everyone in new york is beautiful

by Christian Flynn

[O'Neill 2024 Semifinalist] Two couples navigate polyamory in a fictional town called Brooklyn in the 2020s. The dirtbag left clashes and makes love with the progressive left. No one is safe <3.

[O'Neill 2024 Semifinalist] Two couples navigate polyamory in a fictional town called Brooklyn in the 2020s. The dirtbag left clashes and makes love with the progressive left. No one is safe <3.

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everyone in new york is beautiful

Recommended by

  • William Reymann: everyone in new york is beautiful

    Refreshing, funny play that undercuts discourse with a beautiful ode to youth, love, and figuring it out in this weird, fucked up world. Smart, heartfelt and humorous, holds a much-needed space for change, time, trial and error, and doubt.

    Refreshing, funny play that undercuts discourse with a beautiful ode to youth, love, and figuring it out in this weird, fucked up world. Smart, heartfelt and humorous, holds a much-needed space for change, time, trial and error, and doubt.

  • Patrick Vermillion: everyone in new york is beautiful

    An anthropological and incisive look at New York subculture of the 2020s. The characters are written with a specificity and complexity that make them feel wholly authentic. Christian brilliantly examines the ways in which idealist 20-somethings entangle politics, identity, and morality to justify and explain their actions and impulses. They also break brilliant new ground by digging into the setting - this is a definitive play of this era, grounded to this moment. It felt special getting to see it right now while many of its themes and ideas are still being worked out in real life.

    An anthropological and incisive look at New York subculture of the 2020s. The characters are written with a specificity and complexity that make them feel wholly authentic. Christian brilliantly examines the ways in which idealist 20-somethings entangle politics, identity, and morality to justify and explain their actions and impulses. They also break brilliant new ground by digging into the setting - this is a definitive play of this era, grounded to this moment. It felt special getting to see it right now while many of its themes and ideas are still being worked out in real life.

  • Paul Donnelly: everyone in new york is beautiful

    These complex people dealing with evolving identity and relationships and sexuality are incisively rendered and leap off the page. I felt submerged in a specific and vividly depicted world. Politics and philosophy have weaponized roles. Flynn has a unique and compelling voice that grips and challenges the reader.

    These complex people dealing with evolving identity and relationships and sexuality are incisively rendered and leap off the page. I felt submerged in a specific and vividly depicted world. Politics and philosophy have weaponized roles. Flynn has a unique and compelling voice that grips and challenges the reader.

View all 15 recommendations

Character Information

  • Rena Rodriguez
    (Ree-nuh) Late twenties. Bisexual. Half Latina. Chapo Trap House. Poet/ Podcaster. Sort of has a health goth/ athleisure punk rock/ alternative hip hop thing going. Obsessive. Never stops talking. A character and a half. Everyone who meets her remembers her. One of those people who you would consider a “character” if you met them in real life. Addicted to caffeine in a very real way. Wears a knee brace for some chronic pain. I don’t think she’s quite disabled but… I once heard the term “flexibly abled” — she definitely can’t do all the things a person in her mid-late twenties can without a lot of pain. She/her. Played by a mixed actor, or a Latina actor who can pass as ambiguous. Dirtbag left.
    Character Age
    late twenties
    Character Race/Ethnic Identity
    Mixed Race Latina
    Character Gender Identity
    woman
  • Jessie Stone
    Mid/late twenties. White. Bicurious — then Bi. Drag Race. Visibly the youngest. Daughter of Manhattanite liberal elite socialites (her Mom probably gets lunch with Ira Glass). Bit of a yuppie. Reads as “straight”. No tattoos or piercings, relatively “normal” haircut. Impressionable, has several friend groups and changes based on which one she’s in. Empathetic. Genuinely empathetic. A bit of an NYC socialite. But the type you want to meet. Really good at talking to people. Really good at makeup. She/her. Bleeding heart liberal.
    Character Age
    mid twenties
    Character Race/Ethnic Identity
    White
    Character Gender Identity
    woman
  • Rico De Leon
    Late twenties. Latino. Straight. Film nerd. Verhoeven films. Service industry. Stylish in a minimal way. Extremely, genuinely polite and friendly. Always has on something like work pants, boots, and a T-shirt. Maybe dyed hair. Into professional wrestling, cult classic movies, and anime. He/ him. Played by a Latino actor. Definitely someone who’s unambiguously latino/ has some Afro-Latino or Indigenous features. Relatively apathetic on specific political matters, but certainly falls to the left.
    Character Age
    late twenties
    Character Race/Ethnic Identity
    Latino
    Character Gender Identity
    Man
  • Heather Baker
    Late twenties/early thirties. White. Queer Theory. Just coming out as a lesbian after a long long period of denial. Not yet out as nonbinary when we meet them —then newly out. WASP. Works for a publishing company. Has a bit of that cottagecore thing going on. MFA. Wealthy, conservative, Calvinist parents. Very empathetic. Very kind. Maybe a little highly strung, though. Believes in politeness and manners. Definitely not out to parents. Almost all of the outward aspects of Heather change in Act 2… that’s when you see the rage. She/her. Then they/them. Played by a nonbinary actor who’s comfortable presenting as femme/ playing a character who’s referred to as a woman in the first act. Progressive left.
    Character Age
    late twenties/early thirties
    Character Race/Ethnic Identity
    White
    Character Gender Identity
    AFAB nonbinary

Development History

  • Type Reading, Organization The Spade Collective, Year 2023

Production History

  • Type Fringe, Organization The Spade Collective // Cafe Katan , Year 2024

Awards

  • Second-Rounder
    Austin Film Festival Stage Play Competition
    2023
  • Breaking and Entering Theatre Collective
    Semi-Finalist
    2023
  • Meditative Writing Fellowship
    Semi-Finalist
    2023
  • National Playwrights Conference
    Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center
    Semi-Finalist
    2024
  • Second-Rounder
    Austin Film Festival Stageplay Competition
  • Breaking and Entering Theatre Collective 2023 Season
    Semi-Finalist
  • Meditative Writing Fellowship
    Semi-Finalist