DESI MORENO-PENSON

DESI MORENO-PENSON

DESI MORENO-PENSON is a playwright, actor, dramaturg, and independent theater producer based in NYC. She has an MFA in Dramaturgy and Theater Criticism from Brooklyn College. Her plays have been developed/produced at Ensemble Studio Theater (EST), INTAR, MultiStages, Perishable Theater (Providence, RI), Henry Street Settlement, SPF-Summer Play Festival, terraNOVA Collective, Downtown Urban Theater Festival (...
DESI MORENO-PENSON is a playwright, actor, dramaturg, and independent theater producer based in NYC. She has an MFA in Dramaturgy and Theater Criticism from Brooklyn College. Her plays have been developed/produced at Ensemble Studio Theater (EST), INTAR, MultiStages, Perishable Theater (Providence, RI), Henry Street Settlement, SPF-Summer Play Festival, terraNOVA Collective, Downtown Urban Theater Festival (DUTF) @the Cherry Lane, Urban Theater Company (Chicago), Teatro Coribantes (San Juan, PR), among others. She performed some of her written work at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club as part of their Poetry Electric initiative, Solo Artists: Solo Words, curated by William Electric Black. Her short play, DEAD WIVES DANCE THE MAMBO was featured as part of The Chain One-Act Festival at the Chain Theater, directed by KM Jones. Her new play, EL BACALAO: The Catfish Man, a Latinx retelling of THE BACCHAE by Euripedes, was part of the 2021 Fall Intensive Writers Group with Workshop Theater. Another play, SIN AGUA (Without Water) is part of the 2022-2023 Fighting Words New Script Development Program with Babes With Blades Theater Company in Chicago. Her play, BEIGE received a staged reading as part of the playwrights/directors unit (PDU) at The Actors Studio. In addition, BEIGE is the winner of the 2016 National Latinx Playwriting Award sponsored by the Arizona Theater Company; and is a finalist for both the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and the Bay Area Playwrights Festival (San Francisco, CA). She has twice won the MultiStages New Works Contest sponsored by MultiStages Theater Company for her plays, OMINOUS MEN and COMIDA DE PUTA (F%&king Lousy Food); she has twice been a semifinalist for the Princess Grace Award, and her work has received Honorable Mention on The Kilroys List. Her plays are published by Broadway Play Publishing; her short play, RECONCILE, BITCH is included in the short plays anthology “Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2020,” published by Applause Theater and Cinema Books; a ten-minute play, SPIRIT SEX: A PARANORMAL ROMANCE, was selected for the short plays anthology, “Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2010;” and a scene from her play, COMIDA DE PUTA (F%&king Lousy Food) is included in an anthology featuring plays written by Latinx playwrights, “Scenes for Latinx Actors: Voices of the New American Theater,” both published by Smith and Kraus. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild and SAG-AFTRA. Desi lives in The Bronx with her wonderful partner, Anthony, and their cat, Choo-Choo.


Desi Moreno-Penson
(She, Hers)
Playwright, Actor, Dramaturge, Producer
actorswithoutspaces@gmail.com


https://sites.google.com/a/theoneill.org/2016-o-neill-finalists/npc-finalist-list

https://sites.google.com/a/theoneill.org/2014-national-playwrights-conference-finalists/comida-de-puta-f-king-lousy-food-by-desi-moreno-penson,

2016 National Latino Playwriting Award:
http://www.broadwayworld.com/phoenix/article/Desi-Moreno-Pensons-BEIGE-Wins-Arizona-Theatre-Companys-21st-Annual-National-Latino-Playwriting-Award-20160825

2017 MultiStages New Works Contest Winner – OMINOUS MEN
https://multistages.org/2016/01/2015-new-works-contest/

50 Playwrights Project Top 8 Best Unproduced Latinx Plays 2017:
https://50playwrights.org/the-50pp-list/50pps-best-unproduced-latin-plays-2017/

