Writing

About my Writing

W. FRAN ASTORGA (they/them) Fran’s artistic works center the well-being of the community and artistic excellence by working to decolonize approaches, practices, and procedures that negatively impact folx from marginalized communities. Their art leans into the experimental and immersive to inspire curiosity, engagement, action, and joy. Their writing has recently been featured by B Street Theater, the National New PlayNetwork, Latinx Theater Commons, CuttingBall Theater, Native Writers Lab, Theatre Magazine, and Howlround Theater Commons. Fran has served as a resident playwright and producer for the Desert Playwrights’ Retreat and is a founder of IN THE MARGIN, an arts and advocacy organization.

Works in Development

Clare and Francis: Saints of Assisi

While crusades raged and cathedrals crumbled, Francis stripped down in defiance and Clare cut off her hair to escape. Together, they refused the privileged destinies they inherited and gave others a way to live outside the confines of marriage or war. Families pressed in, bishops circled, and the Vatican took notice. United, they made something quieter than revolution and louder than fear — a life shaped by wonder, holy resistance, and the reckless belief that less could somehow be more.

Status: Upcoming reading, Fall 2025

Agua Zero | The Tempest

Exiled to a nearly deserted Mars, Prospero and his daughter discover a world where ancient mysticism endures. Under the shadow of Sycorax the witch and her son Caliban, Prospero masters lost powers forgotten by the universe. Twelve years later, with Sycorax gone and Caliban orphaned, the truth behind her fall begins to surface — just as Prospero’s former exilers arrive, seeking salvation from the unraveling threads between dimensions.

Status: Upcoming reading, Fall 2025

Lovebound: A Solstice Horror

When Livi inherits a small-town trinket shop and the house above it, she plans to sell and leave the past behind. But the small town has other ideas. As strange disturbances mount, Livi and her girlfriend Amy are pulled into a tangle of old wounds, restless spirits, and unfinished business. In a town suspended in grief, two women must find a way to break the cycle — or vanish into it forever.

Status: Upcoming reading, Fall 2025

A Christmas Carol: Mrs. Dilber’s Revenge

This Christmas, Scrooge isn’t just haunted — he’s cursed. In this reimagining of Dickens’ classic, Mrs. Dilber — the maid who once sold Scrooge’s belongings — takes center stage. Conspiring with the entire town, she devises an elaborate plan to teach the miser a lesson he won’t forget. They stage a play to haunt him, but when real spirits are accidentally evoked, their humble ruse transforms into a powerful ritual. Trapped in a magical purgatory, Scrooge is condemned to relive his moral reckoning for eternity — on stages and screens without end. Forever a story. Forever the fool.

Status: In research, seedling phase