photo by Fer Devincenzi

PALOMA SIERRA is a Puerto Rican writer and director. 


Envisioning a future where multicultural narratives are a celebrated norm, Paloma explores how stories can overcome language barriers to reflect the diverse, cosmopolitan societies we live in.


Her writer-director debut, I Am Soil Breaking Off, earned the Grand Prize at the ¡Tú Cuentas! Cine Youth Fest, screening at 15+ international festivals. Her work has also been recognized with numerous fellowships, including an Emerging Poet Laureateship, a Fulbright U.S. Student Grant, and a Directing Residency in Brazil through the Turing Scheme.


Beyond writing and directing, Paloma’s dramaturgical expertise has helped develop new plays, musicals, and operas with Baryshnikov Arts Center, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and Edinburgh Fringe, among others. Recent work includes: Roy Williams’ The Lonely Londoners (Jermyn Street Theatre), Johanny Navarro’s La batalla de los clásicos (Olga Iglesias Project), Samora la Perdida’s Spanglish Sh!t (Baryshnikov Arts Center), and Cola’o: A Bilingual Trova (Theatre Now New York), among others.


Paloma holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon, and an MA in Directing from LAMDA. She is also an alumn of the Fornés Playwriting Workshop, Latiné Musical Theatre Lab, and NMI Musical Theatre Workshop; and a member of the Dramatists Guild.




PRESS

Canvas Rebel: Meet Paloma Sierra

Leyendo LatAm: 27 Contemporary Puerto Rican Poets To Read Right Now

Carnegie Mellon: Putting the Pieces Together: Alumna Crosses Language Barriers to Bring Poetry to the Masses

Sampsonia Way: Why We Write: Inside the Creative Process with the Poet Laureates for Allegheny County

Pittsburgh Today Live: Martin Luther King Jr. Writing Competition Winners: Paloma Sierra

What They're Saying

Sierra’s team gets it just right.
— FringeReview UK

everything that we had been missing in musical theatre: comedy, catchy music, and irreverence
— The Young-Howze Theater Journal

unexpected, funny, and entertaining
— Cora Frank, Director

her analytical relationship with language gives her work immediacy, her calibrated sense of irony gives it bite, and the pressure she puts on formal boundaries (...) a reckless irreverence
— Rob Handel, Playwright

wide-ranging in form and witty in tone
— Leyendo LatAm

Screen

I Am Soil Breaking Off

Writing / Direction / Translation

Short | 3 minutes


Life often exposes us to violent storms; but like the seed of the mangrove tree, we can find a home wherever we drift.


writing / direction PALOMA SIERRA animation ANDREW EDWARDS music score DUSTY SANDERS audio engineering SEBASTIAN GUTIERREZ production CITY OF ASYLUM, RADICAL IMPACT GRANT, FRANK-RATCHYE FUND FOR ART @ THE FRONTIER


Awarded the inaugural ¡Tú Cuentas! Cine Youth Festival Grand Prize (2021), and screened at over 15 international festivals; Published with Moving Poems, Bookends Review, and Nature & Culture Poetry Film Anthology, among others.

Let This Be

Writing / Direction

Short | 2 minutes


A reflection on heritage and the diaspora experience.

Published at Poetry Film Live.


writing / direction PALOMA SIERRA animation REMY DAVISON music score ERIC MATTHEW RICHARDSON audio engineering SEBASTIAN GUTIERREZ production CITY OF ASYLUM, RADICAL IMPACT GRANT, FRANK-RATCHYE FUND FOR ART @ THE FRONTIER

Every Word I Say to You

Writing / Direction

Short | 2 minutes


A caretaker experiences various emotions as they care for a loved one who lives with Alzheimer's.


writing / direction PALOMA SIERRA animation SUPAWAT VITOORAPAKORN music score ANDREW ABRAHAMSEN audio engineering SEBASTIAN GUTIERREZ production CITY OF ASYLUM, RADICAL IMPACT GRANT, FRANK-RATCHYE FUND FOR ART @ THE FRONTIER


Described as “a simple yet deeply touching piece” by Moving Poems: Best Poetry Videos on the Web; Screened at 12th International Video Poetry Festival, FUSE - Film Under Severe Experiment, and REELpoetry/HoustonTX.