New Play Exchange:
https://newplayexchange.org/users/474/desi-moreno-penson

The Kilroys' Honorable Mention 2015
http://thekilroys.org/2015-honorable-mentions/

The Kilroys’ Honorable Mention 2017
http://thekilroys.org/list-2017/

http://www.broadwayworld.com/off-off-broadway/article/Photo-Flash-First-Look-at-MultiStages-Theatres-COMIDA-DE-PUTA-FKING-LOUSY-FOOD-20150414

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Desi-Moreno-Pensons-OMINOUS-MEN-Gets-Staged-Reading-in-NYC-This-Fall-20161013

Plays

  • THE FLIES by DESI MORENO-PENSON
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, horror, mystery/thriller
    THE FLIES is an intimate, sexy, unconventional ghost story/thriller. Two artists arrive at a motel room for an afternoon of clandestine sex. One artist is successful and well-known, the other is not. During the course of their time together, another character…an enigmatic security guard with alarming news about the room they’re in, will turn up and ultimately change everything. THE FLIES is a modern noir play...
    THE FLIES is an intimate, sexy, unconventional ghost story/thriller. Two artists arrive at a motel room for an afternoon of clandestine sex. One artist is successful and well-known, the other is not. During the course of their time together, another character…an enigmatic security guard with alarming news about the room they’re in, will turn up and ultimately change everything. THE FLIES is a modern noir play of many shadings and ideas. It is primarily a ghost story, but first and foremost, it deals with celebrity and invisibility and the fine line that separates them both. It is a dissection of the experience of loss and of memory. It explores the idea of fate, control and chaos. It deals with art as a career and as a way of life. And finally, it talks about the power of creation, methods of myth-making, and ultimately, oblivion.
  • NOT LIKE US by DESI MORENO-PENSON
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 5 more
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    Keyword: Latinx, intersectional feminism
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, experimental, farce, parody/spoof, political, satire
    Keyword: Latinx, intersectional feminism
    Two accomplished, but snooty Latinas, both of them intersectional feminists, neither of them illegal nor Mexican, conduct interviews for their next big protest with would-be "organizers" Harriet Tubman, Kellyanne Conway, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor...and find each one of them wanting/lacking in some aspect. A humorous, cautionary tale about egos and cultural hubris, and what it really means to be “...
    Two accomplished, but snooty Latinas, both of them intersectional feminists, neither of them illegal nor Mexican, conduct interviews for their next big protest with would-be "organizers" Harriet Tubman, Kellyanne Conway, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor...and find each one of them wanting/lacking in some aspect. A humorous, cautionary tale about egos and cultural hubris, and what it really means to be “inclusive.” Co-authored with Latinx playwright Noemi de la Puente, this short play was presented as part of the Future Is Female Festival, hosted by MultiStages Theater Company in New York City.
  • Beige by DESI MORENO-PENSON
    Recommendations: 5
    ·
    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: drama, experimental + 2 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, fantasy, political
    A surreal tale of self-identity and the sometimes schizophrenic effects of post-colonialism, BEIGE is set in 2001, soon after the tragedy of 9/11, and tells the story of Soledad Iglesias, a young Nuyorican journalist who finds herself caught between the reality of her Jewish fiancee and the ideals of the notorious Puerto Rican Nationalist, Lolita Lebron. Existing at the crossroads of history, reality, and...
    A surreal tale of self-identity and the sometimes schizophrenic effects of post-colonialism, BEIGE is set in 2001, soon after the tragedy of 9/11, and tells the story of Soledad Iglesias, a young Nuyorican journalist who finds herself caught between the reality of her Jewish fiancee and the ideals of the notorious Puerto Rican Nationalist, Lolita Lebron. Existing at the crossroads of history, reality, and cultural imagination, BEIGE is a quixotic, cautionary tale of race, Puerto Rican politics, and love.

