Juana Maria

West of the West Coast lies the isolated St. Nicolas Island where a young indigenous woman lived for almost two decades without human contact. And then she was "rescued" in 1853 by an American sailor with a bounty.

After living as an exotic at the Santa Barbara Mission for seven weeks, rich food, fleeting fame, and the excess of the West killed her. This is a dirge for her last two months alive."

Juana Maria is a recipient of the 2024 Ojai Playwright Conference Fall Playwright Residency and was presented as reading in 2025 produced by Outside In Theatre and Skylight Theatre Company in association with The Roots & Wings Project.