Little Bitches is a lively, authentic play about maturing teens that starts at 60mph, opening with a call-and-response chant of “Little Red Wagon” led by Gabriel Ryan-Kern and Sarah Brown that gets the audience pumped. It stays at full speed from there, as we see Jenna (Hailey Gates) and Natasha (Gigi Kazanjian) meet as little kids in 2016.

“If you were a boy I would love to marry you,” says a charmed Jenna.

“Actually my mommy says that you can marry girls too,” Natasha replies. “My aunt is part of this religion called ‘lesbianity’ where she just gets to marry girls all day!” But we soon learn that while Jenna grows up to be on board with that, to her heartbreak Natasha may not actually be joining that “religion” after all.

Following that foreshadowing we fast-forward to the girls at age 15 at a California summer camp, surrounded by many peers of wildly different personalities and persuasions, under the guidance of Counselor Kiwi (Veronica Piurek). Natasha’s bestie Sophie (Lucy Kirkland) arrives from Spain, and intrigued “ally” Billy (Samantha Fath) is thrilled to meet a “real immigrant” but then is disappointed to learn that Sophie was only vacationing there. Jenna, meanwhile, is surprised to be only finding out now about Natasha’s supposed BFF, while Natasha wishes for a date with Tyler (Leo Ruckenstein) from the boy’s camp. Significantly Jenna is not interested in anyone from that camp, and is upset that Natasha seems so different from the previous summer.

“I think it’s normal for people to change in school,” says bunkmate Kate (Charlotte Gilbreth).

“I guess but I don’t want them to change,” says Jenna.

“Change is inevitable,” Kate says, and thus we have the theme of Little Bitches, handled lightheartedly but genuinely from a writer who knows, and a talented cast who delivers.

Roberts was 17 when she crafted Little Bitches, and therefore close enough to her own experience of the era she is depicting for it to still be fresh fruit (pun, as always, intended).

Our adventures with the camp company lead to a very bizarre yoga class led by Humuh (Dominik Valcin), where bunkmate Rian (Chiara Di Giorgio) gets hurt in a game of leapfrog with Racie (Ruby Carlon), but is thrilled to be accompanied by her crush Jack R (Devan Martin). As the girls distill alcohol from hand sanitizer, Jenna struggles with her feelings for Natasha and her jealousy of Sophie, who suspiciously disappears, leading the group to hold a hilarious séance. This is followed later by some equally uproarious (and impressive) musical numbers, including one from the now “in love” Rian and Jack R (“Don’t judge me, I’m sick right now”) says Rian.

The angst, the budding romances and the teenage anxiety over sexuality and orientation are generally played for laughs, but without sacrificing the reality of the character’s experience. Roberts has mentioned the show PEN 15 as an influence, and that is delightfully evident here. The characters fly near the top, but their feet are still close enough to the ground to feel genuine and relatable. It’s a lead-off home run from Roberts and makes one excited to see what the up-and-coming author does next.

Little Bitches is a Production of the Next Door Theatre Company, produced and directed at The Wild Project in Spring 2026 by Samantha Lako and Victoria Smith.