    BEIGE is the winner of the 2016 National Latino Playwriting Award sponsored by the Arizona Theater Company, http://www.broadwayworld.com/phoenix/article/Desi-Moreno-Pensons-BEIGE-Wins-Arizona-Theatre-Companys-21st-Annual-National-Latino-Playwriting-Award-20160825
  • Comida de Puta (F%&king Lousy Food) by DESI MORENO-PENSON
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    11–12
    ·
    Genre: drama, experimental + 6 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, fable/folktale, fantasy, horror, melodrama, mystery/thriller, political
    http://nytheaternow.com/Content/Article/2015-4-14-comida-de-puta-fking-lousy-food
    http://osburnt.com/comida-de-puta/
    http://artsincolor.com/2015/04/thoughts-comida-de-puta/

    Sex, magic, and spoken-word poetry illuminate this dark, erotic tale of Phaedra on the gritty streets of the Bronx. A bodega owner's new wife becomes strangely obsessed with her husband's son, the lunch...
    http://nytheaternow.com/Content/Article/2015-4-14-comida-de-puta-fking-lousy-food
    http://osburnt.com/comida-de-puta/
    http://artsincolor.com/2015/04/thoughts-comida-de-puta/

    Sex, magic, and spoken-word poetry illuminate this dark, erotic tale of Phaedra on the gritty streets of the Bronx. A bodega owner's new wife becomes strangely obsessed with her husband's son, the lunch counter boy. Driven by lust, she invokes the vengeful power of the Santeria Gods who set off a vicious chain of events that no one can stop.

  • "Don't Knock It 'Til You Try It" and "A Latina Prepares" (performance monologues presented as part of solo show, "Dos Mujeres") by DESI MORENO-PENSON
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, experimental, farce, parody/spoof, political, satire
    www.theasy.com/Reviews/2013/D/dosmujeres.php
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=esEjHmX9dV4

    For "Don't Knock It 'Til You Try It": A Latina college professor in her 40s finally gives in to her husband's demand for a threesome. What happens after is unexpected.

    For "A Latina Prepares": A Latina actress, fed up with the stereotypes with Carmen to...
    www.theasy.com/Reviews/2013/D/dosmujeres.php
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=esEjHmX9dV4

    For "Don't Knock It 'Til You Try It": A Latina college professor in her 40s finally gives in to her husband's demand for a threesome. What happens after is unexpected.

    For "A Latina Prepares": A Latina actress, fed up with the stereotypes with Carmen to Jennifer, takes revenge upon her auditioners...by being a damn good actress!
  • 3 To A Session: A Monster's Tale by DESI MORENO-PENSON
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 7 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, experimental, fable/folktale, fantasy, horror, melodrama, mystery/thriller, parody/spoof
    Taking place in a strange, surrealistic realm between life and death…the brooding and child-like Vincent, the smart and steely-eyed Ally, and the sexy, yet uptight plant-lover Paula engage in sexual play-acting scenarios, leading them into memories of loss, love, longing, and domestic violence.
  • Devil Land by DESI MORENO-PENSON
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 7 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, experimental, fable/folktale, fantasy, horror, melodrama, mystery/thriller, political
    http://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/devil-land

    Based on a true kidnapping, DEVIL LAND is a modern day, adult fairytale about a couple in the Bronx who kidnaps a twelve-year old girl, keeping her in their basement boiler room in a thoroughly misguided attempt at creating a family. The little girl, however, has other ideas. She claims to be clairvoyant and can communicate with the dead,...
    http://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/devil-land

    Based on a true kidnapping, DEVIL LAND is a modern day, adult fairytale about a couple in the Bronx who kidnaps a twelve-year old girl, keeping her in their basement boiler room in a thoroughly misguided attempt at creating a family. The little girl, however, has other ideas. She claims to be clairvoyant and can communicate with the dead, including the couple’s own dead baby. And she is protected by her terrifying and perhaps not-so-imaginary friend, whom she calls “the Grinch” (Yes, THAT Grinch, only more ghoulish!). Ultimately, a battle of wills ensues pitting faith, family, and politic against each other. DEVIL LAND is a fantastical, gothic exploration into New York City lore.