PAYASITA
By: Gretta Marston & Daniel Cano
WHAT IS PAYASITA?
PAYASITA SE ENAMORA is a bilingual musical clown piece about heartbreak, self-reconstruction, and the search for belonging. Payasita arrives onstage with only a suitcase and a fragmented sense of who she is. With the audience’s help, she retraces her past—where she came from, what she’s lost, and what it might mean to begin again.
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This piece runs 60-75 minutes.
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MBC theatrical R&D Residency (Summer 2026).
A Ten-minute fragment of the piece will be showcased at the Miranda Family Fellowship Summit, NYC (June 2026).
A Fifteen-minute fragment was showcased for Yale’s ‘You Are The Creator’ course, New Haven, CT (January 2026).
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There are no subtitles or projections needed in this piece. The lighting and sound needs can be shaped towards the venue.
This is a 2 person actor-musician musical. The instrumentation is guitar and drum box. Pending the size of the venue, the instruments and actors may need to be mic’ed. Regardless of music, the character PAYASITA has a magical microphone which translates her Spanish into English, so we would need 1 wireless microphone either way. Otherwise, this show weighs on the two performers.
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PAYASITA SE ENAMORA, a bilingual piece that explores complex cultural narratives through humor and audience participation. It is currently in the first draft stage. Fragments of this draft have been showcased to live audiences, and the script has been part of two development processes (one at Yale School of Drama and another with the Miranda Fellowship). We are engaged in a phase of experimentation, writing, rewriting, and rearranging. This project is looking for developmental support, rehearsal space and professional guidance. We are looking to organize rehearsals with mock audience members and staged readings, which will be vital for assessing audience engagement and refining the script.
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If you’re interested in learning more about PAYASITA please email Gretta Marston:
OUR TEAM
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Gretta Marston attends the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, where she is completing an M.F.A. in Acting. She has a B.A. in Theater & Dance and Latin American Studies from Macalester College (Minnesota), studied playwriting at the National Theater Institute (Connecticut), and trained in acting at El Taller Formación Actoral de Roberto Ángeles in Lima, Perú. Gretta Marston-Lari is an alumna of the Miranda Family Fellowship and has worked as a National Theater Institute Apprentice and as the Literary Associate at the Latiné Musical Theatre Lab. As a performer, she has appeared in productions across Minnesota, Florida, New York, and Lima. Their work explores what self-actualization can look like for Latinx women today.
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Daniel Cano is a Peruvian actor, director, educator, and communicator. He is 34 years old and holds a Bachelor's degree in Performing Arts from the Faculty of Communication Sciences and Arts at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP). He is a graduate of the Roberto Ángeles Actor Training School as well as the Advanced Workshop for Contemporary Stage Actors led by Alberto Ísola. Furthermore, he has worked with the cultural group Yuyachkani since 2015 and has completed various acting workshops with internationally renowned instructors such as Claudio Tolcachir, Francisco Lummerman, Roberto Matus, and Laura Silva, among others. He has performed in over twenty professional theater productions, including Peter Pan (2016); Yuyachkani's Discurso de promoción (2017); Casa de perros (2017); Una versión clown de Romeo y Julieta (2018); Música (2018); Lapel Duvide; Muerte en el Pentagonito (2019); Monstruo de Armendariz (2022 and 2023); and Tito Andrónico (2024), among others. His TV appearances include La Otra Orilla, Luz de Luna, and Tu Nombre y el Mío (produced by Del Barrio Producciones); Los Otros Libertadores (Latina TV); and El Último Bastión (TV Perú), which was subsequently released on Netflix. He starred in the film Compartespacios, which premiered at various international festivals, including the Lima Film Festival. Additionally, he directed Electra: La Jaula de las Leonas at the Teatro Ensamble and the CCPUCP (2015), as well as El Efecto Proust—a production that also marked his professional debut as a playwright.
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Born in Bogotá, then adopted, Matthew is a theatre director and creative producer now based in East Harlem. They are building a set of artistic, business, and management skills so that they may one day be a co-artistic director of a theatre company that develops new works at all stages. The goal is to cultivate a community of administrators, artists, and audiences alike around a process focused practice. Broadway: Buena Vista Social Club. Off Broadway: Playwrights Horizons, Vineyard Theatre, En Garde Arts, Repertorio Español, 59e59. Other credits include Theater J, the Apollo, Musical Theatre Factory, New Dramatists, the Tank, 54 Below, Joe’s Pub, Downtown Urban Arts Festival, Chautauqua Theater Company, Golden Thread, the Kennedy Center’s Directing Intensive, Wingspace Theatrical Design’s Mentorship program, and the Lin-Manuel Miranda Family Fellowship. Matthew is an associate member with SDC and the Executive Producer of MBC Theatrical R&D. matthewbcullen.com.
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Lula Britos is a theatre director, producer, educator, and writer from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Most recently, she directed as part of MOXIE Theatre’s Lamoise New Works Festival and developed Goldilocks Screentime for La Jolla Playhouse’s WOW Festival. She has assisted on productions at La Jolla Playhouse and UC San Diego, including Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, Vinegar Tom, and blu. She holds a BA in Theatre Arts with a minor in Dance from UC San Diego and has trained at the National Theater Institute and the Kennedy Center. Lula is passionate about devised theatre and new works, and she aims to tell stories that uplift the experiences of immigrants and women.
