Franky D. Gonzalez

Winner - Judith Royer Award for Excellence in Playwriting
Co-Recipient - MetLife Nuestras Voces Latino Playwriting Award
Citation from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival

“Developed in The Lark's Playwrights' Week, New York City."

"Developed at the Ojai Playwrights Conference Foundry Project, 2020"

An examination of the inmates within a system trying to discover meaning in the face of isolation and doubt in one's own worth over a 25 year bid. The play explores familial ties, love, race, inmate-correctional officer relations, the passing of time, and the succeeding generation of individuals who deal with the challenges of trying to avoid a life of crime or resigning oneself to becoming a part of the system that swept up previous generations.

Winner: Risk Theatre Modern Tragedy Competition Prize 2022
Non-Equity Jeff Award Best Short Run Production, 2024
Non-Equity Jeff Award Best Director Short Run Production, 2024

World Premiere Production: Urbanite Theatre 2023
Midwest Premiere: Visión Latino Theatre Company 2023

Four Latino boxers fight with everything their bodies and spirits will allow against destiny, society, and the all-consuming power of a black hole in an effort to win the world title and overcome the roles life had assigned them.

“That Must Be the Entrance to Heaven” was developed by Urbanite Theatre, Sarasota, FL as part of the 2020 Charles Rowan Beye New Play Commission
(Summer Dawn Wallace, Brendan Ragan; Artistic Directors)

WINNER - The Inaugural Oliver Kelly Award, April 2026

A Colombian town along the Magdalena River plunges into chaos after a flatulent, destructive, easily offended, and adventurous hippo comes to town and wreaks havoc. The crisis worsens when people begin transforming into hippos themselves causing, not only chaos, but the beginnings of a revolution where humans are trampled by these new Hipposapiens. As this shifting of civilization unfolds, three friends try to figure out how to deal with the transforming population and solve the connection between the hippos and a notorious drug lord. An homage to the works of Ionesco (namely Rhinoceros and The Killer), this play explores through absurdity and comedy the very serious and deadly consequences that come with the surrendering of humanity in favor of bestial urges and self-gratification.

A reimagining of the classic work by Shakespeare, the Tragedy of Othello follows the journey and battles of Imani Othello who must navigate the treacherous world of sports and her own insecurities after being named Head Coach of America's most beloved football franchise.

Before You Get Married explores the relationship between siblings - the night before the sister's wedding - that they may not be related. With the passing night and flowing wine, both siblings struggle to understand what they mean to each other as they reveal secrets of the past and explore the desires of two people at once impossibly connected and separated.

In a beautifully beige Dallas suburb, a white woman with a legacy to uphold, a Black husband on the cusp of tenure, and a Latino ex-lover clawing his way back from addiction reconnect over art, race, power, and the ghosts of their past. A reimagining of Ibsen’s classic tragedy—now set at the volatile intersection of love, ambition, and American respectability politics.

Digital Production: Ars Nova ANT Fest 2021
Digital Production: Latino Theater Company RE: Encuentro 2021

A playwright searching for his father and for someone to read aloud a letter he's written recruits a Performer who, along with the audience, are taken with the playwright on a journey through four Christmas Eves, coconut popsicles, depression, Santería chants, Times Square, male breastfeeding, reunions with long-lost siblings, Applebee's Nacho Plates, child birth, suicide attempts, fatherhood, and robbing Chinese buffets.

Developed and Workshopped with The Workshop Theater, 2023
Developed as part of The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, 2022
Developed at Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, 2022
Developed as part of the 4 Seasons Residency

Catalyzed by two health crises that occurred close to each other, Heart Stop, or The Obesity Play is a solo show following the current, real-time journey of playwright Franky D. Gonzalez as he tries to find a way toward a healthier life while battling against depression, self-loathing, and his constant struggle with obesity.

A couple a long way from home meet a man who becomes fast friends with the couple. An affair begins which twists itself into a ménage à trois of voyeurism, loneliness, repression and obsession. A three character show in which two actors split the role of the cuckolded husband between memories, Happy Together explores the nature of denial, memory, repression and desire in one continuous scene without blackout.

A play occurring over several years in reverse chronology about three creatives navigating the world of theatre, friendship, and infidelity.

One Month Along was developed through LAUNCH PAD at the University of California, Santa Barbara – Department of Theater and Dance in 2022, Risa Brainin, Artistic Director.

At a bus station in San Marcos, Texas, a recovering addict on his way to rehab and a woman haunted by her own past form an unexpected connection, confronting their demons and exploring the fragile hope of redemption, as they journey together to Dallas in search of miracles they may no longer believe in.

When the Sun Touches You the Monsters Die is a two-character, one-act play set on a tenement rooftop in the early hours before dawn. It follows Sol and Edad, former lovers, as they reunite under the pretense of searching for Edad’s missing brother. As their conversation unfolds, it becomes clear the reunion masks a deeper emotional crisis. Through confessions, old wounds, and a story from their shared past, the play explores themes of emotional trauma, the symbolic power of sunlight, and the fragile hope that forgiveness and presence might offer a path forward.

