Beheading Columbus
by Diana Burbano
When Susi's Venezuelan mother lands in the hospital, she and her half-sister Lana go down a DNA rabbit hole that blows their family story apart. Lana's results reveal she may share almost nothing genetically with the family she's always known, while Susi's traces directly back to the documented atrocities of Columbus's first landing. A sharp, funny, and ultimately devastating comedy about identity, epigenetics...
When Susi's Venezuelan mother lands in the hospital, she and her half-sister Lana go down a DNA rabbit hole that blows their family story apart. Lana's results reveal she may share almost nothing genetically with the family she's always known, while Susi's traces directly back to the documented atrocities of Columbus's first landing. A sharp, funny, and ultimately devastating comedy about identity, epigenetics, inherited trauma, and what colonialism leaves in the blood. Set in the Bay Area, Beheading Columbus asks: if your history was built on lies and violence, what do you owe the truth?
WORKSHOP/READING HISTORY
Developed at the Geffen Playhouse Writers' Room (2020–21), Echo Theatre's Playwrights Lab (2021), and Artists Repertory Theatre's Table|Room|Stage new works program. Selected for Orlando Shakespeare's PlayFest 2023. 2023 O'Neill Theater Center Finalist.
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