Dear X,
I thought If I wrote you a love letter
It would make it all feel better
If I could put you into phrases
And list down all the phases
Of how your Moon orbited around my Earth
How from since birth
You never let me forget about my lack of privilege
You never let me forget about finding a means to an end
You never let me forget about the importance of a village
You never let me forget about the meaning of a true friend
Because in order for me to love you
I gotta love the ugly, the jaded, the faded, the hated
I gotta love the beauty, the power, the sweet and the sour
I gotta love the fact that you broke me down
Kept me in low and dark places
Put me on trial with tough cases
I gotta love the fact that you always threw curve balls
Had me bumping into walls
Scarring my trips and my falls-
I still wear the marks on my body
Because In order for me to love you
I gotta love the fact that you also built me up
You showed me strength and survival
Delivered me through spiritual revivals
You taught me how to love to my rivals
You allowed me to break my own cycle
Through you, I have experienced the most intense joy and the most shallow sorrows
Through you, I’ve witnessed the magnitude of prayers for better tomorrows
Through you, I have so many wonderful memories that will make me smile until the day I die
Through you, I have so many painful memories that up until this day make me cry
And no matter where I end up, I will still rep you with pride
Everywhere I go, I carry you inside
I cross my arms into an X
Because you’re always gonna be that "X" factor
The pandora's box that stores all of my secrets like a malefactor
The place that simultaneously gives me a warm feeling and a pit in my gut
The same place that sheltered me during my ruts
You’re the place that I often call back on for inspiration
The place that will always have my appreciation...
So I wrote you this love letter
Because despite complicated feelings-
Acknowledging you makes me feel better
Therefore,
I. Love. You.
For sentimental reasons
I hope you do believe me
I’ve given you my, my, my, my all
I’ve given you my all
Because I
I love you....
And I keep my X's up cuz
X is for hug
X marks the spot
The X is thug
The X is hot
The X is home
The X is the BRONX!
The Boogie, forever.
Sincerely,
Christin Eve Cato
© 2018
list of plays:
Available on New Play Exchange:
Full Length Plays (Currently under development):
Stoop Pigeons (Drama: 4 F/ 2 M)
Bushwick, the heart of Brooklyn, changes over a span of a decade. At a time when gentrification drastically hits the neighborhood, new and old troubles ensue with the veterans of the block. As the block changes and gets fancier, drug crime reaches another high and loved ones get left behind. (2020 O'Neill NPC Semi-Finalist & Workshop Production at Smith College 2021)
The Black & Brown Guerrillas (Drama: 6 F / 3 M)
Towards the end of 2020, after several deadly #BLM protests, a series of terrorizing police brutality incidents, and a global pandemic: the streets of New York City were full of poverty and anarchy. Several areas of NYC were full of crime because the NYPD no longer entered them. Protests became more and more dangerous for unarmed civilians. The unemployment rate was so devastating that many New Yorkers (and people all over the USA) were in massive amounts of debt, went bankrupt, had their homes foreclosed, and struggled for food and shelter. Evaristo, Keisha, alongside their Black & Latino comrades, organized to establish law and order in their communities. This group was called the Black & Brown Guerrillas (The BBG). The BBG, through grassroots efforts, excels at creating chapters all around the country. With their political influence, the BBG creates a new party of politics (The Freedom Party) that elects America’s first Black female President, Keisha Hampton. This new system of government creates a multi-party system that overthrows outdated methods of governing, allowing more progressive policies to take precedence.
(MFA Thesis | Indiana University Workshop Production 2021)
What's Up With Marjorie? (Dramedy: 5 F/ 1 Transgender/ 3M )
Just a slice of the everyday life of a brown Latina woman adulting in New York City...but she's not your average! Marjorie struggles to be herself amidst her dysfunctional family, emotionally unstable friends, and a compromised career. When her love life takes a surprising turn, she is inevitably faced with the tasks of introspection, self-love, and acceptance. (ALNPF 2019 Teatro Vivo)
Smacked Up Love (Tragedy: 2 F/ 1 Trans/ 1 M)
A love triangle of lust, drugs, and secrets. How do these poor souls navigate through a never-ending cycle of struggle? How do they make it out alive? Love and opiates are never a good mix.
Sancocho (Drama: 2 F)
Caridad and Renata are sisters that are 25 years apart. As their father's health worsens, they get together to discuss his will. To relieve some of the tension, Renata visits Caridad while she is making sancocho. The preparation of the sancocho leads the sisters through a journey of their culture, womanhood, inheritance, transgenerational trauma, family history and untold stories. All is well until Caridad’s drinking causes her to spill some beans about their father's past. Sancocho is a story about legacy, what we inherit, and what we leave behind. It testifies that everything in life is
consequential. (Ingenio Festival 2020 & Playwrights Center Core Apprentice Workshop, 2021)
Theater For Young Audiences
jelly beans (Sci-Fi: 4 F/1 Non-Binary/ 3 M )
Jaden is a math and science whiz who develops an app that can sync into your memories. He gets his sister, Julissa, to test it for a trial run. Things go haywire and now he needs to enter her brain to bring her back to reality!
(Workshop Production at Indiana University Feb 2020 & at Piper Theater Productions 2021)
Ten Minute Plays:
American Made (Drama: 2M)
Two inmates talk about work-life inside of the penitentiary.
The Three Brujas (Comedy/Verse: 3 F)
Inspired by Shakespeare's 3 witches from MacBeth. These three brujas conjure up something super-strange in their super-natural realities.
Short Plays (Previously Produced):
The Good Cop (Drama- 2 F)
Anita Jones is a journalist who dedicates her life to civil rights and justice, and she is about to help file a lawsuit that will change many Black and Brown lives forever. Anita needs another signature and turns to her estranged friend, Jade Santiago, a police officer who abides by the blue wall of silence. (RESET Festival Conch Shell Productions 2020)
Just A Visit ( Surrealism- 1 F/ 1M)
It's post Hurricane Maria, and a local beauty salon stylist receives a visit from a mysterious, yet familiar, client. (More Than Maria- Play Your Part Seattle 2018) Available upon request.
From Hunts Point to Whitlock (Surrealism- 1F/ 2M)
A train ride in The Bronx, becomes a trip back in time. An inside view of a homeless person's past. Never judge a book by it's cover. (48 Hours Harlem9/Pregones 2019) Available upon request.
