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Karen Zacarias

KAREN ZACARIAS  (1969 - )

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MARIELA IN THE DESERT had its World Premiere in January 2005 at The Goodman Theatre in Chicago. The play is the winner of the 2004 AT&T First Stages Award from TCG, the winner of the 2004 National Latino Playwrights' Competition, a finalist for the 2004 Susan Smith Blackburn prize, and nominated for the 2005 Kesselring Prize. MARIELA IN THE DESERT was developed at South Coast Rep, Seattle Rep. Theatre and the Public Theatre in New York) Her play, THE SINS OF SOR JUANA is the winner of the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play at the 2000 Helen Hayes Awards and has been produced throughout the country, most recently at Teatro Vista in Chicago and Performance Network in Ann Arbor. Karen is currently translating Sor Juana into Los Pecados de Sor Juana for its Spanish World Premiere at Gala Hispanic Theatre in Washington, DC. Her new comedy THE BOOK CLUB PLAY is being developed at the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis in December. Karen's musical plays for young people with composer Debbie Wicks La Puma are currently enjoying multiple productions throughout the country. The plays include EINSTEIN IS A DUMMY (premiering Nov 2005 at The Alliance Theater in Atlanta, selected for the 2004 New Vision/New Voices ), and three works commissioned and premiered by Imagination Stage: a flamenco version of FERDINAND: THE BULL (produced at The Goodman, the Alliance, and soon, the Coterie, among others) the mariachi-inspired THE MAGICAL PIOATA (touring in South Florida), and salsa/hip-hop CINDERELLA EATS RICE AND BEANS:A SALSA MUSICAL (sold out performances at Children's Theatre Lab at Depaul University in Chicago). Karen's work has been performed at Arena Stage, The Alliance Theater, The Kennedy Center, Canadian Fringe Festival, Boston Playwrights' Theater, Borderlands Theater, Magik Theater, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Theatre of the First Amendment, The Public Theater, Seattle Repertory Theater, St. Louis Rep, Chicago Play Labs, Birmingham Children's Theatre, Imagination Stage, Trinidad Theater Workshop, Performance Network, and the Scandinavian Theater Festival. Karen earned her BA from Stanford University and a Masters in Playwriting from Boston University studying with Nobel Laureates Derek Walcott and Elie Wiesel. THE SINS OF SOR JUANA and THE MAGICAL PIOATA are published by Dramatic Publishing. Karen lives in Washington D.C. with her husband Rett, her three-year old son Nico, and one-year-old baby Kati. Karen Zacarias is the founder and artistic director of Young Playwrights' Theater, an award-winning non-profit dedicated to enhancing literacy, Arts empowerment and conflict resolution through playwriting in Washington, DC area schools.
biography courtesy of The Playwrights' Centre >>>

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below is a list of Karen Zacarias's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

 Bare Chested Man         Book Club Play, The         Cinderella Eats Rice and Beans         Einstein Is A Dummy         Ferdinand the Bull         How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents         Invisible City, The         Legacy of Light         Looking for Roberto Clemente         Magical Pinata         Mariela en el Desierto         Sins of Sor Juana, The

Bare Chested Man

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1st Produced:
Boston Playwrights Theatre    1995

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Book Club Play, The

Synopsis:
Ana is a Type A personality living in a letter-perfect world: a husband who adores her, the perfect job, and her greatest passion, Book Club. But when bizarre circumstances put her ideal book club under a magnifying glass, things begin to heat up and more truths are told than anyone bargained for. Resident playwright Karen Zacarias (Legacy of Light) brings Arena Stage the latest chapter of her delightful, fresh comedy (TalkinBroadway.com) about life, love, literature and the side-splitting results when friends start reading between the lines..
- dc theatre scene

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Round House Theatre, Bethesda, MD    2008

Company:
Round House Theater

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If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Cinderella Eats Rice and Beans

Synopsis:
Cinderella at the ball . . .. . .game?

