A New York City playwright who says she has weathered an extraordinary run of catastrophic bad luck is bringing her true story to the stage in San Marcos this week, with a fully staged world premiere that runs October 2 through October 18. The show, called “Odds Are,” is an autobiographical solo play written and performed by Smita Russell, accompanied throughout by live cello.
From a Brooklyn Storytelling Slam to a World Premiere
Mosaic Theatricals will present the fully produced world premiere of Russell's play as the opening production of its inaugural mainstage season, according to Mosaic Theatricals. The Escondido-based company, described by the San Diego Union-Tribune as a producing theater company now three years old, otherwise focuses on theatre for young audience productions, youth theater education and technical-career training programs. Executive artistic director Tom Abruzzo said Mosaic aims to offer professional theater ranging from intimate solo works to major ensemble musicals, per the Union-Tribune's reporting by Pamela Kragen.
The play traces back to July 2023, when Russell told a friend she wanted to share her story with friends and family and then delivered a 16-minute, humor-filled account at a storytelling slam in Brooklyn in front of nearly 600 strangers, the Union-Tribune reports. Jodi Peikoff, described in the same reporting as Russell's friend, mentor and an entertainment lawyer, suggested afterward that Russell turn the speech into a one-woman play. Russell has said Peikoff's belief in the project redefined her identity as a playwright and performer.
Eight Months of Writing, Then a Debut
Russell worked on the play for eight months before performing it for the first time on June 29, 2024, according to the Union-Tribune. In shaping the story, she sought advice from experts in medicine, science, mathematics, economics and astrophysics, and the Union-Tribune reports those experts concluded that her continuous run of catastrophic events was the product of bad luck. Russell has said she now feels she has broken that cycle.
The show went on to win the Grand Prize at the United Solo Festival in 2025 before Russell took “Odds Are” to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe that same year, fresh off that win, according to Theatre Weekly. The Edinburgh Fringe features roughly 4,000 debuting shows each year, and only about 1 percent are ever picked up by outside producing houses, per the Union-Tribune — making Mosaic's decision to stage a fully realized version of Russell's play a notable exception. An audience member at United Solo called the show the most emotionally connected and affected they had ever been with respect to any story told in any format, according to United Solo, while another said it felt like having a conversation with a close friend.
Mythology, Medicine and a Living Script
The production blends mythology and medicine, math and memory to explore how people search for meaning after difficult experiences, according to the show's Humanitix listing. It incorporates the idea that telling one's own story is an act of agency and includes elements of grief and trauma alongside humor woven through the script. Russell has said that balancing tragedy with comedy is deliberate — not to undercut the sadness, she told Theatre Weekly, but to amplify it and make the story more relatable.
Katherine Wilkinson directed the production, and Katie Jenkins composed the original score, which will be performed live on cello at each performance, per the Union-Tribune. Russell has described “Odds Are” as a living document that continues to evolve, and she is set to perform a new opening scene for the first time when the run begins Friday. The Union-Tribune notes Russell recommends the show for audiences ages 14 and up.
Who Is Smita Russell
Russell is an actor-playwright and New York City educator who also works as an education consultant, homeschooling children who are neurodivergent or have parents in the public eye, according to the Union-Tribune's reporting. She has also worked for famous celebrities, the paper reports, though further detail on that work was not specified. Russell describes herself elsewhere as a playwright and performer based in New York City, according to Theatre at the Fringe.
Where and When to See It
“Odds Are” will run at the Bornemann Theatre at TERI Campus of Life, 555 Deer Springs Road in San Marcos, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays, according to the Union-Tribune. Ticket prices range from $35 to $65, the paper reports.
The play's San Marcos run also opens Mosaic Theatricals' broader mainstage lineup, which continues into 2027 with productions of “Falsettos” from April 16 through May 2 and “Always... Patsy Cline” from July 16 through August 1, according to Mosaic Theatricals. The company describes its full slate as moving through humor and heartbreak, joy and loss, to celebrate what it means to be human together.
