South Norwalk, CT – March 3, 2025 — Thrown Stone has awarded its 2025 commission to Ramon Esquivel for his proposed play, Show Me the Gates of Heaven. Selected from 150 submissions, this is Thrown Stone’s second full-length commission, following the 2023 world premiere of Seven Cousins for a Horse by Tammy Ryan — an examination of the life and work of Connecticut portraitist Ammi Phillips, now known as the most prolific folk artist in American history.
Show Me the Gates of Heaven
Perched atop a remote observatory, a scientist is held hostage by an intruder, who is convinced the telescope can reveal a fundamental truth that has been withheld from the public. This gripping showdown of reason versus belief asks: Can we find common ground before it’s too late? Or are some chasms too vast to cross?
“With this new play commission, Thrown Stone has invited me to tell a story about two characters struggling to understand each other despite their opposing beliefs about truth, love, and even the right to exist,” says Esquivel. “One is driven by curiosity, one is motivated by certainty, and each has built comfortable silos for themselves among others who think and believe as they do. Is it even possible for such chasms of difference to be bridged? Right now, at the beginning, I don’t know. But I hope they can find common ground by looking to the heavens, thousands of light years away, in the ominously named Omega Nebula.”
About The Playwright
Ramón Esquivel is a playwright, director, dramaturg, and educator. His plays have been produced in theatres, universities, and schools across North America. The Thrown Stone new play commission will continue his storytelling about humans engaging with science, spirituality, and the environment. Other works of this ilk include Watching for Sasquatch: An Environmental Play of Plays, commissioned by California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; ¡O Cascadia!, featured at the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference; and The Dress with the Crooked Collar, developed at the New Harmony Playwrights Conference. Ramón also writes plays for young audiences, such as Fallenstar: The Watchoverers, commissioned and produced at New Native Theatre in the Twin Cities; ZEQ, a play with music for and about queer youth exploring love, friendship, and fame; and The Shahrazad Society, winner of the Aurand Harris Memorial Playwriting Award, New England Theatre Conference. Published plays include Dulce, The Girl Who Talks to Spiders, The Hero Twins: Blood Race, Nasty, Nocturnal, and Luna, which was recently produced at ZACH Theatre in Austin. Ramón has taught playwriting and theatre education at Central Washington University, creative writing at the University of British Columbia, and middle school Humanities and Drama in Washington DC, Brooklyn, and Seattle. He has an MFA Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, MA Educational Theatre from New York University, and BA History from Yale University. Ramón is currently Assistant Professor of Theatre, Playwriting at Cal Poly.
“Ramon’s proposal stood out for its tension, theatricality, and the complexity of its central question,” said Jonathan Winn, Thrown Stone’s Co-Artistic Director. “It takes persuasion beyond rhetoric and into the realm of survival — showing what happens when two people with completely different worldviews have no choice but to engage.”
Jason Peck, Thrown Stone’s Co-Artistic Director, added: “This concept has all the ingredients for a gripping, intimate play — high stakes, a clear dramatic question, and a setting that amplifies the clash of ideas. We’re eager to see where Ramon takes it.”
Finalists
From 150 submissions, a select group of playwrights emerged as finalists. Their work stood out in a highly competitive field, and Thrown Stone is pleased to recognize them as part of this process.
- Cris Eli Blak
- Jillian Blevins
- Katie Duggan
- Yussef El Guindi
- Susan Lily Jackson
- Amy Merrill
- Jerry Montoya
- Brian James Polak
- SEVAN
Acknowledgements
With support from the Burry Fredrik Foundation.