Dolores Díaz

When Greg Samsa goes missing, he sets off a series of disappearances that reveal the underbelly of American life.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A fantastic tragicomedy that redefines what it means to adapt in a period of American turmoil. What at first seems to be a string of disappearances of people exhausted by modern systems – including a capitalistic workplace, dysfunctional education system, and twisted social media – is later revealed to be a transformation into another form of life and way of community living.

MetaMorphic asks what survival and evolution looks like in a world where modern systems are destroying a natural world. It asks who will endure and how can we start anew? In contrast to Kafka’s tale, MetaMorphic shows that it is those who struggle most that may have the answers and tools needed to carry on.

Two timelines. One American place. History informs the present in this comic tragedy intersecting Salem’s infamous witch trials and contemporary policing. When Carly Cruz is assigned as the new Salem Sheriff, she is determined to protect both the department and the rights of Monte, a man accused of murder. Pulled between duty and identity, Carly struggles to rise above systemic pressures and function as person of color within the criminal justice system. Ultimately, she succumbs to the forces of the state and is crushed by it.
------------------------------------------------------
The year is 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts and GILES COREY (60s) stands mute. At least that’s what DEPUTY DESMOND (30s) tells SHERIFF CROWLEY (40s). The cantankerous old man is the latest villager accused of witchcraft, but the only one that refuses to submit a plea, robbing the court of its authority to try him and govern lawfully. Crowley must find a way to make Corey speak, though he’d prefer to get back to gardening his petunias. There’s only one thing to do: press Corey. Crowell orders his deputy to strip Corey, lie him flat, place a board across his body, and apply stones in increasing weight until he submits a plea. He goes back to tending petunias. Finding a marble, he casts it aside.

In the present day office of the Salem Sheriff, DEPUTY DOYLE (30s) interrogates a suspect, MONTE SINCLAIR (teenager), whom he encountered near a murder crime scene. The deputy tells the suspect a story, “The Curse of Giles Corey,” which he claims is the reason every Salem Sheriff has met an untimely demise since Corey’s death. The Sheriff position has been vacant for years. This is why Doyle is surprised when CARLY CRUZ (40s) enters and presents herself as the new Sheriff.

The new Sheriff is there to prevent a lawsuit, but she is a haunted woman. She only took this position after getting let go of her policing gig following the death of a young man in Chicago. Now she’s in fucking Salem. In any case, Cruz is determined to start anew, which is why she can’t stand this bad cop bullshit from Doyle. She tells the deputy to stop resorting to shady interrogation methods.

Back in 1692, Deputy Desmond and Sheriff Crowley observe the results of Corey’s pressing. They’re smelly. Privately, Crowley admits to Corey that he does not believe in witches, but he demands Corey submit a plea. The deputy adds weight to the load, but Corey remains silent. Finally, he speaks, “More weight.”

Sheriff Cruz interrogates Monte to no avail. It’s been 48 hours and she has to let him go, though she is hesitant to do so without an alibi to shield him from a potential mob. Despite her reservations, she has no legal authority to hold him. She lets him go.

Back in 1692, Deputy Desmond tells Sheriff Crowley that Giles Corey has cursed Crowley. The Sheriff discovers an unnatural infestation in his petunia bed. Is Giles Corey sending out his spirit from beneath the stones? He calls out to God, then realizes he’s made himself vulnerable by indulging in petunias. He rips them from the earth. The deputy calls for help. Crowley’s been witched.

In the present, Doyle looks for a lost marble and Carly’s past is revealed. The mayor calls Carly and tells her a video of the Councilman’s murder has gone viral.

Deputy Desmond tells Crowley that Corey is ready to submit a plea. Relieved, Crowley goes to the site where Corey lies beneath rock, but instead of submitting a plea Corey curses the Sheriff publicly. In an effort to stop Corey’s curse, he beats his head in with a rock. Corey expires.

Doyle drags Monte into the station after discovering him being beaten by a group of men. Monte threatens to sue the police station and demands to speak to the mayor. A mob forms outside the station.

Deputy Desmond and Crowley continue their work in the town, but strange phenomenon continue to haunt and provoke the Sheriff, who denies they are strange in any way.

The mayor threatens to fire Sheriff Crowley if she cannot produce a confession from Monte.

Planting new petunias in the garden, Crowley tells the Deputy that he does not believe in curses but he does believe in witches. As the sheriff’s logic begins to crumble, Desmond confesses that he heard Crowley tell Corey he did not believe in witches. He accuses the Sheriff of lying and approaches with a knife.

Monte tells Doyle a story about seeing Giles Corey when he briefly passed out while beaten. Carly interrupts to get a confession from Monte who tells her she has made a deal with the mayor and is determined to sue her instead of the city. Carly becomes violent with Monte. The deputy pushes Carly into his no-sneaking machine and she is killed.

Deputy Desmond buries the bodies of Corey and Crowley in the same grave.

Doyle reconsiders the no-sneaking machine. The mayor calls off the deal with Monte. Monte admits his part in the complicated murder. Doyle struggles with the injustice that seems inevitable and his own role in the system. In a flashback, Desmond gives vinegar to Giles Corey. In the present, Doyle gives Monte water, but ultimately reads him his rights.