An unnamed man contemplating suicide hires a vagabond to bury him after the deed is done. The vagabond agrees but on condition that the man listen to the vagabond until the next train arrives.

Christmas Eve, 2013. A penitentiary. Two unnamed inmates discuss the pronunciation of the word "magi," and unwittingly become a retelling of the famous O. Henry story.

This play occurs in the same continuity as Even Flowers Bloom in Hell, Sometimes also by Franky D. Gonzalez

Mary, Tracey, and Gazzara work as night shift call center reps. They hate each other and also have a weird fascination with furries.

Tonight they're playing the lotto.

A lone speaker travels a quiet night path, reflecting on uncertainty, isolation, and the longing to be seen. Accompanied by the songs of mockingbirds and the sounds of the dark, they search for meaning, connection, and a way forward.

It is bedtime. A father and child lay in bed together. The child will not sleep. The father cannot sleep.

A father taking care of his son while his wife goes out remembers his lowest point as a father and reevaluates his previous assessment of his own deadbeat dad.

Simmons and Melendez sit on a bench discussing the severity of the coronavirus pandemic while waiting for Delgado to go shoppping.

Originally commissioned by ScriptWorks, Austin TX for AMPLIFY AUSTIN 2021

Megan and Annalise try to determine whether or not they'd let an alleged creep keep a part of them like a rabbit's foot. He's really hot, you see.

A small promise in a long night.

Commissioned by The New Harmony Project for the Sunrise Gallery

An undocumented boxer brought to the U.S. as a child fights ten times in one year to become the mandatory challenger for a world title and his last shot at a visa to stay in the United States

THE EXTRAORDINARY EB-1 was developed by
Urbanite Theatre
(Summer Dawn Wallace, Brendan Ragan; Artistic Directors)
in Sarasota, Florida, as part of the
2020 Charles Rowan Beye New Play Commission.

Whilst preparing for the match of his career, a boxer reminisces on memories of his younger brother and the events that drove them apart and led to the night’s main event: A showdown between two brothers for the Championship title.

A pregnant woman has some questions she's been needing to ask about this whole "baby-having" thing.

A young man visits an inmate family member where they discuss gentrification, racism, and the prospect of education versus a life on the streets.

-ODY CALLED THE EARTH

The title says it. Happy birthday Matthew Weaver.

Two inmates discuss whether or not Time exists and who controls it.

A scene taken from Even Flowers Bloom in Hell, Sometimes and turned into a standalone short play.

Two very anxious employees of Game Emporium and Exchange count the minutes until closing time, relieved that their latest release from the hit role-playing game Castles and Gorgons has not been marred by two frequent customers who take their roleplaying very seriously. Just as the employees are about to lock up for the night both men burst into the store, on a quest to purchase the last copy of Castle and Gorgons for themselves. The stage is set for a clash of epic proportions as the Mage-Slayer and the Lightbringer do battle for the last copy of Castles and Gorgons Final Battle Supplements!

A man and woman eating dinner confront each other about an affair the other must be having. As the dialogue passes; the truth becomes more and more vague and the relationship that was originally implied takes on a new dimension.

An updated and expanded version of To Love and Be Loved in Return.

A one act play exploring the hidden desires between siblings Jason and Alicia the night before Alicia is to get married to a man she doesn't love.

Tired of talking about sad news and deportation, a woman changes the topic of conversation to something more positive: her upcoming mission trip to Guatemala. Written for the Dallas Edition of the One-Minute Play Festival with Kitchen Dog Theater

A father and daughter recall their relationship over the years after the mother's suicide.

A homeless couple’s relationship is pushed to its limits under the oncoming, very literal weight of one of life’s greatest mysteries: a child.

An examination of the inmates within a system trying to discover meaning in the face of isolation and doubt in one's own worth over a 25 year bid.

Spoken in Spanglish.

A man and woman eating dinner confront each other about an affair the other must be having. As the dialogue passes; the truth becomes more and more vague and the relationship that was originally implied takes on a new dimension.

A young man and woman reflect on love, loss, death, grief and moving on.

Two men discuss why it is that actresses from Dallas keep leaving the city for other markets like Chicago despite the danger and risk of violence associated with going to Chicago. Written for the 5th annual One-Minute Play Festival in Dallas with Kitchen Dog Theater.

From a forthcoming script. A woman has a question to ask but first, she has to lay out some of her rationale for asking this question.

A woman recalls the day she spent with her grandmother the day after the news broke on the existence of tent cities and tender-age shelters. Following this day with her grandmother she finds new courage to face what may come.

The Protagonist finds out after waking up that they will die on Page 15. An argument with the Creator ensues.

A call between sisters--one in prison while the other is free--on Christmas Day discussing making dreams come true, living life to the fullest, and the regrets that come with unfulfilled potential.

Originally a scene cut from Even Flowers Bloom in Hell, Sometimes, redone to be its own standalone play.