Dating Sucks

Writing / Direction

Short | 4 minutes


A romantic struggling with dating meets a promising date in a cemetery. As sparks fly and secrets emerge, she finds herself back at square one.


writing / direction / editing PALOMA SIERRA cinematography CHLOÉ DELEPLACE first assistant director KATE TUCK design PALOMA SIERRA music ALEKSEY CHISTILIN, CIEL PHANTOMHIVE, YEVHEN ONOYCHENKO cast BRIE COVINGTON, ALEXANDER MAKAR, JOSH BECKMAN, EDUARDO HERNANDEZ, DANIEL TRAINOR


Screened at Lift-Off First-Time Filmmaker (2024).

You Should Get to Know You Like I Do

1st Assistant Direction

Music Video | 3 minutes


music/lyrics MLUCKY production KAREYNI DAVIS, TEODORA PETRE direction ISABELLA BAZONI 1st assistant direction PALOMA SIERRA cinematography KIT BAKER 1st assistant camera MARGOT CANALE spark ALEXANDER MERTON gaffer ANA-MARIA DUMITRESCU production design ALEXANDRA SANTAMARIA costume design ELIZABETH POLLAR make up CAITLYN RAMOS-STOVIN editor FABIO MODONUTTI cast RAFFAELA IULIANO

Gutters

Writing / Direction

Short Film (in development)


A struggling Physics nerd and rookie bowler team up to save the semester and win a professional bowling tournament with their science and sporting skills.


Developed through LAMDA’s MishMash Festival (2024), Latine Musical Theatre Lab (2023), and Carnegie Mellon’s Dramatic Writing MFA (2021); Selected as a finalist for an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Screenwriting Grant (2021).

Stage

Biography of a Constellation

Direction

Theatre | 1 hour

Lives intertwine across space and time as four individuals defy societal expectations in their pursuit of the stars: A princess yearns to leave her public life to dedicate herself to cosmic exploration; Sarah, a frustrated planetarium announcer, craves recognition for her passion; a physicist struggles to write his grandmother’s obituary while uncovering her celestial legacy; and a librarian races to reconnect with her grandson after learning of her own death.


production ORANGE TREE THEATRE writing LILA ROSE KAPLAN direction PALOMA SIERRA set / costumes / puppetry JANA LAKATOS puppetry construction EMMA MCGRATH lighting GHOTI FISHER sound SUMMER COLLIER music ABHINAV MISHRA stage management ELISABETTA PERROTTA movement and voice direction LYRA MACKENZIE intimacy direction SAM GOODCHILD dialect coach DAVID JARZEN cellist ALASDAIR LINN cast KATHLEEN IRVINE, PHOENIX EDWARDS, GRACE WALLIS, ROY MAS photography SAM TAYLOR


Received 4-star reviews from A Young(ish) Perspective and FringeReview UK.

The Lonely Londoners

Assistant Direction / New Work Development

Theatre Adaptation | 1.5 hours


Newly arrived from Trinidad, Henry ‘Galahad’ is impatient to start his new life in London. Carrying just pajamas and a toothbrush, he bursts through Moses Aloetta’s door only to find Moses and his friends already soured on city life. Will the London fog dampen Galahad’s dreams? Or will these Lonely Londoners make a home in a city that sees them as a threat?


production JERMYN STREET THEATRE story SAM SELVON playwriting ROY WILLIAMS direction EBENEZER BAMGBOYE assistant direction PALOMA SIERRA movement direction NEVENA STOJKOV set design LAURA ANN PRICE lighting design ELLIOT GRIGGS sound design TONY GAYLE costume design ANETT BLACK stage management SUMMER KEELING casting director ABBY GALVIN cast GAMBA COLE, ROMARIO SIMPSON, TOBI BAKARE, GILBERT KYEM JUNIOR, SHANNON HAYES, CAROL MOSES, AIMEE POWELL photography ALEX BRENNER


Hailed by The Guardian as one of the "Best Theatre Productions of 2024" and a “must-see” by The New York Times; Nominated for six Offie awards, including Best Production, Direction, New Play, Ensemble, Lighting Design, and Choreography.

