beyond want only what we all want, to have a place and a purpose, to be loved, to be seen and to have dignity as people. Vanlyfe adds a masterful voice to the theatrical future of America, and with its authors finishing up the second draft of its screenplay, it’s bound for a long shelf life indeed.
Vanlyfe performs tonight at 6pm in the parking lot at JAXX Theatre, 5432 Santa Monica Blvd, and on Sunday, September 1stt in the parking lot at Bell Arts Factory 432 N. Ventura Ave in Ventura, CA. Follow team Vanlyfe online and look for this show coming to a parking lot near you.
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