Pilar's Brother

FINALIST: REPERTORIO ESPAÑOL'S 2010 MET LIFE NUESTRAS VOCES PLAYWRITING COMPETITION

Julian’s mother has returned to Chile to care for his dying grandmother, leaving Julian to juggle his temporary responsibility for his mentally-ill sister, his studies, his job and his American lifestyle: the one that his family knows about and the closeted gay and aspiring actor lifestyle that they don’t. Set in 1968 and in a strong Chilean immigrant and Catholic family, this story explores the choices that Julian has to make when a big opportunity arises and the sister that complicates them. Inspired by a true story.

Finalist Reading: Repertorio Español

Directed by Gamaliel Valle Rosa

Julian-Ignacio Meneses
Pilar-Diana Carolina González
Ramona-Beatriz Córdoba
Adam-Shawn McLaughlin

Read the first five pages of Pilar's Brother!

Read the bonus "Surprise Me" page!

This script is available for purchase.

Audience responses to performances

"I think that it is a very important play that deals with difficult issues. It is very rare that a playwright tackles mental illness and even rarer that it addresses mental illness and homosexuality in youth....[Elana's] writing is both humorous and tragic....[the] characters speak with honesty and simplicity."
-Ellen Goldberg

""Pilar's Brother" was a delightful and thought-provoking performance"
-Jon Greenman

"It was a powerful production. I grew attached to the characters and was pained to see the evolving trauma they were facing."
-Jonathan Cohn

"It's a very gutsy play. The writing was sensitive and thoughtful and passionate. I loved it."
-Gail Elberg