Aurora Real de Asua

Aurora de Asua is a Basque-American playwright, performer, and filmmaker based in New York and Chicago. Her plays include WIPEOUT (2024 NNPN Rolling World Premiere and 2024 David Goldman Fund for New American Plays Award winner, with productions at Rivendell Theatre, B Street Theatre, and Gloucester Stage Company, and additional productions at Studio Theatre, Constellations Stage and Screen, and Alleyway Theatre; Second Stage Judith Champion Reading Series and MTC Ted Snowdon Reading; APING JANE (UCROSS Future of Playwriting Finalist); THE PRIDE BEFORE (Beyond the Realm workshop); WET (New Harmony PlayFest 2024, The Playwright's Realm Scratchpad Ink Series, Agnes Nixon Award); THE HAIRS IN BETWEEN FRIDA KAHLO'S EYEBROWS. Her work has been developed at MTC, Second Stage, Williamstown...

Aurora de Asua is a Basque-American playwright, performer, and filmmaker based in New York and Chicago. Her plays include WIPEOUT (2024 NNPN Rolling World Premiere and 2024 David Goldman Fund for New American Plays Award winner, with productions at Rivendell Theatre, B Street Theatre, and Gloucester Stage Company, and additional productions at Studio Theatre, Constellations Stage and Screen, and Alleyway Theatre; Second Stage Judith Champion Reading Series and MTC Ted Snowdon Reading; APING JANE (UCROSS Future of Playwriting Finalist); THE PRIDE BEFORE (Beyond the Realm workshop); WET (New Harmony PlayFest 2024, The Playwright's Realm Scratchpad Ink Series, Agnes Nixon Award); THE HAIRS IN BETWEEN FRIDA KAHLO'S EYEBROWS. Her work has been developed at MTC, Second Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The New Harmony Project, The Old Globe, Chicago Children's Theatre, and Rivendell Theatre. She is a graduate of Northwestern University where she studied playwriting under Laura Schellhardt. She has an M.F.A. in film from Columbia University.

A Jeff-nominated actor, Aurora was chosen by the Chicago Tribune as one of the Hot Young Faces of Chicago theatre in 2019.

read more

Scripts

Aping Jane

by Aurora Real de Asua

Cast Size
1
Genre
biography,
comedy,
movement/physical

How did an untrained secretary come to redefine our understanding of what it means to be human? Aping Jane is a celebration of the brilliant life of Jane Goodall told from the perspectives of the animals around her. Using a mixture of clown and puppetry, this one-woman play takes you through the jungle and back in order to uncover the heart behind one of the world's most influential minds.

How did an untrained secretary come to redefine our understanding of what it means to be human? Aping Jane is a celebration of the brilliant life of Jane Goodall told from the perspectives of the animals around her. Using a mixture of clown and puppetry, this one-woman play takes you through the jungle and back in order to uncover the heart behind one of the world's most influential minds.

Wipeout

by Aurora Real de Asua

3
Cast Size
4
Genre
adventure,
comedy,
drama

Three retired best friends. One hotrod surf instructor. The currents of the Pacific Ocean. What could possibly go wrong? Set on surfboards, WIPEOUT is a poignant comedy about friendship, grief, and the unpredictable tides of life.

Three retired best friends. One hotrod surf instructor. The currents of the Pacific Ocean. What could possibly go wrong? Set on surfboards, WIPEOUT is a poignant comedy about friendship, grief, and the unpredictable tides of life.

The Hairs In Between Frida Kahlo's Eyebrows

by Aurora Real de Asua

Cast Size
7
Genre
biography,
dark comedy

This is the story of the last day of the life of Frida Kahlo...told from the perspective of the seven hairs growing in between her eyebrows. Part poetry, part magical realism, and part family drama, THE HAIRS IN BETWEEN FRIDA KAHLO'S EYEBROWS explores the conversation between creativity and death in a manner as explosive and surprising as the legendary artist herself.

This is the story of the last day of the life of Frida Kahlo...told from the perspective of the seven hairs growing in between her eyebrows. Part poetry, part magical realism, and part family drama, THE HAIRS IN BETWEEN FRIDA KAHLO'S EYEBROWS explores the conversation between creativity and death in a manner as explosive and surprising as the legendary artist herself.

WET

by Aurora Real de Asua

1
Cast Size
8
Genre
comedy,
drama

One of the only places where the teachers, staff, and students of a prestigious all-girl school can freely intermingle is the changing room of the school pool. But when a teacher/student sex scandal rocks the community, everyone must reevaluate the true meaning of safe space. This bittersweet comedy follows three generations of women as they navigate the tumultuous waters of friendship and the complexities of...

One of the only places where the teachers, staff, and students of a prestigious all-girl school can freely intermingle is the changing room of the school pool. But when a teacher/student sex scandal rocks the community, everyone must reevaluate the true meaning of safe space. This bittersweet comedy follows three generations of women as they navigate the tumultuous waters of friendship and the complexities of attraction.

read more

An Elephant Never Forgets: The Zoodunnit!

by Aurora Real de Asua

Cast Size
15—40
Genre
dark comedy,
musical,
young audiences

The Lincoln Park Zoo's star elephant is dead and there's only critter who can crack the case - CR Dile, Chicago's only crocodile detective. With the help of Sylvia the Seal, CR uncovers the sinister secrets lurking behind zoo bars. A noir-inspired musical for young adults, AN ELEPHANT NEVER FORGETS takes a interspecies look at what it really means to be free.

The Lincoln Park Zoo's star elephant is dead and there's only critter who can crack the case - CR Dile, Chicago's only crocodile detective. With the help of Sylvia the Seal, CR uncovers the sinister secrets lurking behind zoo bars. A noir-inspired musical for young adults, AN ELEPHANT NEVER FORGETS takes a interspecies look at what it really means to be free.