Color Boy

by Esperanza Rosales Balcárcel

Miguel is halfway through his first year teaching at a charter school in Los Angeles when he begins dreaming about his long-ago color guard days. The more Miguel rejects the wounded boy in his dreams, the more his present life begins to unravel. Fusing the art of color guard, dance, and poetry, Color Boy is a queer choreo-drama about the power found in healing our younger selves in adulthood

Miguel is halfway through his first year teaching at a charter school in Los Angeles when he begins dreaming about his long-ago color guard days. The more Miguel rejects the wounded boy in his dreams, the more his present life begins to unravel. Fusing the art of color guard, dance, and poetry, Color Boy is a queer choreo-drama about the power found in healing our younger selves in adulthood

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Color Boy

Recommended by

  • Asher Wyndham: Color Boy by Esperanza Rosales Balcárcel
    “

    The non-linear, fluid, choreopoetic approach to storytelling in COLOR BOY creates a continuous chain of emotions and conflict. Every single page there is a surprise, of revelation, of questioning, illumination, beauty. This is a playwright that definitely writes so passionate about the human experience, its joys and traumas, in a new vocabulary of language, style, and structure.

    The non-linear, fluid, choreopoetic approach to storytelling in COLOR BOY creates a continuous chain of emotions and conflict. Every single page there is a surprise, of revelation, of questioning, illumination, beauty. This is a playwright that definitely writes so passionate about the human experience, its joys and traumas, in a new vocabulary of language, style, and structure.

    ”
  • Danielle Wirsansky: Color Boy by Esperanza Rosales Balcárcel
    “

    Color Boy is a striking exploration of self-healing and trauma, blending color guard, dance, and poetry. Esperanza Rosales Balcárcel crafts a poignant, nonlinear narrative about confronting the past. It’s raw, reflective, and beautifully complex—a play that leaves a lasting emotional impact.

    Color Boy is a striking exploration of self-healing and trauma, blending color guard, dance, and poetry. Esperanza Rosales Balcárcel crafts a poignant, nonlinear narrative about confronting the past. It’s raw, reflective, and beautifully complex—a play that leaves a lasting emotional impact.

    ”
  • Shaun Leisher: Color Boy by Esperanza Rosales Balcárcel
    “

    A beautiful play about overcoming past trauma and learning how to take care of yourself. A celebration of the teaching profession and those that are called into it. Loved how the playwright experiments with time and memory in such an effective way. You won't get any easy answers out of this play but that's what makes it so brilliant. Hope to see this piece produced one day.

    A beautiful play about overcoming past trauma and learning how to take care of yourself. A celebration of the teaching profession and those that are called into it. Loved how the playwright experiments with time and memory in such an effective way. You won't get any easy answers out of this play but that's what makes it so brilliant. Hope to see this piece produced one day.

    ”
View all 4 recommendations
MIGUEL: Early twenties. Queer.


YOUNG MIGUEL: Miguel’s younger self. Thirteen. Queer.


ÁNGEL : Miguel’s student. Thirteen. Played by the same actor who plays Young Miguel.


ESTELA: Miguel’s Mother. Early forties.


CHRISTINA: Miguel’s teaching coach and friend. Played by the same actor who plays Estela.


DARWIN: Miguel’s lover. Early forties. Queer.


COACH : Young Miguel’s color guard coach. Played by the same actor who plays Darwin.

Production History

  • Workshop, Yale School of Drama, 2023

Awards