About the Project
Maya, a young Salvadoran-American woman, navigates trauma and family mythology through magic and folklore as she comes of age in Phoenix, Arizona. Her story explores mother-daughter relationships, mixed race identity, being the child of an immigrant, growing up without a father, and using fantasy as a coping mechanism, while featuring movement and dance. And there are owls, jaguars, and cacti—oh, my!
*Trigger warning: This play references sexual assault and suicide.
Find out more about the story's characters here. See the New Play Exchange listing page for the play here. View visual art inspired by the play here. Stream the film here. Order the related books here.
*Trigger warning: This play references sexual assault and suicide.
Find out more about the story's characters here. See the New Play Exchange listing page for the play here. View visual art inspired by the play here. Stream the film here. Order the related books here.
Publication, Production & Screening History:
June 9, 2023: Film screening at FiveMyles Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
April 19, 2023: Book publication from AlienBuddha Press, Phoeniz, AZ. Amazon link here.
Dec. 9, 2022: Film screening at Pine Box Rock Shop, Brooklyn, NY
Oct. 21 & 22, 2022: Arts On Site, New York, NY (Act I excerpt)
Oct. 1, 2022: Chashama Festival, Pine Plains, NY (movement excerpt)
Sept. 22, 2022: Vimeo On Demand streaming film release
August 19, 2022: Fulton Theater, Lancaster, PA (developmental reading)
June 15-26, 2022: Gene Frankel Theatre, New York, NY (non-equity workshop premiere). Read press and audience reviews.
December 2020: Two Plays: True Believer & Mi Abuela, Queen of Nightmares by Table Work Press (book publication of an early version of the play)
June 9, 2023: Film screening at FiveMyles Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
April 19, 2023: Book publication from AlienBuddha Press, Phoeniz, AZ. Amazon link here.
Dec. 9, 2022: Film screening at Pine Box Rock Shop, Brooklyn, NY
Oct. 21 & 22, 2022: Arts On Site, New York, NY (Act I excerpt)
Oct. 1, 2022: Chashama Festival, Pine Plains, NY (movement excerpt)
Sept. 22, 2022: Vimeo On Demand streaming film release
August 19, 2022: Fulton Theater, Lancaster, PA (developmental reading)
June 15-26, 2022: Gene Frankel Theatre, New York, NY (non-equity workshop premiere). Read press and audience reviews.
December 2020: Two Plays: True Believer & Mi Abuela, Queen of Nightmares by Table Work Press (book publication of an early version of the play)
Mi Abuela, Queen of Nightmares won a national playwriting competition held by Table Work Press in 2019 and was published in the book Two Plays: True Believer and Mi Abuela, Queen of Nightmares (2020). The play is based upon the 2018 Semiperfect Press chapbook of poems by the same name. The entirety of that book (and then some!) appears is Stoddard's poetry and photography book Water for the Cactus Woman (SpuytenDuyvil). The stage play for Mi Abuela premiered at the Gene Frankel Theatre in New York City in June 2022 and was produced by Quail Bell Press & Productions. Chosen as one of three national finalists in the Fulton Festival of New Works, the play was presented in a staged reading at the Fulton Theatre in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in August 2022. Excerpts have been presented at Arts On Site and Chashama Fest. The film premiered at Pine Box Rock Shop in December 2022 and will next screen at FiveMyles Gallery in March 2023. A standalone book of the script is forthcoming from AlienBuddha Press. The play will next be fully staged at The Tank.
Mi Abuela, Queen of Nightmares won a national playwriting competition held by Table Work Press in 2019 and was published in the book Two Plays: True Believer and Mi Abuela, Queen of Nightmares (2020). The play is based upon the 2018 Semiperfect Press chapbook of poems by the same name. The entirety of that book (and then some!) appears is Stoddard's poetry and photography book Water for the Cactus Woman (SpuytenDuyvil). The stage play for Mi Abuela premiered at the Gene Frankel Theatre in New York City in June 2022 and was produced by Quail Bell Press & Productions. Chosen as one of three national finalists in the Fulton Festival of New Works, the play was presented in a staged reading at the Fulton Theatre in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in August 2022. Excerpts have been presented at Arts On Site and Chashama Fest. The film premiered at Pine Box Rock Shop in December 2022 and will next screen at FiveMyles Gallery in March 2023. A standalone book of the script is forthcoming from AlienBuddha Press. The play will next be fully staged at The Tank.
This project is funded in part with generous support from the Puffin Foundation:
