Even Flowers Bloom in Hell, Sometimes centers on the life of the Prisoner, a young man of color sentenced to 25 years in a correctional facility. He struggles with the monotony of life on the inside while dealing with estrangement from his family, mistreatment from the guards, and a profound sense of despair. Still, the Prisoner tries to imagine a world in which young black and brown men are not trapped in a cycle of mass incarceration, engaging in conversations about religion, philosophy, and theatre with his sage-like cellmate. Structured as a mixtape with interludes and hidden tracks, this poetic and meditative play captures what it feels like to pass time in confinement without a future to look forward to.
Gonzalez is a playwright and TV writer of Colombian descent splitting time between Dallas and Los Angeles. His work has appeared with The Lark, the Great Plains Theatre Conference, Bishop Arts Theatre Center, Repertorio Español, LAByrinth Theater Company, Dallas Theater Center, Austin Latinx New Play Festival, and many others. He has won the MetLife Nuestras Voces Latino Playwriting Award and the Short+Sweet Theatre Festival Manila Best Overall Production Prize. Gonzalez was selected for a MacDowell Fellowship and has written for the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why.
This event is sponsored by the Harold K. Sage Foundation and the Illinois State University Foundation Fund.