Notes:
Music by Deborah Wicks La Puma; lyrics by Karen Zacarias; book by Karen Zacarias

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If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
Childrens musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

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Einstein Is A Dummy

Einstein Is A Dummy
The twelve year old Einstein is struggling - with violin lessons and a crush on the girl next door

Notes:
Music by Deborah Wicks La Puma; lyrics by Karen Zacarias; book by Karen Zacarias

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Original cast recording: Crunchynotes 2011

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Genre:
Musical

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Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

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Ferdinand the Bull

Synopsis:
Flamenco flavored version of Ferdinand that does hommage to Hamlet as well

Notes:
2001 Winner National Children's Theater Award. Based on the book by Munro Leaf. Music by Deborah Wicks La Puma

1st Produced:
Imagination Stage    2001

Company:
Alliance Theater, Magik Theater, Miracle Theater,

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
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If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
comedy-musical Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

Synopsis:
Lime-green suitcases. American flag underpants. Blow-out birthday parties. Welcome to the world of the Garcia family

Notes:
based on the novel by Julia Alvarez

1st Produced:
Round House Theatre, DC    2008

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If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Invisible City, The

Synopsis:
Gentrification and the effects has on the "invisible" people of DC

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1st Produced:
Woolly Mammoth Theatre    2001

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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Legacy of Light

Synopsis:
Legacy of Light is an intellectual joyride from start to finish that confronts a universal question: How do women balance a passionate yearning for science with maternal instinct? Playwright Karen Zacarias takes two women, living 260 years apart, and juxtaposes their tragicomic stories of survival and immortality. Commissioned by Arena Stage and buoyantly directed by Molly Smith, Zacarias, doing her finest writing to date with Legacy of Light, equates the laws of physical science with human love and uses magical realism in some dreamlike moments to draw together her serendipitous stories.
- Rosalind Lacy, DC Theatre Scene

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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Looking for Roberto Clemente

Synopsis:
Do You Remember Where You Were. . .? When you heard about 9/11? When space shuttle Columbia crashed? When JFK was assassinated? Most people remember where they were when pivotal events in history occurred. And like any other Pittsburgher, I remember when I learned in 1972 of the passing of our local hero, Roberto Clemente. Even kids like me who were not into sports, knew something about them as Pittsburgh takes its sports seriously. And the tragic death of one of the greatest athletes to play in Pittsburgh affected everyone in our sports-centric town. It is such universality that makes Looking for Roberto Clemente such a grand slam and provides a little something for everyone.
- Ted Ying, DC Theatre Scene

Notes:
Book And Lyrics by Karen Zacarias . Music by Deborah Wicks La Puma

1st Produced:
Imagination Stage, Bethesda, MD    2008

Company:
Imagination Stage

1st Published:
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Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Magical Pinata

Synopsis:
Mariachi music and wild animal all search for the power of the pinata

Notes:
2001 Winner National Children's Theater Award. Music by Deborah Wicks La Puma; lyrics by Karen Zacarias; book by Karen Zacarias

1st Produced:
Imagination Stage    1999

Company:
SouthWest Rep,

1st Published:
Dramatic Publishing,    -

Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
musical-comedy Musical

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Mariela en el Desierto

Synopsis:
Mariela and Jose were once the golden couple of the Mexican artist inner-circle. Together they built a family and an artist colony to host friends like Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Rufino Tamayo. But now their daughter has grown and run away, Frida and Diego are too famous to call, and artistic inspiration has been strangled by isolation and mendacity. Set in an empty artists' colony in the Mexican desert in 1950, this mystery play reveals what happens to relationships when a long hidden family lie is exposed.
- nytheatre.com

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1st Produced:
Repertorio Espanol
138 E. 27th Street, New York, NY 10016    06 Feb 2012

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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Sins of Sor Juana, The

Synopsis:
Poetic funny and moving play based on the amazing life of SorJuana Ines de la Cruz,the first published pot of the Americas,and the dire consequences of her work

Notes:
winner of the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play At Kennedy

1st Produced:
Theatre of the First Amendment    1999

Company:
Performance Network, South West Repertory, Borderlands Theater

1st Published:
Dramatic Publishing, 2001   -

Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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