Daniela Gonzalez y Perez

Daniela Gonzalez y Perez

Daniela Gonzalez y Perez (they/she) is a queer Puerto Rican actor, playwright, screenwriter, and teaching artist born and raised in Brooklyn. Their writing explores the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and religion through fantasy, "magical realism", sci-fi, and that “Brooklyn shit” to confront/reject societal norms, barriers, and the displacement of peoples. They are a recent...
Daniela Gonzalez y Perez (they/she) is a queer Puerto Rican actor, playwright, screenwriter, and teaching artist born and raised in Brooklyn. Their writing explores the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and religion through fantasy, "magical realism", sci-fi, and that “Brooklyn shit” to confront/reject societal norms, barriers, and the displacement of peoples. They are a recent UCROSS Fellow ('23), were in Clubbed Thumb's Early-Career Writers' Group that resulted in a public reading of THE RAPTORS and being mentored by David Henry Hwang ('22/23), a Finalist for the Ya Tu Sabes Monologue Slam presented by Nosotros x NBC ('22), and recently a fellow of The Latinx Playwrights Circle’s Intensive Mentorship Program, which resulted in a public reading of ÁNGEL Y CHUPI (The Reinvented Queer Tale of the Puerto Rican Chupacabra), mentored by Migdalia Cruz ('22). They wrote TINKERBELL & THE LOST GIRL for Cosmic Cherry Festival ('23), ALIEN STRIPPERS for The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues with INTAR ('22), have had two of their ten-minute plays, THE MARTIAN KING and UNOFFICIAL GIRLFRIEND, shown live at Fucked-Up Play Fest! ('21), two zoom readings of their full-length plays, ÁNGEL Y CHUPI and MY BROOKLYN ('21, '20), with The Latinx Playwrights Circle, and four plays selected for Gi60: International One-Minute Theatre Festival over the years. They hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Brooklyn College, is a proud member of INTAR’s Unit 52 and The Latinx Playwrights Circle, and is a Teaching Artist for Manhattan Theatre Club.

Plays

  • THE RAPTORS
    BREAKING NEWS: Puerto Rico has just been declared the 51st state of the United States causing chaos to break out in the U.S. and on the island! As the last remaining resistance group of women and non-gendered people are being hunted by the government in El Yunque rainforest, strange things begin to occur when they’re forced to reckon with identity, trauma, and survival as time threatens to escape them and the race for their memory begins.
  • ÁNGEL Y CHUPI (The Reinvented Queer Tale of the Puerto Rican Chupacabra)
    The tortured tale of two reincarnated spirits that find themselves face to face in their newest forms, one as a quirky Puerto Rican angel and the other as a repulsive although charming Chupacabra, after being separated for centuries. A love triangle ensues when a mystery woman appears, threatening the balance of their worlds, as they grapple with obsession, forgiveness, grief, and the afterlife as they’re not...
    The tortured tale of two reincarnated spirits that find themselves face to face in their newest forms, one as a quirky Puerto Rican angel and the other as a repulsive although charming Chupacabra, after being separated for centuries. A love triangle ensues when a mystery woman appears, threatening the balance of their worlds, as they grapple with obsession, forgiveness, grief, and the afterlife as they’re not only forced to face each other, but themselves.

Recommended by Daniela Gonzalez y Perez

  • AS I EAT THE WORLD
    19 Sep. 2023
    A raw, honest, thought-provoking exploration on body image, "machismo", what it means to be a man, and family. Experiencing this show during the FRIGID Festival, as each bite becomes heavier and the weight of the world begins to suffocate him, brought me to tears. Anyone who’s felt uncomfortable in their body, identity, and have succumb to or witnessed depression can relate. In "AS I EAT THE WORLD", the weight of the world is in this man's stomach as he struggles to stay alive and Herrera begs the question-how do you prove to yourself that you’re worth it?
  • The Suncatchers of Sahel: An Ancestral Tale Told To Today's Griot, Part II: The Two Twilights
    19 Jul. 2023
    An epic. Timeless. Captivating language interwoven with intense intimate relationships, this world doesn’t ask you to pay attention, it demands it. A beautiful investigation of royalty, power dynamics, black queer experiences, lineage, and ancestry. Never have I been excited for a third act, until this play. After seeing a reading of it last year, presented by the Civilians’ R&D Group, it’s clear that Burke has created an unforgettable universe that not only deserves to be felt, but studied and celebrated.
  • The Jersey Devil Is a Papi Chulo
    17 Feb. 2022
    Captivating, dangerously hilarious, and the ice cream birthday cake with confetti you didn’t know you needed. The funniest AND one of the best plays I’ve ever read. I cannot wait until it takes the world by storm, from colleges to the mainstage, to outside forests with birds and bugs singing to its tune (get out your insect repellant). Painfully relatable. The writing a breath of fresh air. In “The Jersey Devil is a Papi Chulo”, Reilly creates an incredible range of Latinx women and two blankitito dude-bros in an important social commentary mixed with heart, growth, y adobo.
  • A Skeptic and a Bruja
    4 Nov. 2021
    Perfect play for ehSpooky (and any other spiritual) season! I read this alone, in an AirBnb, in the woods, in the dark, during the “Witching Hour” (highly recommend). Suspense mixed with humor that’ll have you worried one moment and chuckling the next. Embarking on this journey with these valiant women of color invites us to have a new perspective on the worlds or dimensions that are usually hidden from us, that only the gifted can see. “A Skeptic and a Bruja” is a heart racing journey about family, friendship, the spiritual world, and working together to find peace.
  • WORLD CLASSIC
    16 Oct. 2021
    An instant classic. The play(wright) all actors should be gifted when being introduced to Neil Simon and Arthur Miller. A journey of non-stop action and discovery from start to finish. Brought tears to my eyes because it was the first time feeling so culturally seen and represented in this Puerto Rican family and its complexities. This should be produced at every theater and university. Various ages, sexualities, and diasporas are represented as it contains universal themes exploring family, heart, grief, The American Dream, and resistance to change. "World Classic" is a piece of what American theater has been missing.