It is the morning after the brutal murder of Julio Rivera, a gay Puerto Rican man in Jackson Heights, Queens. The murder became the first gay hate crime tried in New York State during the 1990s. In Julio Ain’t Goin’ Down Like That, the community reacts and is taken on a journey of self-discovery by a fabulously unapologetic queen personifying the beauty and brutality of Jackson Heights.
This play isn’t literal; casting shouldn’t be either. With that said, race should NOT be swapped. Gender can be played with where it makes sense. It does not make sense for trans men and women to be played by cis-gender men and women, unless their trans identity isn’t germane to the scene… but hint-hint—it is always germane to the scene in this play. Do the work. Cast trans people in roles about trans people. -C. Julian Jiménez
Author
C. Julian Jiménez is a Queer, Puerto Rican and Dominican playwright. They hold an MFA in Acting from The Actors Studio Drama School at The New School. Playwriting awards include: New Dramatist Residency (Class of 2025), 2019/2020 Rita Goldberg Playwrights' Workshop Fellow at The Lark, 2017 & 2018 Pipeline Theatre Company PlayLab, 2018 LaGuardia Community College’s LGBTQ History Project Grant, 2015 Queens Arts Council Grant, 2009 Public Theater Emerging Writers Group, and 2014 Best New Work Motif Award...[Go to FULL BIO]
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