Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas

c/o Val Day

The William Morris Agency

1325 Ave of the Americas

 New York, NY 10019

212-903-1192

 Agent Email: VFD@wma.org

Before he began writing, Jorge worked for years as a full-time advocate seeking to advance an array of progressive causes, both nationally and internationally. Among the groups he worked with were the Coalition for Immigrant Rights, ACT-UP, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador. The scope of his experience informs his playwriting and his strikingly original scripts find a range of formal solutions that match the diversity of his subject matter.

• TIGHT EMBRACE
• BLIND MOUTH SINGING
• LOOK, A LATINO!
• THE CHARM OF PREPAREDNESS
• SLEEPWALKERS
• THE LOYAL OPPOSITION
• TIGHT EMBRACE

_{jorge ignaico cortinas}

TIGHT EMBRACE
Full-length / 2 hours
Unit Set: a one-room safe house

2M, 3W

In a one-room safe house, an elderly woman who has been kidnapped plays a dangerous cat and mouse game with her two masked guards. But soon she must share the tight quarters with a female journalist, who considers her own kidnapping quite a news story. The old woman is ultimately executed during an unsuccessful rescue attempt. But the dynamics of the safe house live on, and the dangerous cat and mouse game continues.

Inspired by current events in Colombia, the play is a vivid exploration of how political violence warps even our most intimate lives. The suspense of the first and third act drive the "page turning" narrative, while the second act is a counterpoint told in the third voice that combines the lushness of Faulkner's language with the self-awareness of Brecht.

Developed at INTAR, South Coast Repertory, Arena Stage, Underwood Theater, Teatro El Sótano (Havana, Cuba) and New Theatre. Winner of the Southwest Festival of New Latino Plays, and a finalist for the L. Arnold Weissberger Award at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Produced at INTAR (New York 2005)

" passionate, inherently political work steeped deeply in histories of colonization, resistance and violence " - The Brooklyn Rail
 

_{jorge ignaico cortinas}

BLIND MOUTH SINGING
Full-Length

2 hours

3M, 2W

Reiderico sneaks out of his house and spends his nights in the garden conspiring with a boy – who lives at the bottom of a well. Is it more dangerous to follow our desires, or to bury them?

Developed at the NYSF / Public Theater, the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, and LAByrinth Theater. Nominated for the Barrie Stavis Award by the Public Theater. Produced at Teatro Vista (Chicago 2006). Recommended for a Jeff Award. Subsequent production at NAATCO (New York 2007).

" ... a strange and beautiful play. " - The New York Times

_{jorge ignaico cortinas}

LOOK, A LATINO!
Short play / 10 minutes

2M, 1W

Young and frustrated, Enrique is arrested for shoplifting. When Enrique shows up with an expensive pair of earrings for his mother's birthday, we wonder if he's turned over a new leaf or is he up to his old tricks. Do we know Enrique? Or do we just know the stereotype? The play was inspired by Frantz Fanon's famous essay, "The Fact of Blackness".

Originally commissioned by Ma-Yi Theatre Company. The play was produced as part of Savage Acts, an evening of short plays directed by Ralph B. Peña (New York, 2002). Subsequently published by the University of the Philippines Press.

_{jorge ignaico cortinas}

THE CHARM OF PREPAREDNESS
Full-length / 90 minutes
Various Locations

4M, 3W

A college is turned inside out when a pre-med student begins to organize a campus-wide preparedness drill. Is this guy for real, or this all just a ruse to impress Greta, the nursing student? Will the students who volunteer to play chemical burn victims be able to earn extra credit? Does college actually prepare anyone for anything? A very droll comedy about growing the frack up.

" … Five Stars! ... I loved it. " - Reno News and Reviews
 

_{jorge ignaico cortinas}

SLEEPWALKERS
Full-length drama / 90 minutes
Unit Set

4M, 2W

A haunting, quietly surreal drama that unfolds with minimalist precision.

A grueling economic crisis has forced changes in Cuba so severe that families cannot keep up. Tito is eighteen, highly educated, and with no prospects of ever getting a job. He is estranged from his father, a retired soldier who remains loyal to the crumbling system. Tito’s best friend hustles tourists for money. Next door a divorced woman battles loneliness and insomnia. When Tito decides to risk it all and leave the country illegally, the family and neighbors he leaves behind struggle to make sense of his absence.

Workshop production, Brown University (1999); featured in the XIV International Hispanic Theatre Festival at Teatro Avante (1999); produced at Area Stage (Miami 1999); remounted at the Alliance Theatre (Atlanta 2002). Winner of the Carbonell Award for Best New Play awarded by the South Florida Critics Circle.

“The kind of play that haunts you afterward … an unforgettable dream.”—The Miami Herald

“As pure and distilled as piano etudes.”—Atlanta Journal Constitution
 

_{jorge ignaico cortinas}

THE LOYAL OPPOSITION
One-Act Drama with Songs / 35 minutes
Flexible Set

3W, 1M

A roundelay of interactions between four characters whose stories are linked. A smart and sassy exploration of the conundrum that is contemporary identity politics. Four seasons, four scenes, four actors, four songs.

Produced at New York Theatre Workshop (October 2004).