I create full-length and short plays about Houstonians of Latin American descent, usually those of a working-class background. I write sharp and incandescent new plays about imperfect Mexican and Mexican American people finding their place in the world, whether in their hometown or beyond. Although these plays often deal with subjects like immigration, racism, abuse, and violence, hope and humor are never absent, just the way I view life.
Plays in Development
- Secret Menu – A full-length play about Mexican and Mexican American history in Pasadena, TX. Co-written with Brendan Bourque-Sheil.
- magnolia city – A series of short play readings for the 2026 Mix-MATCH Festival. Alicia’s short play title is TBA.
- Inés tiene dientes / Inés, who has teeth – A one-act solo show living in Texas/the U.S. and México, cartel violence, and losing one’s family and home.
- DAN AND CYNTH AGAINST THE WORLD – A full-length play about two people half in love, half out of it, at a historically women’s college during the 2019-2020 school year.
Full-Length Plays
Secret Menu
Co-written with Brendan Bourque-Sheil, Secret Menu uncovers some of the history of Mexicans and Mexican Americans in Pasadena, Texas.
Honors & Recognitions
- World Premiere (forthcoming), San Jacinto College – South, 2026
- Commission, San Jacinto College – South, 2025
Flood
As Hurricane Harvey’s landfall approaches Houston, Salomé Salas is stranded with their estranged Mexican immigrant family. Tensions are high as their parents, Humberto and Yolanda, grapple with their return, unaware that Salomé has been expelled from college after a violent mental breakdown. Magdalena, Salomé’s sister, tries to keep them from recklessly sabotaging their familial relationships. Jealousy and resentment permeate Humberto and Salomé’s interactions, while Yolanda falls deeper into despair and disgust. As Harvey rages on, Magdalena documents her family’s life, violence, and trauma in a series of audio recordings.
Honors & Recognitions
- Semi-Finalist, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, 2023
- Finalist, Writers Search – Playwriting, Del Shores Foundation, 2022
- Reading, A-Típico New Latinx Play Festival, Teatro Chelsea, 2021
- Teatro Chelsea Announces A-Típico Playwrights and Plays
- Finalist, Black and Latino Playwrights Celebration, Texas State University, 2021
- Runner-Up, Podcast Season Production, Theatre Viscera, 2020
- Fellowship, The Pamela Daniels Fellowship, Wellesley College, 2019
Your Mileage May Vary
Mayel has been inside all summer. When she’s not too busy practicing her fencing skills, she’s haunted by the ghost of her favorite Mexican character actor, Lefty González. As she ventures outside her home for the first time, Mayel runs into her former best friend, Alaska. Throughout the day, they try rebuilding their friendship over music, movies, and aguas de melón. Your Mileage May Vary is a slice-of-life about masculinity, duty, Mexicanidad, respectability politics, and learning to bite back.
Honors & Recognitions
- Reading, Rec Room Arts, 2022
- Commission, Writers Group, Rec Room Arts, 2021
SPRAWL
[IN DEVELOPMENT] Dan, a young trans man from the South, is a senior at a historically women’s college in New England. When he’s not working at the campus library to make ends meet, he’s being dragged around party after party by his best friend, Jay. Cynth, a strange and charismatic member of an on-campus co-op falls into his life just as it’s going to complete shit. As news of a pandemic begins to creep into the city, Dan and Cynth must figure out what to choose: each other, or themselves?
Honors & Recognitions
- Semi-Finalist, South Texas Latinx New Play Festival, South Texas College, 2023
- Development, Spring Workshop Intensive, The Workshop Theater, 2022
- Development, PlayLab Circuit Volt Lab, Company One Theater, 2021
DAN AND CYNTH AGAINST THE WORLD
Ten years after graduating high school, Dee seeks solutions to a decade-long grief. Veronica and Daniel struggle to reconnect with Dee while denying their own guilt around the events that led to their mutual friend Laurel fleeing their Houston suburb. As Dee begins a new play as a tribute to her, reality begins to fracture as the dubious ethics of bringing her back from the past arise.
Honors & Recognitions
- Development, Summer Workshop Intensive, The Workshop Theater, 2024
- Development, Writers Group, Rec Room Arts, 2023
- Development, Writers Group, The Citadel of Playwrights, 2022
- Finalist, Fair Play Initiative, Theatre Lab at Florida Atlantic University, 2021
One-Act & Short Plays
Count Yourself Among the Lucky
[ONE-ACT PLAY] Belén and Andy, childhood friends-turned-lovers, find themselves stranded off of an abandoned South Texas highway on their way to Mexico. They’re trapped in a liminal space, where only the two of them exist without the need for food, water, or sleep. Soon enough, the couple’s buried resentments and secrets start to rise, culminating in one last celebration. Inspired by comic book aesthetics, Count Yourself Among the Lucky is a confrontation of violence, trauma, and, of course, love.
Honors & Recognitions
- Reading, Sin Muros: A Borderless Teatro Festival, Stages, 2022
- Semi-Finalist, Future of Playwriting Prize, Ucross & The Blank Theater, 2022
- Development, Winter Workshop Intensive, The Workshop Theater, 2021
- Reading, #telatuesdays Virtual Reading Series, Telatúlsa, 2021
- Telatúlsa virtual reading, dir. Amanda Levie
- Semi-Finalist, Future of Playwriting Prize, Ucross & The Blank Theater, 2021
- Residency, AlterLab First Acts, The Alternative Theater Ensemble, 2020
- Commission, AlterLab First Acts, The Alternative Theater Ensemble, 2020
- Count Yourself Among the Lucky by Alicia Margarita Olivo Review | A Playwright’s Journey by Brynn Hambley
aislamientos
[ONE-ACT PLAY] Behold, The Protagonist! The Protagonist is but a mentally ill, Mexican, nonbinary, and a self-described loser stuck in a Dublin Airport bar after she loses her trusty pair of $5 headphones before boarding. A thousand miles from home, sit with her as she struggles with the complexities of human intimacy, white supremacy, shitty dates, and social isolation—you know, the usual. Funded by The Claude Beauclair Fellowship.
Honors & Recognitions
- Selection, Comedy Carnaval Script Distribution, Latinx Theatre Commons, 2022
- Workshop, Wellesley College Theatre, 2020
- Fellowship, The Claude Beauclair Fellowship, Wellesley College, 2019
Inés tiene dientes / Inés, who has teeth
[ONE-ACT PLAY, IN DEVELOPMENT] During a blackout, Inés begins to notice tiny black holes appearing in the fabric of reality. A semi-autobiographical one-act solo show about living in Texas/the U.S. and México, cartel violence, and losing one’s family and home.
La Jaula de Oro
[ONE-ACT PLAY] A grizzled elderly Mexican woman crosses the border to see her ailing gay son, whom she had kicked out of her home decades earlier.
Honors & Recognitions
- Reading, Wellesley College Upstage, 2019
- Publication, The Wellesley Review, 2018
- Read an excerpt published by The Wellesley Review
Left Lung Punctured, Gored by Bullet
[TEN-MINUTE PLAY] A Texas highway rest stop sees the relationship between two old friends over the course of two decades. A sort-of love story at the end of a world.
Honors & Recognitions
- Reading, Thank You, Ten! 10-Minute Play Festival, Rec Room Arts, 2022
Other Writing
Poetry
- “PONME MINUTOS EN EL CEL PORFA” (prose poem)
Fiction
- “Tumba Falsa” (short story)
Nonfiction
- Various essays in Counterpoint Magazine and Substack
Connect with me!
Interested in learning more about my work and projects? Let’s have a virtual coffee.
Alicia Margarita Olivo 