Synopsis: Solandra, a Dominican-American student is alone in the throne room of Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand when their portraits come alive, poking and prodding and ready to party like it's 1492. Meanwhile, on the island of “Hispaniola,” as Higuamota and her family prepare for her cousin, Nana'ni's hair-cutting ceremony, they spot a fleet of "spacecrafts" carrying pink-skinned ghosts headed towards them. As Higumota struggles to save her community from invasion, Solandra contends with her racial identity and attraction to white men in this dark comedic exploration of the insidiousness of colonization.

Cast Breakdown: 5M, 3W

Set/Costume Requirements: This play is fast and loose with time and space. While some scenes are “set” in 1492 and others in 2016, everything is happening (in a way) all at once, so there is no need to be beholden to any specific time period. And actually, I would prefer that the costumes and set are not strictly period specific. For example, one character could be in clothing specific to 1492 while another in the same scene is wearing a costume from 1830 or 1950 or 2016. That being said, the character of Brenda, The Manatee, would ideally be a gorgeous, semi-realistic puppet or a puppet/costume hybrid, a la The Lion King musical.

Website: www.danielladejesus.com

Agent: Bret Adams Ltd.

Bonnie Davis | bdavis@bretadamsltd.net

Mark Orsini | morsini@bretadamsltd.net

Bio: DANIELLA DE JESÚS is a Puerto Rican & Dominican writer/actor from pre-gentrified Bushwick, Brooklyn. A member of the Public Theater’s 2018-19 Emerging Writers Group, her plays include Get Your Pink Hands Off Me Sucka and Give Me Back (FKA Columbus Play) (2020 Burman New Play Award), Mambo Sauce (The New Group Off Stage, semi-finalist for Clubbed Thumb’s 2018 commission), Pa’ Ti Tengo De Todo (The Public Theater’s Spotlight Series), Untitled Puppet Show (or On The Other Side of Anchovy Avenue) (commissioned by the Public Theater for Play At Home) and The Thief Cometh (United SoloFestival). As an actor, she is best known for her role as Zirconia on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, for which she received a nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series by the Screen Actors Guild Awards. De Jesús is a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Drama and is a current fellow at Juilliard’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program.