Below is a list of plays and theatrical projects I would like to direct. Some writers that I am excited about include: JOSE SEBASTIAN ALBERDI, BENJAMIN BENNE, ISAAC GOMEZ, C. JULIAN JIMÉNEZ, NICK MALAKHOW, BRIAN OTAÑO, ANDREW RINCÓN, HAYGEN-BRICE WALKER, JESÚS I. VALLES, ARIEL ZETINA.
A PICTURE OF TWO BOYS
Markey and Pete are unlikely friends, the studious Markey with dreams of college and a life beyond the southeastern PA countryside, and the volatile Pete with drunkenly crafted fantasies about being the next Kurt Cobain. Brought together by their shared feelings of alienation in their mostly white and more than vaguely racist little town an hour and a half from Philly, the boys’ relationship fractures when Markey announces to Pete he’s hoping to graduate early and get out of the styx ASAP. We see these two boys first at that critical juncture, and then almost ten years later after they are reunited in the wake of a startling event that dredges up a connected trauma from their past.
CAST SIZE: 2-4 // WORLD PREMIERE: New Conservatory Theatre Center, Sep-Oct 2022 // READ IT: New Play Exchange
A RIVER, ITS MOUTHS
Struggling with severe depression, You return to your hometown in Texas, right by the river that raised You, right on the border with Mexico. It’s the summer of 2019 and the Rio Bravo keeps claiming migrants’ lives during their perilous crossings. However, the people in your hometown are much more interested in talking about "The Rio Grande mermaid,” a creature rumored to haunt the river, clawing its way out of the sand, out of the water, into the air, into your head, haunting the mouths of family, friends, and strangers. Something in the water calls to You. “Come,” the river says, “Come to me.”
CAST SIZE: 4-12 // WORLD PREMIERE: TBD// READ IT: Bonnie Davis, Jesus’ Agent
BATHHOUSE.PPTX
This play is a group project for perverts. Somewhere between lecture, re-enactment, and cruising ground, an informative presentation on the history of cleanliness and bathing starts to burst at the seams with the ghosts of a bathhouse at the end of the world. A meditation on queer longing, grief, and all our queer worlds that will come to pass, that will come to be.
CAST SIZE: 6 // WORLD PREMIERE: The Flea, NYC 2024 // READ IT: Yale University Press
BRITISH HONDURAS FANTASY
by Ariel Zetina
British Honduras Fantasy is the inspiring story of Frida, a young trans girl who journeys from Florida to Chicago in search of herself, and in doing so mirrors her own mother's journey from Belize to the United States. The play asks the questions: what parts of ourselves do we leave behind when we become who we need to be? What sacrifices do we make in following our happiness?
CAST SIZE: 5-8 // WORKSHOP PRODUCTION: Brooklyn Trans Theatre Festival, Brooklyn // READ IT: Contact Playwright
BRUISE & THORN
Bruise and Thorn work at a busted up old laundromat in Jamaica, Queens. Bruise dreams of becoming a chef and Thorn of changing the face of Hip Hop with his unabashed Queerness. When finances become strained, they get caught up in illegal activities sending them on a magical ride to make their dreams come true and get the hell out of Jamaica. Bruise & Thorn is an authentic look at a Nuyorican street family, not through bloodline, but rather the social and economic indicators that naturally selects them to one another.
CAST SIZE: 6 + 4 Dancers // WORLD PREMIERE: Pipeline Theatre Company, New York (2022) // READ IT: New Play Exchange
BULLISH
by Leo Skilbeck
In Bullish, ancient mythology meets modern gender negotiation. Inspired by Ovid’s Minotaur, a gender fierce ensemble of hopers and renegades try to pass, pack and blag their way out of the labyrinth.
CAST SIZE: 5 // WORLD PREMIERE: Milk Presents // READ IT: Bookshop
BUNDLE OF STICKS
Gay men from across the globe go deep into the outback of Australia for a secret gay conversion therapy retreat. When they arrive, they are not only challenged by Otto, their toxically masculine group leader, but also by an underground Rainbow Serpent responsible for the protection of water and erections.
