A Dog Loves Mango (Un Cane Ama Il Mango) by
A woman is stopped by an airport security K-9 because of her leather shoes...her mango leather shoes...A short play written for the 2019 CCTA commission.
Georgina Escobar
Georgina Escobar
Request Plays: Bonnie Davis, bdavis@bretadamsltd.net
Georgina H. Escobar is a queer Mexican playwright from Ciudad Juárez and maker of sci-femme narratives, ultra-humanistic mythos, and frontera-funk stories. She works textually and visually with plasticity, the impossible, and the Latin American perspective to create genre pieces with heart. Residencies include MacDowell, Djerassi, Fornés...
Georgina H. Escobar is a queer Mexican playwright from Ciudad Juárez and maker of sci-femme narratives, ultra-humanistic mythos, and frontera-funk stories. She works textually and visually with plasticity, the impossible, and the Latin American perspective to create genre pieces with heart. Residencies include MacDowell, Djerassi, Fornés...
Request Plays: Bonnie Davis, bdavis@bretadamsltd.net
Georgina H. Escobar is a queer Mexican playwright from Ciudad Juárez and maker of sci-femme narratives, ultra-humanistic mythos, and frontera-funk stories. She works textually and visually with plasticity, the impossible, and the Latin American perspective to create genre pieces with heart. Residencies include MacDowell, Djerassi, Fornés Workshop, and she is the recipient of the Darrell Ayers Playwriting Award from the Kennedy Center, and the Outstanding Service to Women on the Border Award from the sister cities El Paso/Juárez. Her work has been featured in the Kilroy’s List, 50PP, The Mix, and on print in The Texas Review, Lxs Bárbarxs, McSweeney’s, and New Passport Press; it also appears in “Scenes for Latinx Actors,” “Lighting The Way”, and “El Fuego: Fueling the American Theatre with Latinx Plays”, and have been performed in México, US, UK, Sweden, Denmark and Italy. Her plays include "Then they forgot about The Rest" (Off-Broadway INTAR), "Sweep" (Lincoln Centers Director's Lab), "StoneHeart" (Kilroy's 2019), and "Ash Tree" (Darrel Ayers Award; ASSITEJ). Musicals include: "All Strings Considered" (book & lyrics, New York Children's Theatre), "Firerock" ( co-writer, book, LittleGlobe), and "Little Duende" (book & lyrics, National Musical Theatre Conference at the O'Neill, NAMT). Artistic homes and presenters include INTAR, New York Children’s Theatre, Dixon Place, Clubbed Thumb, Lincoln Center, Bushwick Starr, Ancram Opera House, Two Rivers, Milagro, Aurora Theatre, and Marfa Live Arts. Escobar is represented by 3 Arts Entertainment in Los Angeles.
Georgina H. Escobar is a queer Mexican playwright from Ciudad Juárez and maker of sci-femme narratives, ultra-humanistic mythos, and frontera-funk stories. She works textually and visually with plasticity, the impossible, and the Latin American perspective to create genre pieces with heart. Residencies include MacDowell, Djerassi, Fornés Workshop, and she is the recipient of the Darrell Ayers Playwriting Award from the Kennedy Center, and the Outstanding Service to Women on the Border Award from the sister cities El Paso/Juárez. Her work has been featured in the Kilroy’s List, 50PP, The Mix, and on print in The Texas Review, Lxs Bárbarxs, McSweeney’s, and New Passport Press; it also appears in “Scenes for Latinx Actors,” “Lighting The Way”, and “El Fuego: Fueling the American Theatre with Latinx Plays”, and have been performed in México, US, UK, Sweden, Denmark and Italy. Her plays include "Then they forgot about The Rest" (Off-Broadway INTAR), "Sweep" (Lincoln Centers Director's Lab), "StoneHeart" (Kilroy's 2019), and "Ash Tree" (Darrel Ayers Award; ASSITEJ). Musicals include: "All Strings Considered" (book & lyrics, New York Children's Theatre), "Firerock" ( co-writer, book, LittleGlobe), and "Little Duende" (book & lyrics, National Musical Theatre Conference at the O'Neill, NAMT). Artistic homes and presenters include INTAR, New York Children’s Theatre, Dixon Place, Clubbed Thumb, Lincoln Center, Bushwick Starr, Ancram Opera House, Two Rivers, Milagro, Aurora Theatre, and Marfa Live Arts. Escobar is represented by 3 Arts Entertainment in Los Angeles.