Twelfth Night

Assistant Direction

Theatre Adaptation | 1.5 hours


When Viola washes up on the foreign shores of Illyria, she believes her twin brother to be dead. To survive, she disguises herself as a man named Cesario and begins working for Duke Orsino. Love-stricken, Orsino sends Viola (as Cesario) to woo Countess Olivia on his behalf. But Olivia falls for Viola, thinking she’s a man; and Viola has a secret crush on Orsino! Things get crazier when Viola’s twin, Sebastian, washes up on shore. As the town's folk confuse the twins and no one knows who's who, mistaken identities, unexpected romance, and mischief ensues.


production REBECCA LYLE, ELLA MURDOCH, ANGEL CUPIDON, EMILY HUXLEY direction DEBBIE KORLEY assistant direction / costumes design PALOMA SIERRA stage management ABHINAV MISHRA voice direction GEORGE RYAN movement direction NICOLETTA BONANNI music direction GRAEME DU FRESNE  sound design ALESSANDRO QUARANTA cast JAYLON BOLDEN, THELMA GEORGIOU, EMILY HAYMAN, DISHARI KARGUPTA, ELLIE LARKIN, NATALIA MAY, OLIVE MCHUGH, CALEB MERCER, KOFI ODOOM, MAX PINK, GAVIN RASMUSSEN, ASHNAH STRONGHEART, EMILY TIDEY, OLIVER WINN, MAGGIE ZHANG


Toured over 10 schools, bringing Shakespeare to young audiences with LAMDA Shakespeare in Schools.

Is God Is

Assistant Direction

Theatre | 1.5 hours


When a letter arrives from the mother they thought was dead, twenty-one-year-old twins Racine and Anaia travel from the Dirty South to the California desert to avenge her past, ready to take down anyone who stands in their way.


production NIC DONITHORN, STEPH SIRAUT direction KALEYA BAXE assistant direction PALOMA SIERRA voice direction AUNDREA FUDGE movement direction YAMI LÖFVENBERG fight direction CRISTIAN CARDENAS set and costume design HELEN HEBERT lighting design AVERY ELLIOT sound design CALLUM DUNCAN stage management MAIA THOMPSON assistant stage management ACE TURNER cast RYN ALLEYNE, CRYSTAL MARSHALL, SABREE EDWARDS, TAMARRA GRAHAM, KIARA KIANDRA, SHAK BENJAMIN, KYLE NDUKUBA, NAIA ELLIOT-SPENCE

Welcome to Bettyland

Assistant Direction / New Work Development

Theatre | 1.5 hours


As a divine, feminine utopia falls into chaos following the disappearance of its founder and a mysterious death, its inhabitants race to uncover the forces threatening their sanctuary.


production JASMIN MEARA-WALL playwriting REBECCA JADE HAMMOND direction TRISTAN FYNN-AIDUENU assistant direction PALOMA SIERRA fight direction SAM BEHAN intimacy direction RANIAH AL-SAYED movement direction GABY NIMO music direction ASHLEY DANIELS voice direction AUNDREA FUDGE set design  TARA USHER lighting design  JENNIFER GARLAND sound design SUMMER COLLIER costume design TARA USHER stage management ABHINAV MISHRA, STEPHANIE LEESON, JAMES KNIGHT cast  GABE ACEVEDO, TATEYANA ARUTURA, MANDISA BALENI, SAM BAMPOE-PARRY, BROOKE BAZARIAN, EVE COWLEY, VIKRAM GROVER, FELICITY ISON, KAI ALEXANDRA JOHNSON, YAW KYERMATENG, PEI LIN, JERRY MADISON JR, ALEXANDER MAKAR, KRISTEN MISTHOPOULOS photography ZOË BIRKBECK

The Taming of the Shrew

Assistant Direction

Theatre | 2 hours


Thorny, funny, and deeply human, Kate and Petruchio struggle against the roles they have been prescribed by gender, class, or age. Out of place because of their honesty in a world of deception, can these two broken people find happiness where they least expect it?


production SANTA CRUZ SHAKESPEARE playwriting WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE direction ROBYNN RODRIGUEZ assistant direction PALOMA SIERRA dramaturgy SEAN KEILEN, KATIE O'HARE, ABBS LYMAN text consultant MICHAEL WARREN voice/dialect coach DAVID MORDEN fight choreography DAVE MAIER intimacy choreography NOAH LUCE stage management CLAIRE STARK, HANNAH BONER, EMILY SALCIDO scenic design MICHAEL SCHWEIKARDT props design JENNIFER BAKER lighting design MARCY BARBEAU costume design PAMELA RODRIGUEZ-MONTERO assistant costume design SAMANTHA URBAEZ sound design BARRY G. FUNDERBURG props design THOMAS BIGLEY wigs/makeup design JESSICA CARTER cast PATTY GALLAHER, JEREMY HELGESON, PETER HADRES, YAEL JESHION-NELSON, DAVID KELLY, ANNAMARIE MACLEOD, CAYDEN MCCOY, SOPHIA K METCALF, RIVER NAVAILLE, JUNIOR NYONGO, M.L. ROBERTS, KELLY ROGERS, AMY KIM WASCHKE, DERRICK LEE WEEDEN

Rosa: The Day of the Dead

Writing

Opera | 20 minutes


On the Day of the Dead, Rose receives an unexpected ghastly visit that unravels truths about her family, heritage, and past.


production WHITE SNAKE PROJECTS writing PALOMA SIERRA music MARINA LÓPEZ direction LAINE RETTMER


Commissioned by White Snake Projects as part of their Let’s Celebrate! Living Holiday Traditions in America festival (2020).