CAST SIZE: 6 // WORLD PREMIERE: INTAR, New York // READ IT: New Play Exchange
EMERGENCY CONTACT
Shawn is pretty sure his one-night-stand with the troubled Derrick can't get any worse after Derrick passes out and then pukes on his own bedroom floor. Things get even more interesting, however, when the concerned Shawn reaches out to Derrick's so-called "Emergency Contact" in his cell phone and finds out that it is Derrick's ex-boyfriend, Manny, who still has a key, a nearby apartment, and is all too eager to come over and save the day.
CAST SIZE: 3 // READ IT: New Play Exchange
EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE
Book & Lyrics by Tom MacRae, Music by Dan Gillespie Sells, From an idea by Jonathan Butterell
Jamie New is sixteen and lives on a council estate in Sheffield. Jamie doesn’t quite fit in. Jamie is terrified about the future. Jamie is going to be a sensation. Supported by his brilliant, loving mum and surrounded by his friends, Jamie overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies, and steps out of the darkness into the spotlight. Sixteen: the edge of possibility. Time to make your dreams come true.
CAST SIZE: 10-18 // WORLD PREMIERE: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield // READ IT: Concord Theatricals
GIRLFRIEND
Book by Todd Almond, Music and Lyrics by Matthew Sweet
Set in Nebraska in the ’90s, Will, a bit of a social outcast, and Mike, the popular football player, figure out that there is more to life than what high school has taught them. Days after graduation they explore their relationship and begin to ask themselves where their lives begin. Based on the album by Matthew Sweet, Girlfriend is a pop/rock musical for everyone who’s lived in a small town and feels for their first love.
CAST SIZE: 2 // WORLD PREMIERE: Berkeley Rep, California // READ IT: Samuel French
HIT THE WALL
by Ike Holter
It's the summer of '69, and the death of music icon Judy Garland has emboldened her gay followers. A routine police raid on an underground Greenwich Village hotspot erupts into a full-scale riot, the impetus of the modern gay rights movement. That's the well-known, oft-rehearsed myth of Stonewall, anyhow. Smash that myth against the vivid theatrical imagination of playwright Ike Holter, add a howling live rock 'n' roll band, and you get HIT THE WALL. Remixing this historic confrontation reveals ten unlikely revolutionaries, caught in the turmoil and fighting to claim “I was there.”
CAST SIZE: 10 // WORLD PREMIERE: The Inconvenience, Chicago // READ IT: Broadway Play Publishing
IN HIS HANDS
This is a list of things Christian believes in: logic, banana Laffy Taffy, video games, and Daniel. This is a list of things Christian doesn't believe in: caffeine, alcohol, monogamy, and God. Daniel, a Mario Kart wizard and aspiring Lutheran pastor, is falling for Christian. But as these men explore the potential of their new relationship, voices from Christian's past threaten to overpower the connection they share -- with one another, and something bigger than themselves. [synopsis by dramaturg Sarah Lunnie]
CAST SIZE: 4 // WORLD PREMIERE: Mosaic Theater, Washington D.C. // READ IT: New Play Exchange
I WANNA FUCK LIKE ROMEO & JULIET
Snow in July, comets falling from the sky, the world is thrown into chaos as Cupid rips off her wings and gives up on Love. But her old flame Saint Valentine has a plan to bring her spirits back up; and it involves the relationship between two men, Alejandro and Benny. Moving from outer space to Hackensack NJ, I Wanna Fuck like Romeo and Juliet is a Queer Love story of epic proportions that investigates God and mortals, realism and fantasy and the shame and joy within Queer love of Color.
CAST SIZE: 5 // WORLD PREMIERE: New Light Theater Project, NYC 2022 // READ IT: Contact Andrew
JOAN
by Leo Skilbeck
What happens when a disguise becomes something a lot more real and you have to fight for who you really are? An earthy story of courage, conviction and hope, this is Joan of Arc. Performed by drag king, history’s greatest gender-warrior takes to the stage, dragging up as the men she defies. Packed with guts and heart, JOAN is a fusion of lyrical new writing and cabaret. This is a timely and refreshing look at one of history’s most famous heroines, exploring the salient themes of identity, courage and belief.
