Elsa, is on the autism spectrum and has successfully hidden this fact from her professional colleagues. She is a doctor of primatology currently working with an orangutan named Wookie, who Elsa hopes to prove is capable of speaking a human language.
Elsa has a lot at stake: Her theory is radical and her status with her grant and her donors is precarious.
Elsa’s 12 year old nephew, A.J., is also on the Autism spectrum. He is “Locked in”- completely non-verbal. A.J. loves the zoo, particularly the orangutans. A.J. and Wookie discover that they can communicate in heretofore unknown ways, which completely disrupts Elsa’s research and theories. A.J. teaches Wookie that she is mortal and will die someday. This is a brand new concept to the animal, and Wookie falls into despair to the point of near death. Wookie’s death would be catastrophic to Elsa. She is forced to confront the value of A.J.’s mode of communication and her reluctance to embrace her own autism.


Written for Center Theatre Group's Writers Workshop 18-19

In the near future, an inexplicable plague infests La Gran Colombia. Ingrid Bolivar--the brilliant, mad ex-wife of Colombia's leader--is the only one who knows that the plague is carried by young women of the streets, whom she adopts and uses as weapons against the government. Policarpa, a girl with magical gifts, is supposed to be Ingrid's secret apocalyptic weapon. But when Policarpa falls in love with a top government official, she resists becoming an instrument of destruction and instead seeks to become a savior through sacrifice.

Rooted in traditional Latin American magical realism, the nightmare magic science fiction world of Policarpa exists in a neither here-or-there.

Policarpa has been developed by The Drama League's Rough Draft series, Theatricum Botanicum Seedlings, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Black Swan Lab Latinx Play Project, and Milagro Theatre’s Ingenio play reading series. It received an Honorable Mention for the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award and was a finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival.

Policarpa was a part of The Drama League’s Rough Draft series in May 2017, where it was developed by Melinda Hall. Also developed at Theatricum Botanicum Seedlings 2017 and Oregon Shakespeare Festival Black Swan Lab Latinx play project 2017. It was the inaugural play for Milagro Theatre’s Ingenio play reading series 2018, and was recorded for The Parsnip Ship, 2018 with Hall at the helm.
It received an Honorable Mention, Association for Theatre in Higher Education’s 2017 Jane Chambers Playwriting Award and is currently a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Festival 2018 and a finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Foundation Festival 2018.

Silueta
A new play imagined from a true story.

1985: A sultry New York night. A marital spat. Cuban artist Ana Mendieta plunges 34 stories from her bedroom window to the sidewalk below. A tragic accident? Or murder?

Silueta imagines Ana's husband, sculptor Carl Andre, as he might be today, still living in the 34th-floor apartment that he shared with the beautiful, ambitious Ana. He is riddled by frustration at the loss of his artistic potency and by a gnawing suspicion about his innocence in Ana's death. The ghost of Ana haunts him relentlessly at the scene of the tragedy. They are both obsessed with the same question, what really happened that fatal night? Silueta is a two-person show based on the true story of Ana Mendieta, who fell to her death in 1985. She was a rising star in the art world. Her husband, Carl Andre, was one of the founders of Minimalism. He was prosecuted for her murder and acquitted. The play explores their volatile relationship.

Silueta is a collaboration by Tom Shelton, Chris Shelton and Diana Burbano. Written for Tom and Diana to perform, the play came out of research and improv sessions with Chris, a writer/director.

Flint, MI. The water in the town has been poisoned. Thia Stockmann, a bright young medical student, is confronted by her upwardly mobile brother, Pete, about a blog she wrote regarding the poisoning of Flint’s water supply. This brings a lot of unwanted attention to Flint and will have repercussions on the economy. Peter accuses Thia of being selfish and to solve this problem in a more quiet way.

In the media classroom reporters discuss the pros and cons of running Thia’s article bashing the reputation of the government. The group has a change of heart about how valuable it is to expose the government. They realize that printing this article will do more damage to the situation. Angry, Thia decides that she can fight this battle on his own. She calls a meeting at the community college.

Thia talks about the contamination of the water but also gets into the town leaders and how they are corrupt as are most of the citizens of Flint. Anger starts to grow. By the end of the meeting the town has rebelled at Thia and have marked her as an enemy of the people.

The landlord evicts them from their house, and Thia’s allies get fired for having progressive opinions. Thia stays true to her principles. She decides to accept her fate and become "an enemy of the people" if that is what it takes to do what is right.

3 young teens land in a magical world, due to a violent act in the real one.
Dedicated to Kimberly Vaughn Hart.

A mourner remembers her cousin, a Pakistani girl, who lost her life while on an exchange program.

A young woman discovers to her delight and astonishment that her 2 childhood heroines are as Mexican as she is.

Un drama nuevo imaginado de una historia verdadera.
Traduccion de Emiro Burbano
En 1985, Una noche cálida y húmeda en Nueva York. Una pelea entre esposos. La artista Cubana Ana Mendieta cae 34 pisos desde la ventana de su apartamento a la calle. Quizás un accidente trágico,? un asesinato,?
Silueta se imagina al esposo de Ana el escultor Carl André Como si estuviera viviendo hoy, en el apartamento del piso 34 que compartía con la hermosa y ambiciosa Ana. El está frustrado con la pérdida de su valor artístico y la sospecha que todavía persiste de la muerte de Ana no fue tan inocente como parece. El fantasma de Ana sigue sin descanso en el sitio mismo de la tragedia. Tienen ambos, una terrible obsesión con la misma pregunta, de lo que pasó en esa noche fatal.
Silueta es un drama de dos personas basado en la historia verídica de Ana Mendieta que cayó a su muerte en 1985. Era una estrella joven y luminosa en el mundo del arte de esa época. Su esposo, André era uno de los fundadores del minimalismo. El fue juzgado por el asesinato y fue declarado no culpable. El drama explora su volátil relación personal.
La versión inglesa de silueta fue un drama de taller técnico seleccionado por 2013 Great Plains Theater Conference Y fue finalista (1-12) en el Ashand New Play Festival 2014. Fue Uno de cuatro dramas escogidos en el Cygnet Theatre/Playwright’s in Process festival 2014 Y leído en el escenario en San Diego.

The true story of Manuelita Saenz, liberatrix of Colombia. As told by her extraordinary friend the enslaved soldier Jonatas, mimic and storyteller. Might work best as a radio play.

Aquilina is a clever, courageous, and imaginative girl who leads a group of orphans in a recently abandoned wild west town. Will the railroad town disappear completely? Will Aquilina and her crew be sent to orphanages around the country? Join us to find the missing deed and solve the mystery of their town’s original founders!

An woman is about to be executed for her work freeing young victims of sexual slavery. Her younger counterpart comes to rescue her, but is faced with a woman who prefers martyrdom to life.

Three young Latinas are swept up in ICE raids. Citizenship won't save them. Only an act of sacrifice will.

Jaqui has invited her boyfriend Martin (half Black, half White, all liberal.) to Christmas at her Latinx MAGA lovin' family's house in Mequon, Wisconsin.

Four little Shakespearean fairies try to figure out how to get the old man out of his rut.

A young goth girl explains her fascination with Theda Bara.

A child with cancer seeks to lighten the burden for his family

Monologues for Woman 40's-50's
#fabulousmonsters

Slade aka Sally Rogers is a hard living, seen it all punk rocker from the 70’s, alive, sober and cynical as hell. 40’s-50’s

Una joven descubreque sus 2 heroínas infantiles son tan mexicanas como ella.