The Broad Stage to Present RUBY WAX: OUT OF HER MIND, 1/23-2/3

The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center presents the one-woman comedy Ruby Wax: Out Of Her Mind, starring the brash and honest UK based comic Ruby Wax. Presented by The Broad Stage, Ruby Wax: Out Of Her Mind opens on January 23rd and runs through February 3rd.

A huge hit at the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and met to great response at a recent U.S. Ted Talk 2012, Ruby Wax shares a rare and insightful theatrical cabaret style experience, exploring the often taboo subject of mental illness. Her performance poignantly sheds light on the stigmas, frustrations and the freedom people discover when they share the dark life secrets of being mentally ill.

Ruby Wax: Out Of Her Mind: centers on the life and experiences of living with mental illness from the perspective of comic actor Ruby Wax. The play touches on envy, fame, television, the insatiable drive to win, getting rich, getting the perfect body, marriage, kids, careers, and, above all, staying busy while looking like you're having a nice day.

Ruby comes fresh from LOSING IT, her most recent stand-up show, which enjoyed rave reviews and an extended run by popular demand. The legendary writer, comedienne, interviewer and documentary-maker will lead audiences through the bittersweet ups and downs of mental illness, its stigmas, and the freedom discovered when you share life's darkest moments. A former member of The Royal Shakespeare Company, Ruby recently graduated from Oxford University with a Master's Degree in mindfulness based cognitive therapy.

With 25 years hosting her own television shows, Ruby's interview technique quickly gained notoriety. She has interviewed Eddie Izzard, Pamela Anderson, Madonna, Boy George, OJ Simpson, Joanna Lumley, Jeanne Moreau, Liza Minnelli, and many others - including child beauty queens, porn stars, and New Yorkers on the lookout for love.

She was nominated for a BAFTA for her interview with Sarah, Duchess of York which attracted over 14 million viewers. Her TED talk, What's so funny about mental illness? has over half a million views online to date.

Ruby has written for and co-edited every episode of Absolutely Fabulous. She also collaborated again with Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French for French and Saunders.

Her best-selling memoir How Do You Want Me? has become a classic autobiography.

At some point in our lives, one in four of us will be affected by mental illness. This acerbic and honest show sees Ruby bring her distinctive wit and worldly wisdom to tell how she is one of those people.

Under the leadership of Director Dale Franzen and Artistic Chair Dustin Hoffman, The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center opened its doors in Santa Monica in October 2008. Inspired by Italian "horseshoe" theaters, yet conceived in an absolutely contemporary vernacular, The Broad Stage is an artist's dream and an audience's delight. Unlike any performance space in the country, it is sublimely intimate with 499-seats and strikingly grand at the same time-allowing eye contact with artists from the boxes to the back row-forging a new kind of artist and audience experience in Los Angeles. Theater, dance, film, jazz, operas, musicals, symphony, chamber orchestras and world music are presented on one of the city's largest proscenium stages. Designed without compromise to embrace the artistic process from inspiration to opening night, and conceived as a global theater and community hub. In addition to The Broad Stage, The Edye Second Space, a smaller black box theater, presents new, developing and innovative work in theater, music and dance as part of the Under the Radar Series. Featuring younger, innovative artists and chamber pieces and plays, programming at The Edye is intentionally spontaneous, reflecting the dynamic nature of the space and allowing the latest, most exciting artists to be booked on short notice. The Broad Stage ARTS INSIGHTS education and outreach program offers opportunities for cultural exposure through six initiatives. These include Student Matinees, In-School Workshops, Master Classes, Open Rehearsals, Family and Community Events, and Conversation Pieces. ARTS INSIGHTS currently reaches 12,000 students and diverse community members annually through over 30 free and low-cost events.

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