La batalla de los clásicos

Writing

Opera | 15 minutes


Three Puerto Rican composers go head-to-head, showcasing their life and career-defining achievements to captivate the public. As they battle to earn the audience’s vote, each must prove they are the best composer out of the three.


production OLGA IGLESIAS PROJECT writing PALOMA SIERRA music JOHANNY NAVARRO direction AIDA BELÉN RIVERA piano ERNESTO BUSIGÓ cast CHRISTIAN GARCÍA, MARTÍN ALICEA, CARLOS ORTIZ RIVERA, HILDA RAMOS


Awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant; Commissioned by Olga Iglesias Project, an initiative that brings music to Puerto Rican classrooms and young audiences.

Cola'o: A Bilingual Trova

Writing

Theatre | 10 minutes


Two lovers – each with contrary opinions about Puerto Rican national identity – uncover how to prepare “authentic” coffee.


Published by Bridge: Bluffton University Literary Journal (2019), and selected as finalist for City Theatre National Short Playwriting Award finalist (2020). Performed with Theatre Now's Sound Bites 7.0 (2020), Nuyorican Poets Cafe (2018), WRCT 88.3FM Barrio Latino (2017), and Carnegie Mellon School of Drama Playground Festival (2016).

Close (But Not Too Close!)

Writing

Musical | 20 minutes


An anxious single man dives into the world of online dating through a new app, determined to find love to broaden his horizons. Will his search for connection lead to romance or will he find himself in an unexpected scam?


Praised by The Young-Howze Theater Journal for setting “a high bar for digital musicals from now on” and having “everything that we had been missing in musical theatre: comedy, catchy music, and irreverence.”


Produced by Project Y Theatre Company as part of their Live Online Women in Theatre Festival (2021), and workshopped with New Musicals Inc. (2020).

BuT yOuR eNgLiSh Is So GoOd!

Writing

Theatre | 5 minutes


A choreopoem inspired by the phrase "BuT yOuR eNgLiSh Is So GoOd!"


Awarded a Special Drama Award at Carnegie Mellon's Martin Luther King Jr. Day Writing Awards (2020); performed with Different Strokes! Performing Arts Collective (2023), Poetic Theater Productions (2019), and Carnegie Mellon (2018); featured on KDKA's Pittsburgh Today Live (2020).

The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano

Dramaturgy / New Work Development

Musical Adaptation | 1 hour


When her outspoken grandmother moves in and the Young Lords rally the community to action, Evelyn Serrano is forced to confront her feelings about her Hispanic family, neighborhood, and heritage. As Evelyn finds herself swept up in their fight, she discovers the strength of her Latinx identity and the legacy of those who fought for change.


production NEW HAZLETT THEATER / EDINBURGH FRINGE / RE:ENCUENTRO FESTIVAL OF NEW WORK stage direction / playwriting TLALOC RIVAS music direction RICK EDINGER dramaturgy PALOMA SIERRA lighting design HARBOUR EDNEY scenic/props design BRITTON MAUK music/sound design SARTJE PICKETT sound engineering LAURA MOELLER costume design LINDSAY GORANSON stage management RACHAEL ELLIS photography RENEE ROSENSTEEL

Spanglish Sh!t

Dramaturgy / New Work Development

Musical (in development)


Brujita, a trans Puerto Rican witch, stands trial at the Supreme Court. Her crime? Brewing up a vengeful hurricane to destroy the White House. Pleading innocence, Brujita’s testimony takes us from the warm hills of Puerto Rico to the frigid suburbs of New Jersey. But there’s no escaping the guilt of her whitewashed past.


book and lyrics SAMORA LA PERDIDA music MOBEY LOLA IRIZARRY, MATTHEW ZWEIBEL, JOSIAH HANDELMAN dramaturgy PALOMA SIERRA development LATINE MUSIC THEATRE LAB, BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE: THE GROUND FLOOR photography KRYSTAL CONYE

Poetry