Playwriting alum C. Quintana ’13 has been named the inaugural recipient of Life Jacket Theatre Company’s $10,000 commission for Trans+ playwrights. Quintana is also the theatre company’s Resident Playwright.
Founded in 2015, the Drama Desk Award-nominated Life Jacket Theatre Company was created with the mission to “tell bold, challenging, and undertold stories—those that are erased, rejected, and forgotten.” The commission is oriented towards supporting the work of gender non-conforming, gender-expansive, and nonbinary artists. The commission was structured as a national open call, and Quintana was selected out of hundreds of applicants.
The commission will support Quintana’s creation of a new play based on interviews with Trans+ individuals living in the United States.
“I want to lean in and celebrate the good stuff: Trans+ victories, loves, exuberance, resilience, quiet joys,” Quintana said. “From the smallest moments to the grandest in scale.”
A playwright and poet, Quintana has had their work produced by Audible, Kennedy Center, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and Barrington Stage Company, among others. Their poetry has been published in Third Coast, Jacar Press, The Wildness Journal, and Foglifter. Their work often touches on themes of injustice, loss, queerness, and marginalized identities.
Quintana's play will receive an industry reading in New York City in late 2024 which will be produced by Life Jacket. More information about the commission and Quintana’s play can be found here.