Plays
Alebrijes (or Ridiculous Beautiful Beasts) by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 4··Cast:6Genre: fable/folktale, fantasy + 2 moreGenre: fable/folktale, fantasy, holiday, movement/physicalWhen a young bride and groom-to-be discover the largest Dia de Muertos altar they’ve ever seen, they suddenly notice something’s run amuck, literally. A little creature, known as an alebrije, sweeps into the room and takes the bride’s imagination, forcing past and present to meld together in this playful homage to Pedro Linares, the creator of the alebrije. Set in present day San Luis Potosí, in Xochimilco in...When a young bride and groom-to-be discover the largest Dia de Muertos altar they’ve ever seen, they suddenly notice something’s run amuck, literally. A little creature, known as an alebrije, sweeps into the room and takes the bride’s imagination, forcing past and present to meld together in this playful homage to Pedro Linares, the creator of the alebrije. Set in present day San Luis Potosí, in Xochimilco in 1936, and in an afterlife that looks too much like a psychedelic Oaxacan jungle, young Pedro realizes his artistic potential through his relationship to his pets as totems, his love for painting, and a close encounter with death.All Strings Considered by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 2··Cast:4–6Genre: fable/folktale, fantasy + 2 more·Keyword: bilingual, musical + 2 moreGenre: fable/folktale, fantasy, musical, young audiencesKeyword: bilingual, musical, Mexican, traditionA young Mexican girl in Queens wants to try out for the school's talent show featuring her recently deceased father's music— Son Jarocho—the typical music of Veracruz, Mexico. After a series of encounters with the school bullies, she decides to immerse herself in her father's story (based on musical composer's book "Zoongoro Bailongo") and remind the people of her school, that...A young Mexican girl in Queens wants to try out for the school's talent show featuring her recently deceased father's music— Son Jarocho—the typical music of Veracruz, Mexico. After a series of encounters with the school bullies, she decides to immerse herself in her father's story (based on musical composer's book "Zoongoro Bailongo") and remind the people of her school, that music is indeed, the universal language.Ash Tree by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 3··Cast:5Genre: fable/folktale, fantasy + 2 more·Keyword: LatinxGenre: fable/folktale, fantasy, translation, young audiencesKeyword: LatinxThree sisters face the challenge of coping with their Mother's death. Unable and unwilling to give up hope, Tristen leads her two sisters into a journey of imagination, self-discovery and acceptance. Opening a portal described in their Mother's stories, Tristen, Gaela and Selene lead us through their inner psyche as it is manifested through lessons learned from encounters with a Gnome, A Nelrim and...Three sisters face the challenge of coping with their Mother's death. Unable and unwilling to give up hope, Tristen leads her two sisters into a journey of imagination, self-discovery and acceptance. Opening a portal described in their Mother's stories, Tristen, Gaela and Selene lead us through their inner psyche as it is manifested through lessons learned from encounters with a Gnome, A Nelrim and an Echo known as Gandria. Secret drawers pop open unannounced, gnomes come in and out from under the bed— letting loose confusion, riddles, journeys, and blurring boundaries between tale and fact, between memoir and fiction, and ultimately unleashing a truth and acceptance that inspires their own new story.
"Playwright Escobar has the beginnings of a magical and meaningful modern-day fairy tale on her hands.
The show provides a positive message for young girls (and boys) about how to be brave,
strong and honest in the face of life’s most difficult moments.
Escobar manages this without being condescending.
The effect is a little bit dark without losing innocence or hope."
