Trade-Offs (formerly The Point of Pinecones)

"a wonderful, vulnerable, insightful, funny, and meaningful piece of theater"

Auggie July is 60 years old and barely hanging on—financially, professionally, and emotionally. A lifelong artist whose career never quite “arrived,” he’s now facing the very real possibility of losing the home he’s lived in for decades. When a falling pinecone nearly takes him out, it feels like a fitting metaphor for a life that’s been quietly unraveling. Enter Mauriano: younger, confident, sexually free, and living life on his own terms. What begins as a simple neighborly favor quickly evolves into an unexpected and world-rocking connection. As the two men navigate their vastly different experiences of intimacy, ambition, and self-expression, Auggie is forced to face the stories he’s been telling himself for a lifetime—about success, desire, and what’s still possible. Meanwhile, a reunion with a former high school rival turned wildly successful businessman complicates Auggie’s sense of self even further, raising questions about masculinity, regret, and the roads not taken. Set in a Los Angeles condo complex where pinecones fall like they’re out to get you, 

The Point of Pinecones is a coming-of-age story about a man in his 60s who asserts, 

“It’s only too late if you believe it’s too late.”

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