About the Project

Winner of:

2024 Hollywood Fringe Scholarship

Hollywood Fringe Award for Two Person Show

Denver Fringe Festival Exchange Award

Eastwood Independent Theatre Award (Best of Venue)

Award-winner Storyteller and Playwright Christopher Moncayo-Torres invites you to meet the elusive Ecuadorian Paul Bunyan of his childhood: his dad, Abel. A clock on stage counts down from 80 mins, as this 80 year old immigrant man, having never performed before in his life, will be present (yes, really) to help Christopher explore their once estranged relationship via mysterious boxes & broken Spanglish in this comedic solo-ish show.

Through sharing true stories he experienced with his dad as an adult and displaying family relics on stage (like the contents of boxes from the attic that once belonged to dad!), Christopher unravels the similarities and differences between him and Abel, a man he only knew beforehand from tall tales he heard as a kid. From when they shared cramped bedrooms filled with “borrowed” goods in Queens, NY together, to heartfelt chats in broken Spanglish, inside panaderias over cafe con leche, under the roaring 7 train, Christopher and his father try to figure out, in real time, how two very different Ecuadorian-Americans can talk about forgiveness, empathy and salvation while having no shared language between them, be that English, Spanish or even of fathers and sons.  And be punctual about it.

Note that there is a semi-long staircase  inside the theater, and there is not an elevator. This is not a wheelchair accessible venue.

Content Warning: 

-Brief discussion of self harm/suicide ideation 

-Brief reenactment of physical violence