My name is Juana Parral. I am a playwright and dramaturg based in Philadelphia. As a dramaturg, I like to dig to the bottom of a performance, and help it reach its highest potentials through questioning every element of the story and characters. I shed light on even the smallest bits of information that are brought up in a script, and how even the tiny things affect every aspect of the world of the play. I write work for people like you and me, people who look at their lives and notice maybe they don't know the back of their palm as well as they might have thought they did. My work has revolved around moms meeting at 3 in the morning to share a glass of wine, a girl with a backpack she can pull anything out of, a woman time traveling to find her missing bracelet, and a frantic scientist falling into the depths of a volcano about to erupt. My work is all backed by collaborators who can ask me questions and challenge me in a way that I can take their questions and use them to challenge my audience. I am no stranger to an unreliable narrator, and these characters are the ones to beg questioning, love, and hatred of the audience.
My writing always starts with a question. How did I find myself here? During their creation they beg questions. How would you feel if you knew the world was going to end? Do you understand how much your brother’s ant farm matters to him? Do you know the muffin man was scheming your demise in his kitchen yesterday?