HIRAETH OR, WHEN PLUTO WAS A PLANET
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2025
3PM & 7PM at Open Jar Studios
by Jayne Deely (they/them)
Directed by Mack Brown (they/them)
Stage Manager: Blake Elliott (Xe | Xem | Xyr)
Assistant Director: Neeta Thadani (they/he)
featuring Arturo Luíz Soria, Bekah Zornosa (she/they), Janice Amaya (they/them/elle), Nicola Gorham (she/her),
and Vico Ortiz (they/them/theirs) (elle/le/e)
with Stage Directions read by Paola Sanchez Abreu (she/they)
Kap’s reluctantly back in Queens for Sam’s wedding — but tying the knot isn’t the only thing on Sam’s checklist. With friends Ish and Mel along for the ride, the crew dives headfirst into a weekend of ’90s throwbacks, childhood flashbacks, and a few emotional landmines. But as old wounds resurface and one very unexpected guest shows up, their nostalgic trip down memory lane takes a sharp left turn.
Jayne Deely (they/them)
Writer
Jayne Deely (they/them) is a Queens-born, Puerto Rican, queer playwright and performer. Their work includes Hiraeth, or when Pluto was a planet, I never asked for a gofundme, Walter Mercado Presents: A Queer Puerto Rican (Not Just) Christmxs Spectacular, unqle play, and 30 Seconds. Their plays have been developed with Seattle Public Theatre, the New Harmony Project, Breaking the Binary, Fresh Ground Pepper, American Stage, Renaissance Theaterworks, and others. They are currently under commission with a Sloan grant from EST. As a performer, they’ve worked with Berkeley Rep, Aurora Theatre, TheatreWorks, and BRAVA. Jayne is a proud member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and the Dramatists Guild, and is based in Queens, NY. Next up: Indy Playfest, (November ’25), Jungle Theatre Greenhouse Reading Series (January ’26). The world premiere of I never asked for a gofundme will be produced by Actor’s Express in Atlanta in October 2026. MFA, IU Bloomington.
Mack Brown (they/them)
Director
Mack Brown builds precise new musicals, plays that challenge our collective moral compass, and theatre that is trans-genre and transsexual. Recent: WATCHDOG (ANTFest), TRANS AM (Joe’s Pub). Associate: PICTURES FROM HOME (Broadway), THE BIG GAY JAMBOREE (Off-Broadway), I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE (Classic Stage). They are the recipient of the 2025 SDCF Abe Burrows Award for Assistant Directors, the ‘22-23 Roundabout Directing Fellow, and currently serve as Lead Facilitator of the Roundabout Directors Group. Mack also is a NYU Tisch Drama Gender Expansive Mentor, an NYCLU Artist Ambassador, and works at Convergence Magazine with grassroots organizers and activists to produce media that sharpens our collective practice. Proud SDC member. mack-brown.com
Blake Elliott (Xe | Xem | Xyr)
Stage Manager
Blake is thrilled to be joining the Breaking the Binary Theatre Festival! Xe is an artist, advocate, academic, and proud member of the Queer community (well, of course!). Xe hopes to use xyr work in the arts to uplift voices from the margins and move us toward a better tomorrow. Off-Broadway: Drunk Shakespeare (Brass Jar Productions); the bandaged place (Roundabout); The Blood Quilt (Lincoln Center); Babe, Curse of the Starving Class (The New Group); On the Evolutionary Function of Shame (Second Stage); Terror is the Order of the Day (The Flea). Additional experience: iTheatrics, The New Harmony Project, Disney Theatrical Group, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Lyric Opera of Orange County. BS: University of Evansville. MFA: University of California, Irvine.
Neeta Thadani (they/he)
Assistant Director
Neeta Thadani (they/he) is a director, writer, performer, and dramaturg whose work primarily explores the South Asian American identity with a focus on queerness, caste privilege, and decolonization. As a creative leader, Neeta finds new ways to tell our oldest stories, uplifts the endless talents of their collaborators, and alchemizes theatrical performances into communal spaces where the barriers between performer and patron become blurred. Above all, Neeta is a theater artist who doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, but continues creating in order to find them. They are currently a Roundabout Directors Group 7 member and a proud Dramatists Guild member.