~Leigh Hile, The AlibiBag of Bones (or The Circuz) by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 3··Cast:7–10Genre: melodrama, political + 1 more·Keyword: Frontera, border + 2 moreGenre: melodrama, political, satireKeyword: Frontera, border, Latinx, BeckettianThe place is Country M— A place divided by a north and a south of the wall. The south of the wall has been visited by a mysterious Circus which has turned reporters into marionettes, cops into chorizo and the town into ghosts, unleashing The Big Top Wars. Written at the height of genocide and murder in Escobar's hometown of Ciudad Juarez, Bag of Bones is a macabre farce that explores the discomfort of...The place is Country M— A place divided by a north and a south of the wall. The south of the wall has been visited by a mysterious Circus which has turned reporters into marionettes, cops into chorizo and the town into ghosts, unleashing The Big Top Wars. Written at the height of genocide and murder in Escobar's hometown of Ciudad Juarez, Bag of Bones is a macabre farce that explores the discomfort of violence through exaggeration, faith through senses, and the cynicism of a land divided in two.Bi by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 2··Cast:4–6Genre: comedyGenre: comedyA bilingual play inspired by the book "Flatland" by Edwin Abbot. The year is 2089 in Tierra Plana, a new nation of squares, walls, and all sorts of boxes; a place where individual categories are pre-determined. Four friends: Fig, Noir, Isa, and Hex, are preparing for the day they receive their identity bracelets. Nervous about not fitting in, they escape to the desert and discover the mystery of the...A bilingual play inspired by the book "Flatland" by Edwin Abbot. The year is 2089 in Tierra Plana, a new nation of squares, walls, and all sorts of boxes; a place where individual categories are pre-determined. Four friends: Fig, Noir, Isa, and Hex, are preparing for the day they receive their identity bracelets. Nervous about not fitting in, they escape to the desert and discover the mystery of the past hidden in boxes from the U.S. Census Bureau. Bi– will break open the boxes of selective classification and raise the question: What is your bi-dentity? Using mathematical and geometrical metaphor as well as inspiration from interviews from people in the community to tug at the heartstring that often make us feel a little too much like ‘the other,’ this piece is about expansive thinking and the challenges, of those with dual identities in navigating within a homogenous society...times one ten.Cleopatra Under Water by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 1··Cast:3Genre: comedy, political·Keyword: Latinx, feminist + 3 moreGenre: comedy, politicalKeyword: Latinx, feminist, college, matriarchy, femmeShort: Written for APPCo '16 for Aurora Theatre, GA. Three college students analyze the dynamics of triumph, faulty history, and the fall of the patriarchy as they claim their power over Martini Monday.Death and The Tramp (El Muerto Vagabundo) by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 2··Cast:6–8Genre: comedy, fable/folktale + 4 moreGenre: comedy, fable/folktale, holiday, mystery/thriller, political, young audiences
A play in English and Spanish. It is Day of the Dead in The City of Bridges when THE KID, a near homeless orphan looked after by his older sister, makes an ofrenda to summon his parents. What he encounters instead is a VAGABUNDO; a tramp who mistakenly takes the kid’s offering for himself. As the kid chases after him, he ends up under a bridge, in a place called THE UNDERWORLD where the forgotten, the...
A play in English and Spanish. It is Day of the Dead in The City of Bridges when THE KID, a near homeless orphan looked after by his older sister, makes an ofrenda to summon his parents. What he encounters instead is a VAGABUNDO; a tramp who mistakenly takes the kid’s offering for himself. As the kid chases after him, he ends up under a bridge, in a place called THE UNDERWORLD where the forgotten, the lost and the dispossessed lay down for a night’s rest [LOS OLVIDADOS]. Offering his innocent insight to each of his new, lonely friends, The Kid insists in building an altar, and lighting a candle to honor their dead. The Kid learns about stories, as they all reconnect, of those people or lives that hide under bridges—whether real or fake. In a highly theatrical and metaphorical way, we encounter traditions, through ritual, through song, and good old-fashioned story-telling, in this darkly-whimsical play.Firerock: Pass The Spark (co-authored) by Georgina Escobar
·Cast:4–8Genre: adventure, musical + 1 more·Keyword: environment, sustainabilityGenre: adventure, musical, young audiencesKeyword: environment, sustainabilityA coveted vein of Firerock, a symbol for fossil fuels, has spent 365 million years underneath the Wildwood, a magical forest outside the mining town of Hopewell Junction. The ancient and wise Firerock yearns to stay in the Earth, but her cries are ignored. Years of burning Firerock has produced the Snooze, a numbing slumber that disconnects Hopewell’s inhabitants from the natural world. One family grapples...A coveted vein of Firerock, a symbol for fossil fuels, has spent 365 million years underneath the Wildwood, a magical forest outside the mining town of Hopewell Junction. The ancient and wise Firerock yearns to stay in the Earth, but her cries are ignored. Years of burning Firerock has produced the Snooze, a numbing slumber that disconnects Hopewell’s inhabitants from the natural world. One family grapples with whether to sell the beloved Wildwood, a move that could help a young student and provide for the struggling community in the short-term but bring devastation for generations to come. Their decision is complicated by the arrival of an ambitious young man from the mining company. With everyone’s future at stake, Firerock and a bumbling otter must awaken the spark of connection in Hopewell residents before their world is lost forever.In a million years by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 1··Cast:2Genre: immersive, romantic comedy·Keyword: sitespecific, outdoors + 4 moreGenre: immersive, romantic comedyKeyword: sitespecific, outdoors, pond, twohander, Latinx, shortplayOne August evening, Elena, distraught by the sudden collapse of her marriage, returns to a special place filled with memories from her youth. There, she is catapulted into the past when she relives a promise that was made at that very spot 20 years ago. A short play created to be performed by a pond.In the Life of Stones by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 2··Cast:3Genre: dramaGenre: dramaSHORT: An absurdist look the memory and concrete of The Savoy Manor, a dance club in the South Bronx. Josefo is a preservation advocate in present day Hostos Community College who summons the memories of two brothers and unlikely club renters who dive into dreams of a grim future, bringing them together in the intersection of thought, words, hip-hop, and walls.Little Duende by Georgina Escobar
·Cast:5–20Genre: fable/folktale, horror + 1 more·Keyword: Fantasy, dark + 4 moreGenre: fable/folktale, horror, musicalKeyword: Fantasy, dark, Mexican, folklore, musical, immigrationIn the mythical land of Elflán a young duendénse (elflander) must confront a mysterious entity after it kidnaps her mother by trekking north in the company of a disloyal God of Yesteryear (HUEHUE).Matted by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 1··Cast:2–6Genre: drama, experimental + 2 more·Keyword: LGBTQ, mass shooting + 2 moreGenre: drama, experimental, political, tragedyKeyword: LGBTQ, mass shooting, gun control, OrlandoShort: A response to After Orlando, this piece captures the decisive moments of a Latinx drag queen to live or die after a shooter attacks their nightclub. Facing the closed doors of intolerance and extremism, Sasha has no choice but to share a third stall with Maddie Ross, a character out of the western novel True Grit. What Maddie reveals gives Sasha the necessary fuel to decide to keep living.Migrant X by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 1··Cast:10–20Genre: fantasy, immersive + 2 more·Keyword: immigration, Latinx + 6 moreGenre: fantasy, immersive, political, science fictionKeyword: immigration, Latinx, migrant, policy, ice, Promenade, journey, sitespecificA Mito-American Journey Play and political fantasy about the migrant experience.Monsters We Create by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 1··Cast:9–12Genre: immersive, science fiction·Keyword: Latinx, futuristic + 3 moreGenre: immersive, science fictionKeyword: Latinx, futuristic, Frontera, Scifemme, LGBTQThe year is 2030 and the world has been turned upside down. Along the border, in a place called “Sun Town” a series of ominous threats have surfaced, threatening the livelihood of six friends. After a young writer escapes from the Stamp (Sterilization Camp), she sets into motion a story and a call to action which promises to save her friends and, hopefully, civilization as they know it. That is, if they can get...The year is 2030 and the world has been turned upside down. Along the border, in a place called “Sun Town” a series of ominous threats have surfaced, threatening the livelihood of six friends. After a young writer escapes from the Stamp (Sterilization Camp), she sets into motion a story and a call to action which promises to save her friends and, hopefully, civilization as they know it. That is, if they can get past their own monsters…A frontera funk tale co-created with UTEP writing students, Monsters We Create is a surprisingly sweet story of loss, friendship, and hope.Penny Pinball Presents The Beacons by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 2··Cast:7–10Genre: adventure, experimental + 4 more·Keyword: LGBTQ, Latinx + 4 moreGenre: adventure, experimental, immersive, movement/physical, political, science fictionKeyword: LGBTQ, Latinx, comic books, Dystopia, feminist, gamingAn action-packed, heavy-punchin', uber retro futura stylized story following a pinball narrative that reimagines Manhattan as a Debtor's prison. Siblings blur the boundaries of game and reality as a mysterious woman calls for a conclave and a multi-spective approach to story telling. Loosely inspired by pinball, and the 1970s cult classic "The Warriors." Warning: This play is still under construction.Que Kerastas, Kerastas. by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 1··Cast:2Genre: dark comedy, drama·Keyword: Latinx, site-specific + 2 moreGenre: dark comedy, dramaKeyword: Latinx, site-specific, Alzheimer's Disease, familyOne Act: Que Kerastas, Kerastas examines the human desire for connection, understanding, and control. When Jenna returns to her mother’s apricot orchard in rural New Mexico after a not-so-unexpected death, she reunites with Leonard—a worldly neighbor and childhood friend who cared for Jenna’s mother long after she and her sisters left the farm. As Jenna reels with the onslaught of memories brought by her return...One Act: Que Kerastas, Kerastas examines the human desire for connection, understanding, and control. When Jenna returns to her mother’s apricot orchard in rural New Mexico after a not-so-unexpected death, she reunites with Leonard—a worldly neighbor and childhood friend who cared for Jenna’s mother long after she and her sisters left the farm. As Jenna reels with the onslaught of memories brought by her return and Leonard’s presence, the two estranged friends grapple with understanding love, life, and loss—and that perhaps our greatest comfort lies in accepting that whatever will be, will be.Seagalphin by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 1··Cast:3Genre: political, satireGenre: political, satireShort: Written for Clubbed Thumb Early Career Writer's Group Kick Off Event. A dolphin at Sea World channels Steven Seagal after the Otter tank is moved a little too close to his own.Species:Human by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 1··Cast:7–15Genre: comedy·Keyword: evolution, suicide + 5 moreGenre: comedyKeyword: evolution, suicide, presentshock, Scifemme, fronterafunk, graphicnovels, absurdismThree roommates set out to create and submit their graphic novel idea for a famous competition, if they can only land on the right idea. Charles Darwin embarks on his journey across the Atlantic and makes observations about the state of the mind from the ship's poop cabin. Abe Lincoln asks JWB to kill him and make him a martyr. A sad dog contemplates drowning himself and Anthony Bourdain's bathrobe...Three roommates set out to create and submit their graphic novel idea for a famous competition, if they can only land on the right idea. Charles Darwin embarks on his journey across the Atlantic and makes observations about the state of the mind from the ship's poop cabin. Abe Lincoln asks JWB to kill him and make him a martyr. A sad dog contemplates drowning himself and Anthony Bourdain's bathrobe is running amuck. Meanwhile, the graphic novel's writer has developed strange seizures, the penciller cannot stop researching Anthony Bourdain, and the colorist is obsessed with her phone. Love. Entropy. Beauty. Suicide. A not-at-all relaxing meditation on the cacophony that makes the human orchestra viewed as glimpses of present shock after present shock after present shock (scroll, refresh) and back again.StoneHeart by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 7··Cast:7Genre: drama·Keyword: dementia, Latinx + 7 moreGenre: dramaKeyword: dementia, Latinx, queer, Frontera, border, juarez, family, women, MexicanA deconstructed Western that explores the societal constructs of femininity and class through the lens and experience of Birdie Zermani. As her mind deteriorates and the webs of abandonment trap her in her past, our aging matriarch is launched into a fabula that mixes the western genre with Latin American history and myth as we watch the deterioration of a family in Ciudad Juarez in the late 1980s, told through...A deconstructed Western that explores the societal constructs of femininity and class through the lens and experience of Birdie Zermani. As her mind deteriorates and the webs of abandonment trap her in her past, our aging matriarch is launched into a fabula that mixes the western genre with Latin American history and myth as we watch the deterioration of a family in Ciudad Juarez in the late 1980s, told through her eyes. Forbidden love, mental illness and suicide come together in a visceral family drama where the Zermanis are forced to cope with the death of their country, their loved ones, and their legacy amidst the rise of a new generation of corrupted youth and cartel violence.
Stoneheart was created at the Maria Irene Fornés Writing Workshop (2017-18), MacDowell Colony (2018), Djerassi Artist Residency (2018) and was a Finalist for the National Playwrights Conference at the O'Neill (2019) and a Kilroy's List play (2019)Sweep by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 2··Cast:4–5Genre: adventure, comedy + 1 more·Keyword: Scifemme, chic + 4 moreGenre: adventure, comedy, science fictionKeyword: Scifemme, chic, afro-latinx, Latinx, Spec-evo, feministSweep is a sci-femme story that follows two sisters and hit women of the splintered worlds whose initial snafu with Adam & Eve catches up with them lifetimes later. Fighting for a last chance to reset humanity’s imperfect patterns, the women of Sweep hunt their targets from biblical times to modern-day in order to accelerate humanity’s evolution.The Ruin by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 2··Cast:4Genre: comedy, fable/folktale + 3 more·Keyword: psychedelic, Mexico + 2 moreGenre: comedy, fable/folktale, fantasy, science fiction, young audiencesKeyword: psychedelic, Mexico, enchanted, LatinxGeorgina H. Escobar’s “The Ruin” tells a dazzling tale of Latin American witchcraft,
fantastical love and personal insanities.
It’s dark and wickedly funny, absurd and balefully soothing."
~Graham Gentz
Using the inspiration from the melancholic playfulness of the Spanish literati: Cervantes, Garcia Marquez, Allende, Borges and Coelho, this play follows a young...Georgina H. Escobar’s “The Ruin” tells a dazzling tale of Latin American witchcraft,
fantastical love and personal insanities.
It’s dark and wickedly funny, absurd and balefully soothing."
~Graham Gentz
Using the inspiration from the melancholic playfulness of the Spanish literati: Cervantes, Garcia Marquez, Allende, Borges and Coelho, this play follows a young archeologist as he goes in search of a legend, and the woman who might still hold a key to his father's heart. The witches he encounters talk to waterfalls, read snails, pray to salt and compose music alongside the oil painting of Don Quixote. But do they have any real powers? Or it is all part of ingesting the "sacred saints" (mushrooms)? Exposed to a life outside of her own, young Fatima starts to question, along with the outsider: Is there a difference between magic and choice?The Unbearable Likeness of Jo, Semity & Jones by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 2··Cast:4–6Genre: dark comedy, romantic comedy·Keyword: LGBTQ, gay + 2 moreGenre: dark comedy, romantic comedyKeyword: LGBTQ, gay, digital age, LatinxA ridiculous investigation into memory, personal identity, and digiphrenia. Moments before her plane is about to crash, Jones deconstructs memory as a state of passage; from love, to Facebook, to her sexuality; all as related to one thing: present shock.Then They Forgot About The Rest by Georgina Escobar
Recommendations: 5··Cast:7–9Genre: dark comedy, science fiction·Keyword: Latinx, speculative fiction + 4 moreGenre: dark comedy, science fictionKeyword: Latinx, speculative fiction, apocalypse, femmetasia, Southwest, bilingual"Two sisters coping with a recent traumatic event sign up to receive information regarding a special trial for the soon-to-hit-market drug: Alleviate. Meanwhile, at an ad agency called The Rest, the advertisers are about to accept this new 'forgetting pill' brief. Paths intertwine between memory, the truth, and The Rest as a pending apocalypse threatens to end the human race. An apocalyptic..."Two sisters coping with a recent traumatic event sign up to receive information regarding a special trial for the soon-to-hit-market drug: Alleviate. Meanwhile, at an ad agency called The Rest, the advertisers are about to accept this new 'forgetting pill' brief. Paths intertwine between memory, the truth, and The Rest as a pending apocalypse threatens to end the human race. An apocalyptic frontera (border) funk piece with elements of noir, 'Then they forgot about The Rest' is a southwest femmetasia about the things worth forgetting, the physical impact of memory, and the company that we keep."