Erlina Ortiz

Erlina Ortiz

Erlina Ortiz (she/her/ella) is a Dominican-American playwright and theatre maker from Reading, PA. Her heartfelt and humorous plays have been presented across the US and with Power Street Theatre where she is proud to be Resident Playwright and Co-Artistic Director.

In 2018 her play Las Mujeres received The Bonaly Award for Creation of Community Joy and in 2019 Morir Sonyando was nominated for...
Erlina Ortiz (she/her/ella) is a Dominican-American playwright and theatre maker from Reading, PA. Her heartfelt and humorous plays have been presented across the US and with Power Street Theatre where she is proud to be Resident Playwright and Co-Artistic Director.

In 2018 her play Las Mujeres received The Bonaly Award for Creation of Community Joy and in 2019 Morir Sonyando was nominated for six Barrymore Awards including Outstanding New Play. In Fall 2021 Young Money premiered at Azuka Theatre and went on to receive the ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award Citation. In 2022 her play La Egoista was selected for the LTC Comedy Carnaval in Denver going on to win the 2022 National Latine Playwriting Award, premiering at Actors Theatre of Louisville and Skylight Theatre and being featured on the 2023 Kilroy's WEB.

Erlina has embarked on the Amtrak Writer’s residency where she traveled across the US in an Amtrak sleeper car, the Signal Fire Residency Outpost Residency where she lived on the side of a mountain for a week, and in 2019 she gave the Keynote Address at the Delaware Writer’s Conference on the importance of nurturing your artistic community. Erlina was a member of NEXUS with New York Stage and Film and is a two time recipient of the Leeway Art and Change Grant and the 2021 Leeway Transformation Award. In 2023 she was named as a Dramatist Guild Foundation Catalyst Fellow. Erlina has taught playwriting with the University of the Arts, Power Street Theatre, and Blue Stoop. She currently serves as secretary of the board for Theatre Philadelphia.

Her new musical, Siluetas, was developed for the O’Neill National Musical Theatre Conference and will be premiering with Power Street Theatre in 2024. Erlina believes being an artist is a superpower, she believes in using her powers for good.

erlinaortiz.com - @erlina6ortiz

Plays

  • Honey Bee Baby by Erlina Ortiz
    Recommendations: 6
    ·
    Cast: 
    6–7
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 5 more
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    Keyword: climate change, overpopulation + 7 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, experimental, horror, mystery/thriller, political, science fiction
    Keyword: climate change, overpopulation, Reproductive Rights, feminism, anti-fascist, totalitarianism, pro-choice, genetic engineering, learning differences
    Melisa is a kind-hearted follower of rules. She desperately wants a child, if only she could pass the government mandated test that will allow her to do it. Young Clarisa knows nothing except the perfectly curated life her parents have carved for her in their fortified underground mansion. She too has a test to pass, if only she could focus, follow, listen; the way Mother wants her to. In Erlina Ortiz’s magical...
    Melisa is a kind-hearted follower of rules. She desperately wants a child, if only she could pass the government mandated test that will allow her to do it. Young Clarisa knows nothing except the perfectly curated life her parents have carved for her in their fortified underground mansion. She too has a test to pass, if only she could focus, follow, listen; the way Mother wants her to. In Erlina Ortiz’s magical Honey Bee Baby, the bees are gone, the resources are scarce, and every one must earn their place in this world where the lines between right and wrong are blurred with blood
  • Young Money by Erlina Ortiz
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    2–3
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: afro-latinx, Latinx + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, political
    Keyword: afro-latinx, Latinx, American capitalism, intergenerational conflicts, cross-cultural, gender norms, hood feminism, rap and hip hop, comic
    Tomasina AKA Kila - T is Hip-hop's newest chart topper. Elegant and prideful Gardenia has been laid off from her job of 20 years and now she cleans Kila’s dressing room. When an attack on Kila’s concert forces the two women together, questions of morality, success, and redemption are danced around as these women discover they may have more to learn from each other than they think.
    Young Money...
    Tomasina AKA Kila - T is Hip-hop's newest chart topper. Elegant and prideful Gardenia has been laid off from her job of 20 years and now she cleans Kila’s dressing room. When an attack on Kila’s concert forces the two women together, questions of morality, success, and redemption are danced around as these women discover they may have more to learn from each other than they think.
    Young Money received the Steinberg/ATCA New Play citation in 2022.
  • La Egoista by Erlina Ortiz
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: Chronic Illness, stand-up comedy + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: Chronic Illness, stand-up comedy, Dominican sisters, estranged siblings, selfishness
    La Egoista, commissioned by Live and In Color!, explores the story of sisters Josefina and Betsaida. Josefina is a rising stand up comic who is coming to terms with the recent death of her mother and her sister's sudden chronic illness diagnosis. Surrealistic in nature, the one act play follows Josefina through her sets and scenes as they unfold in conjunction with the deterioration of her sister's health.
  • She Wore Those Shoes by Erlina Ortiz
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    4–6
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 4 more
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    Keyword: military, women in the military + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, movement/physical, political
    Keyword: military, women in the military, Military family, rape culture, rape survivor, ghosts, military justice, betrayal
    Inspired by the documentary "The Invisible War", Erlina Ortiz’s "She Wore Those Shoes" explores the prevailing issue of sexual assault within the United States military and the silence, stigma, and negligence that survivors often face.
    Protagonist, Yudy, a strong and confident young Latina woman, excitedly joins the armed forces in pursuit of the military pride and prowess that her...
    Inspired by the documentary "The Invisible War", Erlina Ortiz’s "She Wore Those Shoes" explores the prevailing issue of sexual assault within the United States military and the silence, stigma, and negligence that survivors often face.
    Protagonist, Yudy, a strong and confident young Latina woman, excitedly joins the armed forces in pursuit of the military pride and prowess that her respected older brother Abraham represents. Yudy’s high regard for her military “family,” however is deeply tarnished in the aftermath of trauma, as silence, disbelief, and betrayal ensue. Through memory, cadences, creative movement and unexpected humor, we follow Yudy’s journey as she navigates being a woman of color and veteran as well as something more than a victim of our pervasive rape culture.
  • Morir Sonyando by Erlina Ortiz
    Recommendations: 5
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: Latinx, Dominican Republic + 8 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, experimental, tragedy
    Keyword: Latinx, Dominican Republic, domestic violence, family, multimedia, film, forgiveness, grief and healing, gun violence, magical realism
    Morir Sonyando by Erlina Ortiz, is a play about family and the grace we must choose to bestow on one another every day to keep alive.
    “The first hit tears your skin and makes you bleed. It feels like the world has turned to spinning stars. But after that, you don’t feel much more.”
    Genesis, an academic working her way through an Ivy League education, is proud of the fact that she’s survived her...
    Morir Sonyando by Erlina Ortiz, is a play about family and the grace we must choose to bestow on one another every day to keep alive.
    “The first hit tears your skin and makes you bleed. It feels like the world has turned to spinning stars. But after that, you don’t feel much more.”
    Genesis, an academic working her way through an Ivy League education, is proud of the fact that she’s survived her family’s dysfunction, if only just barely. But when her estranged mother, Paloma, is released from prison after a decade of incarceration, Genesis is forced to confront her involvement in the imprisonment and the life from which she has done her best to escape.