CAST SIZE: 1 // WORLD PREMIERE: Milk Presents // READ IT: Bookshop
JULIO AIN’T GOIN’ DOWN LIKE THAT
It is the morning after the brutal murder of Julio Rivera, a gay Puerto Rican man in Jackson Heights, Queens. The murder became the first gay hate crime tried in New York State during the 1990s. In JULIO DOWN BY THE SCHOOLYARD, the community reacts and is taken on a journey of self-discovery by a fabulously unapologetic queen personifying the beauty and brutality of Jackson Heights. The play is an examination of the political and societal environment of Jackson Heights leading to the borough’s first public demonstrations against homophobia.
CAST SIZE: 12 // WORLD PREMIERE: Pace University // READ IT: TRWPlays
LOCUSTS HAVE NO KING
Two gay couples (Lucus/Matthew and Jonathan/Marcus) get together for a dinner party. They work together. They live in the same building. They are closeted. But when one ponders his resignation the others fear exposure of their hidden relationships. They cannot allow this to happen. They won't allow this to happen. All hell breaks loose... literally.
CAST SIZE: 4 // WORLD PREMIERE: INTAR, New York // READ IT: New Play Exchange
LOVE IN THE TIME OF PIÑATAS
By Baruch Porras Hernandez
Hilarious and deliciously biting, this play brings love, piñatas, and donuts to the fight against injustice, hatred, and oppression in all its flavors. Writer, performer, and comedian Baruch Porras Hernandez shares stories of his journey as a Queer Latino boy growing up in Toluca, Mexico, and immigrating to California. Using poetry, stand-up comedy, and sweaty go-go dance vibes, Baruch serves up everything from Rainbow Brite realness to Frida Kahlo glitter magic along the way.
CAST SIZE: 1 & 2+ Gogo Boys // WORLD PREMIERE: Workshop Productions at Epic Party Theatre & Brava Theater in SF // READ IT: Contact Baruch
¡MAMÁGUA!
When Martín comes out to his mother, la señora Doña Marina goes to extreme lengths to make sure that her son keeps it a secret with the help of La Virgen, Diosito, and a priest. But when Marina realizes she might have acted a bit too impulsively, she has to—again—go to extreme lengths to make everything right. Unfortunately, Martín and his new otherworldly boyfriend are anything but forgiving. A sort-of insane play about love, revenge, and continuously forgiving those who have hurt our hearts.
CAST SIZE: 4 // WORLD PREMIERE: TBD // READ IT: New Play Exchange
OH, DEER!
A Queer couple of color get more than what they bargained for when one of them decides to run for office in a small upstate NY town. Navigating passive aggressive town locals, a creepy neighbor, and a deer possessed by the demon spirit of Anita Bryant, they must decide if the campaign is worth losing their sanity.
CAST SIZE: 5 // WORLD PREMIERE: TBD // READ IT: IN DEVELOPMENT
PINK MILK
by Ariel Zetina
Once upon a time, there was a boy called Alan who dreamed in Technicolor. In this modern take on the life of renowned codebreaker Alan Turing, electrifying music and a surreal text take us to the heart of a genius who longed for connection in a world he couldn’t understand. The psychedelic and strange weave together to create a deeply human story of love, loss, creation, and destruction. Find the man behind the machines in this rich fantasy of poisoned apples, loving robots, and the father of the modern computer.
CAST SIZE: 5-7 // WORLD PREMIERE: Oracle Theatre, Chicago // READ IT: Contact Playwright
QUERENCIA: AN IMAGINED AUTOBIOGRAPHY ABOUT FORBIDDEN FRUIT
"q u e r e n c i a" (a Spanish word having to do with the longing to find or return to a place that feels like home) is a magical coming-of-age story about a young boy named Milo’s search for belonging as he grapples with friends, family, and his sexual identity, guided by a mysterious character called La Bruja.
CAST SIZE: 5 // WORLD PREMIERE: Currently Unproduced // READ IT: New Play Exchange
RONALD REAGAN MURDERED MY MENTORS
Lost, a 40-something Queer Latine man, struggles to navigate life in America after the AIDS epidemic obliterated an entire generation of Queer male role models. Lost seeks solace in an anonymous voice on the other end of a telephone. As the play bounces between 3 decades, he is tormented by dead Queer icons and their murderer, Ronald Reagan in a seedy gay bar of the afterlife.