Los Tequileros draws on a Mexican folk ballad to recount the deaths of three tequila smugglers at the hands of American law enforcement during Prohibition. The play provides historical context to the Brown Lives Matter movement, offers a local perspective on border security, and complicates tropes existing in the Latino community by humanizing the Texas Rangers as working class men and more than “pinches rinches.”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Incited by the murder of a fellow agent, FRANK SMITH (30s) and the Texas Rangers (CAPTAIN WRIGHT (50s) and JESSE PEREZ JR (30s)) are intent on bringing the killers to justice in Prohibition-era south Texas.

However, the case has gone cold and Frank Smith is desperate. He hasn’t slept well since losing his friend and he fears that MARIA RUMSEY (30s), his friend’s widow, will do something dangerous in an attempt to find the killers unless he finds them first.

As Frank and the Texas Rangers search for leads, the widowed Maria does the same. She invokes the help of her Mexican cousin, RAUL (30s), an ex-tequila smuggler, to help find her husband’s killers and bring them to justice.

Meanwhile, GERONIMO (30s) and SILVANO GRACIA (50s), two tequila smugglers (known as tequileros), make their way from Guerrero, Tamaulipas into Texas with an especially large shipment. They stop to ask LEANDRO (20s), estranged cousin to Maria, to accompany them on their run.

Sick and against his mother MARCELLA’s (60s) protests, he accepts their offer, but the trip goes bad when he is too ill to continue the journey, forcing the three to set up camp in a canyon in plain sight.

Maria and Raul discover the three tequileros near nightfall, while Frank Smith and the Texas Rangers do the same on the opposing side of the canyon. Neither party can be sure if the tequila smugglers they’ve come across have played any part in the murder. However, their positioning is precarious and both sides face a decision: whether or not to engage the tequileros and learn more, or take advantage of the high ground and shoot first.

As morning breaks, Maria and Raul recognize their cousin Leandro. Realizing that Frank Smith and the Texas Rangers have taken aim, Maria and Raul try to warn the tequileros, but it is too late. The three tequileros are murdered and neither Frank nor Maria ultimately find the peace they seek.

A charlatan doctor rises to power by peddling a radical remedy in the days before medical regulation in the U.S. Man of the People explores the U.S. love affair with charlatans and their existence in the space between symptom and cause of public folly.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Doctor JOHN ROMULUS BRINKLEY (30s) sees a new patient in his home examination room in Milford, Kansas in the early 1920s. The farmer JIM STITSWORTH (40s) makes an unusual request. He asks the doctor to implant goat testicles into his ball sac in hopes it will boost his virility and result in a child for him and his wife. Though hesitant at first, the doctor ultimately agrees with the strange request.

Patients from all over Kansas begin to swarm the Brinkley practice requesting the “goat gland cure.” MINNIE (late 20s), Dr. Brinkley’s wife, is excited at the prospect of the new surgery. She asks her husband to perform it on himself in hopes they will have a child. Brinkley refuses, saying he has no problem in the bedroom and that he will prove it to her in due time. Doctor Brinkley conscripts Minnie to assist in the surgeries and help him obtain a radio license to advertise them over the air.

Dr. MORRIS FISHBEIN (40s), Editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, listens to Brinkley’s radio station from his home in Chicago, Illinois. The outraged doctor is determined to expose Brinkley as a fraud, but his live-in, sickly mother, FANNY (60s), worships Brinkley and listens to his radio station regularly. To make matters worse, Fanny refuses all medication prescribed by her son, instead choosing to place her faith in Brinkley whom she writes to regularly.

Dr. MAXWELL (40s), Fishbein’s compatriot at the Journal, arrives from an expedition to Brinkley’s practice and informs Fishbein that Brinkley has been operating under false credentials. Fishbein moves to use the information against Brinkley who is planning a big expansion to California.

Police arrive at the Brinkley mansion but are thwarted by a call from the Governor of Kansas. Minnie begins to question whether the surgeries are real.

Fishbein and Maxwell look through death certificates in an effort to gather damaging information against Brinkley whose influence is only growing. What’s more, Fanny is more devoted to Brinkley than ever and continues to refuse Fishbein’s prescriptions, holding out hope for a cure in Brinkley’s response to her letters. Fishbein and Maxwell discover an alarming number of death certificates with Brinkley’s signature.

Brinkley is called upon the Kansas State Medical Board for a review of his license, which is ultimately revoked. Upon receiving word of this win, Fishbein is overjoyed, but when Brinkley announces he intends to run for state governor, Fishbein has a heart attack.

Brinkley, having lost the Kansas governorship and his U.S. radio station, moves to the U.S-Mexico border where he broadcasts out of Mexico and maintains a wildly successful Texas practice. Minnie is pregnant.
Fishbein realizes he must fight Brinkley a different way. He sets a trap, baiting Brinkley to sue him for libel in hopes he will finally be called to account in a court of law. Fanny and Fishbein have a confrontation over her faith in Brinkley but she for once takes the pills he prescribes.