    Listen to a recording of Morir Sonyando at the Parsnip Ship podcast here or wherever you listen to podcast!
    https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-the-parsnip-ship-43091052/episode/morir-sonyando-by-erlina-ortiz-58583736/

    A Family Must Confront Domestic Violence in “Morir Sonyando”; Passage Theatre Offers Compelling Production of Raw, Nuanced Drama
    http://www.towntopics.com/wordpress/2019/05/08/a-family-must-confront-domestic-violence-in-morir-sonyando-passage-theatre-offers-compelling-production-of-raw-nuanced-drama/

    “Morir Sonyando” looks at family cycles of abuse
    https://outinjersey.net/morir-sonyando-looks-at-family-cycles-of-abuse/
  • Las Mujeres by Erlina Ortiz
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    5–6
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    Genre: biography, comedy + 6 more
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    Keyword: Revolutionaries, feminism + 8 more
    Genre: biography, comedy, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, fantasy, political, young audiences
    Keyword: Revolutionaries, feminism, equal pay, magical realism, dramedy, Latinx, latina, adoption, reconciliation, women's history
    Las Mujeres, is a journey through time as we meet the famous Latinas of herstory's past. Marlene, a workaholic engineer who wouldn’t call herself a feminist, has just been the only woman at her firm promoted to a managerial position. After a devastating encounter, Marlene finds reality has faded away and her kitchen becomes... a party. The guests? Frida Kahlo, Rita Hayworth, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, and...
    Las Mujeres, is a journey through time as we meet the famous Latinas of herstory's past. Marlene, a workaholic engineer who wouldn’t call herself a feminist, has just been the only woman at her firm promoted to a managerial position. After a devastating encounter, Marlene finds reality has faded away and her kitchen becomes... a party. The guests? Frida Kahlo, Rita Hayworth, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, and Minerva Mirabal. Don’t know them? You will. These remarkable women share their stories of art, and Revolucion! with the comfortable and complacent Marlene, but will she wake up?

    2018 Surya Awards
    Bonaly Recognition for Creation of Community Joy
    Bonaly Recognition for Excellent Costume Design

  • MinorityLand by Erlina Ortiz
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: cultural diversity, diversity + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, political, young audiences
    Keyword: cultural diversity, diversity, gentrification, blended families, African American, mixed race
    “It quickly became clear that I was dumb to judge this play before I'd seen it, and I that had in fact judged it wrong. Minorityland was really good, and I strongly recommend catching it before it closes.” – Philadelphia CityPaper
    MinorityLand tackles what it means to be a minority, what it means to be a community, and just how deeply our words and actions can effect those around us.
    When...
    “It quickly became clear that I was dumb to judge this play before I'd seen it, and I that had in fact judged it wrong. Minorityland was really good, and I strongly recommend catching it before it closes.” – Philadelphia CityPaper
    MinorityLand tackles what it means to be a minority, what it means to be a community, and just how deeply our words and actions can effect those around us.
    When the local university begins buying up houses in an integrated black and latino community, residents are pushed out, and the very fabric of the community is ripped apart. ​
    "Its not about right or wrong, it's about who has the power." -MinorityLand