CAST SIZE: 6 // WORLD PREMIERE: TBD // READ IT: New Play Exchange
SEEING EYE
Overwhelmed by the world of hook up apps and dating profiles, Jason, who is blind, goes looking for love in person at a gay bar. While smoking outside, he strikes up a conversation with the charming and self-deprecating Robbie. Despite the protestations of his overprotective and anxious sister, Jordan, Jason initiates a whirlwind romance with Robbie that tests whether both men are ready to be fully seen by someone else.
CAST SIZE: 3 // READ IT: New Play Exchange
THE GUILT MONGERS, or LOS TRAFICANTES DE CULPA (FOR THOSE NOT WILLING TO SUBMIT TO THE ANGLICIZATION OF OUR PEOPLE)
Bruno Santiago is estranged from his family. They never accepted his unapologetic Queerness. But when his mother is admitted to a Bronx hospice, he rushes to her bedside with his partner of 10 years… and their new 23-year-old Mexican boyfriend. His disapproving Boricua family is outraged by Bruno’s flaunting of an amoral three-way relationship. Bruno defends his relationship and confronts a half-uncle stirring up unsettled feelings from his past. Fights, tears, and heartbreak abound while a hospice nurse juggles to deal with the family drama and the matriarch’s spirit using her as a sounding board for life-long resentments.
CAST SIZE: 10 // WORLD PREMIERE: TBD // READ IT: New Play Exchange
THE HOUSE OF AUDACITY
by Ariel Zetina
A retelling of Mother Courage reinterpreted as a trans drag family moving to a small town to make money traveling after their wig store is gentrified
CAST SIZE: 10 // WORLD PREMIERE: TBD // READ IT: Contact Playwright
THE LEOPARD PLAY, OR SAD SONGS FOR LOST BOYS
by Isaac Gomez
All families have secrets, but some live in an underbelly too dark to even whisper about. After ten years of walking away, Son returns to his home along the U.S./Mexican border searching for answers about his uncle’s mysterious death, but what he finds there are the men he tried to escape and the memories he thought he left behind. The Leopard Play, or sad songs for lost boys is an excavation of truth amidst lies, intimacy amidst violence, and a reckoning of learning how to love the very thing you hate the most.
CAST SIZE: 8 // WORLD PREMIERE: Steep Theatre, Chicago // READ IT: Leah Hamos, Isaac’s Agent
WOLFCRUSH (A QUEER WEREWOLF PLAY)
WOLFCRUSH is a queer full moon fever dream about cannibalism, werewolves, small-towns, big secrets, first times, sloppy seconds, Mariska Hargitay, and all the lies we tell ourselves to sleep at night.
CAST SIZE: 5 // WORLD PREMIERE: Fringe, ON THE ROCKS, Philadelphia // READ IT: New Play Exchange
ZERO FEET AWAY
By Brian Otaño
Max and Peter are models of 21st century urban coupledom: independent, successful and not completely sold on monogamy. Their friends Clark and Glenn have been in an open relationship for years, and Max and Peter are only now coming around to the idea that the best combination of sex, intimacy, and love may come from more than one partner. Enter Fever, an eerily prescient mobile dating app that changes their relationship in a matter of phone taps. A contemporary love story about fidelity, maturity, and the masochism of online dating, Zero Feet Away explores whether the direction of progress is best guided by endless choice or singular commitment.
CAST SIZE: 7 // WORLD PREMIERE: TBD // READ IT: Brian’s agent, Luke Virkstis, WME
41
Conceived by Richard A Mosqueda
The Dance of the Forty-One or the Ball of the Forty-One (Spanish: El baile del cuarenta y uno) was a society scandal in early 20th-century Mexico, during the presidency of Porfiro Díaz. The incident revolved around an illegal police raid carried out on 17 November 1901 against a private home on Calle de la Paz (since renamed Calle Ezequiel Montes) in Colonia Tabacalera of Mexico City, the site of a dance attended by a group of men, of whom 19 were dressed in women’s clothing.
This project is HUGE. The piece would consist of original poetry, live singing, movement and dance sequences. The show would be a character-driven, ensemble-led exploration centering around the evening of the dance; throughout the show, the audience would learn of the character’s histories and romantic relationships through poems, songs, movement, and dance. The casting demands would require a cast of 20-41 actors including Queer Cisgender Men; Drag Kings; Trans Masculine folks; and Non-Binary, Masculine-aligned folks. IN DEVELOPMENT.
CAST SIZE: 20-41