Currently in Development - Contact for Information
A fresh take on folk songs from the many cultural groups that built the US Rail system, Songs About Trains uses music, movement and text to grapple with how the railroad has shaped the world we live in. Taking on the thorny realities of immigration, labor, Manifest Destiny and the pillaging of Native American Land, a multiracial cohort of artists collaboratively create a performance that questions the complexity of progress and celebrates the victories of the multi-cultural, multilingual workforce that made our country what it is today.
Development History
July 2019. Ice Factory. New Ohio Theatre. New York, NY.
February 2019. Developmental Workshop. New Ohio Theatre. New York, NY.
April 2018. Developmental Workshop. LaGuardia Performing Arts Center. Long Island City NY.
October 2017. Developmental Workshop. New Ohio Theatre. New York, NY.
August 2017. Developmental Workshop. Department of Public Works. Governor's Island, NY.
Currently in Development - Contact for Information
In 1846, two hundred US soldiers defect from the American army to fight for Mexico in one of the most unjust conflicts of the 19th century - The Mexican-American War. These Irish immigrants came to be known as Los San Patricios (the St. Patrick's Battalion), revered in Mexico and Ireland as folk heroes, but considered traitors to the US military.
Utilizing era appropriate musical styles and a variety of theatrical techniques, this play with music explores a little-known legend to ask pressing questions around immigration, citizenship, and what happens when people follow their conscience to actively disrupt political systems.
DEVELOPMENTAL/PRODUCTION HISTORY
January 2019. Workshop. Sin Muros Festival, Stages Repertory Theatre. Houston, TX
July 2018. Developmental Workshop. Pregones Theater. Bronx, NY.
January, 2017, Developmental Workshop. New York Theatre Workshop. New York, NY
April, 2014. NET Travel Residency. El Teatro Campesino. San Juan Bautista, CA.
Fall 2010. Developmental Workshop. 2010 NET Microfest, Los Angeles Theatre Center, and Watts Towers Arts Center. Los Angeles, CA.
Spring 2010. Commission. Watts Village Theater Company. Los Angeles, CA.
PROJECT SUPPORT
This project is made possible, through support from the following funders:
The MAP Fund, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Network of Ensemble Theaters’ Travel & Exchange Network (NET/TEN), supported by lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
The Puffin Foundation
2050 Fellowship Program at New York Theatre Workshop
AVAILABLE FOR PRODUCTION!
Cast: 2w, 1m
Loving and Loving is inspired by the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple from rural Virginia who were arrested in 1958 for the crime of being married. Their decade-long legal struggle resulted in a landmark civil rights case decided in 1967, which upheld their right to live as husband and wife and struck down all remaining state bans on interracial marriage. Beginning in the present day and delving into the historically rich 1950’s – 60’s, Loving and Loving looks at this nearly 50-year old story from a 21st Century perspective, exploring the enduringly complex nature of intimacy, identity, and the impact of the law on our most personal decisions.
Development/Production History:
Regional Premiere: Bishop Arts Theatre Center. Dallas, TX. 2020.
Showcase Production. Radical Evolution and the Harold Clurman Lab Theatre. New York, NY. Summer 2017.
Reading. InkTANK festival. New York, NY. Winter 2015.
Developmental Workshop. Radical Evolution. New York, NY. Fall 2014
Public Reading. Harlem Arts Festival. Harlem, NY. Summer 2014
Funding has been made possible the Puffin Foundation
Developed in part with the support of Rising Circle Theater Collective at the 2014-2015 INKtank Play Development Lab for Emerging Artists of Color.
Developed with the support of Rising Circle Theater Collective at the 2014-2015 INKtank Play Development Lab for Emerging Artists of Color and and Brooklyn Arts Exchange.
Cast: 8-12
Commissioned by the Stella Adler School for Acting, this play attempts to discover the meaning of homes, homelessness, and collective action, through the story a group of archeologists desperately trying to uncover the truth of an undeveloped piece of property, the real estate mogul intent of inserting condos onto it, and the community around it that knows what will happen to them if either were to succeed.
Currently Seeking Workshop leading to World Premiere
Development History:
Staged Reading. New York Theatre Workshop. Spring 2017.
Developmental Workshop. Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Fall 2016.
Cast: 1
An examination of what it means to be a racial/ethnic/cultural ally in the modern era, as seen through the story of Peter Norman, the little known ally of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who stood with solidarity with them during their momentous moment of protest during the 1968 Olympics.
Seeking development opportunities.
This play is available for commission.
1m2f, 1f, 3m, plus ensemble
Part of a series of commissions based on albums, this play follows the fictional punk rock band The Suspect Device, and those close to them as their world is rocked after the lead singer comes out as transgender to the punk community. Inspired by “Transgender Dysphoria Blues” by Against Me!
Currently seeking development opportunities.
Cast: 4w, 5m
Heavily influenced by the music of Townes Van Zandt, To Live is to Fly is a play with music about a multiethnic blues musician who must discover the truth about the history of his family to cure himself of a strange affliction: coughing up sand. To do so, he must take a personal journey that forces him to confront who he is and his hidden family history, as well as all the people he encounters along the way, talking guitars, and mysterious desert mariachis.
Currently Seeking Workshop leading to World Premiere
Development History:
Workshop. Kitchen Dog Theater. Dallas, TX. Spring, '14.
Reading. Radical Evolution. Winter, '13.
Tofte Lake Artist Residency. Ely, MN. Fall, '11
Cast: 3m, 2w
A young man must wrestle with the ghosts of his past and the trials of his present when he returns to his childhood farm in rural East Texas. Whispers and allegations about his family surround him and in the end, he must make the decision of whether stay in his hometown or sell the farm, something he knows would cause his family to roll over in their graves.
Currently Seeking World Premiere
Development History:
Maria Irene Fornes Hispanic Playwrights in Residence Lab. INTAR. New York City. Spring ‘11
Workshop Production- Texas Black and Latino Playwrights Festival. TXSTU. San Marcos, TX. Summer ‘10
Workshop Production- Blueprints New Play Festival. USC. Los Angeles. Spring ’09.
Cast: 2w, 2m.
It’s 2010 and Manny and Jade meet in a lonely dive bar in Koreatown. Sparks fly. They return to Manny’s small apartment after last call for a few more last calls, and little something else. But neither one of them were prepared for what happens next as a simple tryst explodes into something much deeper. Meanwhile it’s 1975 and Everett sits in a hospital waiting room with a woman who refuses to speak to him, which only makes him talk more. This dual-action play explores the nature of identity, history, multiculturalism and more.
Currently seeking World Premiere Production.
Development History:
Workshop Production- Under Construction Reading Series. USC. Los Angeles. Spring ’10.
5w, 3m
A drama told in three separate acts via three separate stories that explores one of Western Hemisphere’s forgotten tragedies. Since the 1990s, factory workers and other young women of the city of Juarez have been disappearing off the streets, only to be discovered later lifeless in the desert, or sometimes not at all. Over 300 women have been brutally raped and murdered, the culprits remain at large, and a city mourns while a nation and the world forget it.
Email for producing rights
Production History:
Brand New Theatre (USC Campus), Los Angeles. Fall '08
San Pedro Playhouse. San Antonio. Summer '08
Fronterafest (festival production). Austin. Winter '06
Cast: 2w, 4m plus ensemble
In Mexico, during the 1950s, Liddie Bates is a young Anglo woman who dreams of one thing…bullfighting. With the help of her mentor, once famous, now mysteriously defamed Juan Guillermo de Vega, and his assistant Rodrigo, Liddie embarks on a journey that no woman has ever accomplished, to become a professional bullfighter. Inspired by the life of matadora Pat McCormick, worlds collide in this fast paced, music and dancing theatrical epic.
Currently seeking development opportunities.
This play is available for comission.
6m, 2w
A play with music set in modern day Austin, TX. A tight knit crew of friends around 30 years old discover what happens to punk rockers who grow up and become too old for punk rock and that through trials and several splinters in their friendships, all that remains is their art, their music.
Currently seeking Workshop Opportunities leading to Premiere
2m, 2w plus ensemble
Inspired by the European legend, Ship of Fools presents us a world and its inhabitants as a vessel whose deranged passengers neither know nor care where they are going. On this ship awakens Jimmy, who finds himself hurdling through space with no knowledge of his direction or purpose. There he meets its cast of characters, a fallen priest, a blind soldier, and an aging socialite. While attempting to realize is own reasons for being there, Jimmy discovers more about himself and his inhabitants than he ever thought possible, and whether or not he choses to accept his fate when the play reaches its shocking conclusion.
Currently seeking workshop.
Cast 6m, 5w plus ensemble
A play inspired by and designed for stage combatants. In a post-apocalyptic future, a man, Bowie, rules by the edge of the knife. When Gloria arrives, and challenges him, she shakes the foundation of the society he has created, ultimately re-forges the world into her own corrupted ideals.
Currently seeking development opportunities leading to a world premiere.
Development History: Cypress College New Works Festival. Cypress, CA. Summer ‘08