Fishbein and Brinkley meet in court where Brinkley is exposed as a charlatan; Fanny’s heart is broken and she dies. Fishbein and Maxwell connect after Fanny’s funeral; Fishbein wonders if it was all worth it.

Brinkley and Minnie are left destitute. Minnie asks Brinkley to finally tell her the truth of how he came to perform the surgeries. “Like I told you,” he replies.

In a twisted re-enactment of the opening scene, Doctor Brinkley sees a new patient in his home examination room in Milford, Kansas. The doctor prescribes an unusual remedy called the “goat gland cure.” Though hesitant at first, Jim ultimately submits to Brinkley’s relentless bullying.

An undocumented Mexican immigrant finds a home in Pilsen, Chicago.

Five drummers grapple with the elimination of reproductive rights in the U.S.

In Appreciation Day, members of a local senior living facility, children of a nearby daycare, and neighborhood law enforcement gather together on Police Appreciation Day. Inspired by a puff piece in a local Chicago paper, Appreciation Day re-imagines the meeting from the perspective of people of color.

Follow Sherlock Holmes and Watson on a literal goose chase to uncover the secret behind how a countess's stolen jewel ended up in the crop of a Christmas goose in this classic adapted for radio.

In this Christmas comedy, young Gertrude stops pretending that Santa Claus exists to the chagrin of her mother and younger sister.

When an English teacher's love of grammar takes a dark turn, she must rely on her wits to evade capture while navigating the quirks of a border town.

William Hunt, John Milliais, and Dante Rossetti – known as three of the greatest painters in 19th century London – compete to invoke “imagination penetrative,” an artistic achievement in which spectators can no longer tell the difference between a painting and the thing itself. However, their race to be the best goes awry when they become obsessed with the same muse (Elizabeth Siddal) who becomes ill. Rossetti soon comes to prefer the painted image to the ailing Siddal, and as the real muse loses strength a dark image emerges from its place on the canvas to wreak havoc on the brotherhood.

Three people try to take down a statue.

When a teacher’s mistake turns deadly, she must evade police capture while navigating the complexities of a uniquely American border town. Border Grammar brings the U.S./Mexico border to the screen, humanizing people of the frontera and expanding their relevance beyond a border wall.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In her efforts to correct a mispunctuated shop sign, LINDA MATA (40s) accidentally destroys the window of a local establishment in Laredo, Texas on the U.S.-Mexico divide. The damage draws attention from a passerby, and Linda flees to avoid repercussion.

Back at home, Linda’s actions begin to catch up with her when Mark Mata (teenage son), informs her there are news reports of the vandalism. Her husband, GEORGE MATA (40s) reads the newspaper noting unease at changing policies, but says Linda must be happy to see the elimination of a sign she hated. Linda is not suspected by her family, but her happiness is short-lived when she realizes the sign was correct.

At Border Community College, where Linda works, ANNA PAZ (40s), commiserates with Linda over her mistake. Linda fears rebuke for her error from fellow members of the Laredo Society for Language Preservation, but Anna says she will defend her.

George Mata drives through city streets delivering schoolwork to homebound students, but is blocked by trucks full of military men. At school, Mark gives a presentation on Laredo and sells an energy drink that has been banned by the FDA. He comes up short when his friend, ALEXANDRO (teenager), wants to purchase one. Alexandro says he’s been working nights to win back his ex-girlfriend and needs a boost.

LUPE (teenager) sits in her bedroom looking through old photos of her and Alexandro. Her father, police chief FELIX VILLANUEVA (40s) summons her for lunch. He disapproves of Alexandro because he doesn’t believe he will make something of himself. George Mata arrives to teach Lupe. She is pregnant.

In an impromptu meeting of the Laredo Society for Language Prevention (w/out Anna), Linda’s compatriots rally against her and warn her that her inadvertent vandalism was witnessed.

Mark goes to Mexico to purchase more energy drinks. On his way back, he notes three different wall samples onto which “PEENCHES REENCHES” (a misspelled pejorative for border agents) has been written.

At home, Mark receives a news alert that police are cracking down on the drink he has been selling. When police show up at the door, Mark and Linda begin destroying evidence of their crimes, but soon realize it’s only Alexandro pretending to be law enforcement. He has arrived to purchase the drink.

Though the threat seems over, Linda finds out that Alexandro is the witness she has been warned about. Alexandro recognizes Linda and is determined to go to the police in an effort to soften Lupe’s father and win her back, but Anna arrives and begins to threaten him. Anna tells the origin story that made grammar so central to her life. Alexandro finds an energy drink in the fridge.

Linda lets Alexandro go, but when she receives a call from George alerting her to the dangers of the drink, she heads out after him. When Alexandro’s body is discovered in a park, Linda goes to the police to turn herself in, but only manages to confess the vandalism.

When George learns of Linda’s involvement with the shop damage, he asks why she is so obsessed with grammar. “This is the only thing I can control,” she says. In court, Linda receives a fine and is sentenced to community service teaching undocumented migrant children.

Her involvement in Alexandro’s passing hangs over her as the police chief grows suspicious of the circumstances involving Alexandro’s death.