←Recommendations of The Cucuy Will Find You

The piece straddles such a fine line between tender humanity, lyricism, bold and funny theatricality, and a heightened/slightly magical fabulistic feel. Rey's coming of age/adulthood, complex and multi-pronged grief, and generational journey is so beautifully laid out throughout the piece. I loved how the play crossed boundaries of time and space with an effortless feel, the Cucuy and Leti truly anchoring the transitions in this aesthetically interesting world--so much exciting work here for designers to contribute essentially to the storytelling. I'd love to see this realized onstage!

It is the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's pleasure to recommend Jaymes Sanchez and their play The Cucuy Will Find You as a finalist for our 2020 National Playwrights Conference. This particular work emerged from a highly competitive, anonymous, and multi-tiered selection process to become one of 63 finalists out of more than 1,500 submissions. This enthralling piece galvanized the hearts and theatrical imaginations of our reading teams and is fully championed by our offices. We are honored to put our enthusiastic support behind this writer and their ongoing contributions to the American Theater.

We are pleased to support this play! It was a Finalist for the 2020 New Works Festival at Kitchen Dog Theater in Dallas, Texas.

Jaymes Sanchez is an artist who takes folklore and returns it to its origins. He creates monsters onstage and forces his characters and audiences to see that monsters are the manifestations of the soul. It's our heritage, our guilt, our grief, our unique selves. In The Cucuy Will Find You we go on a journey of self-reckoning and understanding. In so many ways this play is a family drama, and in so many other ways it becomes your own story where your Cucuy lurks waiting to devour you whole. A beautiful, funny, painful, and revelatory play.

A beautiful, tender play about memory, loss, and family. I've never loved a monster so much.

When children grow up, their fears of the boogeyman in the closet generally fade. But Jaymes Sanchez has found a terrifying loophole... we are always children in the eyes of our parents, no matter the age. And if we’re not good, what then? “The Cucuy Will Find You” craftily explores familial guilt and obligation, and what it means to be a good son or daughter. Loaded with humor that offsets the story’s darker themes, this play may make you reconsider your life choices, and put you on your best behavior. Tremendous opportunities for puppet/scenic designers.

A compelling story - populated with competing characters and driven by a language and energy that pulled me along for the fast, zig-zagging ride. Sanchez has a talent for rhythm and place, finding humor and moments of devastation, in this unique tale, that shows the way the past often works its way into the present and can cast a pall over the future. Check out this writer! He's doing big things with this play.