Arturo Luíz Soria
ISH
Arturo Luíz Soria is an Obie and Offie Award-winning actor and writer. His solo show Ni Mi Madre premiered at Rattlestick Theater and went on to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, earning multiple award nominations. His play Novios was an honorable mention for the Relentless Award, developed/performed with Pride Plays at Wooly Mammoth Theatre, and recently accepted to the Latinx New Play Festival at La Jolla Playhouse. Soria is adapting the novel Bodega Dreams for screen with Black Bar Mitzvah Productions and Votiv Films. Theatre: Broadway’s The Inheritance; Wet Brain, Hit the Wall, Water by the Spoonful TV/Film: CIA, Found, Insatiable, The Blacklist, East New York, and the upcoming features: Mermaid and Pimp$hit. A MacDowell Fellow and Hillman Grad Mentorship alum, Arturo holds an MFA from Yale School of Drama and a BFA from The Theater School at DePaul University.
Bekah Zornosa (she/they)
EM/DIANA
TV/FILM: Trivially True Christmas (Hallmark), The Floaters (upcoming feature), Human Theories (upcoming feature), THEATRE: Broadway Workshop: The Lost Boys (dir. Michael Arden), A Hannukah Carol (Round House Theatre), King Lear (Shakespeare Theatre Company), ALIEN/NATION (Williamstown Theatre Festival/Dir. Michael Arden), Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (North Shore Music Theatre), Pipeline (Everyman Theatre), We declare you a terrorist… (Round House Theatre), Sanctuary City (Arena Stage), There’s Always the Hudson (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company), West Side Story Concert (Olney Theatre Center), She Sings Me Home reading (Round House Theatre). Bekah is repped by Stewart Talent and Kogen Management.
Janice Amaya (they/them/elle)
MEL
JANICE AMAYA (they/them/elle) is an actor, theatermaker, and educator. Recent theater credits: Orlando (Signature Theatre Company), Shhhh (Atlantic Theater Company), A Necessary Killing (Clubbed Thumb), Mushroom (People’s Light Theater Co), Cartography (John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts), Your Hair Looked Great (Abrons Arts Center). Film: God's Lonely Magician (Tribeca 2025), Patriot’s Day (Lionsgate, Dir. Peter Berg), Up North (Dir. Stefanie Abel Horowitz). Janice is a Co-Director at Pipeline Theatre Company. MFA, Harvard University and the Moscow Art Theater.
Nicola Gorham (she/her)
SAM
Nicola Gorham is an Actor and Performance Artist based in New York. Her work has appeared at La MaMa E.T.C., The Duplex and Joe’s Pub. Nicola attended The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her theater credits include ‘Transformation: The Christine Jorgensen Show’ (The Wild Project) Street Children & Superstitions (The New Ohio Theatre), Future St. (The Broad Museum) and Big Art Group’s Broke House at the 2022 Venice Biennale. Past film & TV credits include High Maintenance (HBO) and feature films Josie & Jack and Townhouse Confidential. She is represented by Clear Talent Group.
Vico Ortiz (they/them/theirs) (elle/le/e)
KAP
TV/FILM: Trivially True Christmas (Hallmark), The Floaters (upcoming feature), Human Theories (upcoming feature), THEATRE: Broadway Workshop: The Lost Boys (dir. Michael Arden), A Hannukah Carol (Round House Theatre), King Lear (Shakespeare Theatre Company), ALIEN/NATION (Williamstown Theatre Festival/Dir. Michael Arden), Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (North Shore Music Theatre), Pipeline (Everyman Theatre), We declare you a terrorist… (Round House Theatre), Sanctuary City (Arena Stage), There’s Always the Hudson (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company), West Side Story Concert (Olney Theatre Center), She Sings Me Home reading (Round House Theatre). Bekah is repped by Stewart Talent and Kogen Management.
Paola Sanchez Abreu (she/they)
Stage Directions Reader
Paola Sanchez Abreu (she/they) is an actor, writer, voiceover artist and activist living in New York City. Her theatrical credits include Tell Them I'm Still Young w/Andre Braugher (NYSAF), Little Women (Primary Stages), and The Wolves (Lincoln Center). She has performed in workshops and productions with New York Stage and Film, Primary Stages, New Dramatists, INTAR, and Playwrights Realm. Paola’s TV credits include Chicago Med, Madame Secretary, The Code, and Law and Order SVU. She writes and performs sketch comedy and is a recent graduate of the conservatory at The Second City. She was a part of Gen180’s inaugural Climate Comedy Cohort, working to bring more comedy to address the climate. She is also a community organizer with local groups focused on urbanization and climate justice. www.paolasanchezabreu.com