J. Lynn Jackson
he, him, his
Sonoma, CA
J. Lynn Jackson writes of and for justice, spirit, community and love while at home in the US and Mexico.
[contact]
Biography

J. Lynn Jackson (Jeff) writes of and for justice, community, love and joy while at home in the US and in Mexico.

J. Lynn Jackson's playwriting began in 2015. First came The Red Sweater, a full-length play based on Maurice L. Monette’s memoir, Confessions of a Gay Married Priest. Dramatic readings were with the Playwrights Center, the Berkeley Play Cafe and Whimsy Farm.

Lucía Fuentes came to life in 2019 as a full-length play triggered and inspired by the women of the global #MeToo reckoning and the families of 43 students disappeared in Mexico. Lucía Fuentes is one of two plays selected by Town Hall Theatre (Lafayette, CA) for production in their 2023-2024 New Voices Festival. In 2022, San Francisco PlayGround selected Lucía Fuentes as one of three plays for their inaugural Free-Plays Festival at Potrero Stage, directed by Katja Rivera and produced by Miyoko Sakatani's Playland Productions. Previous dramatic readings were with the Playwrights Center, the Berkeley Play Cafe and Whimsy Farm. Lucía Fuentes is a semi-finalist for the 2021 Woodward International Playwriting Prize and for the 2024 Playwrights Foundation Bay Area Playwrights Festival.

Charles Darwin, Her True Story celebrates the potential for revolutionary change in everyone, and shows how survival skills developed in childhood can backfire later in life if unexplored or overused. In 2022, Latinx Mafia produced Charles Darwin, Her True Story directed by Terezina Vital as one of nine plays selected for San Francisco PlayGround's Innovators Showcase Festival at Potrero Stage in San Francisco. Previously, the play was one of four selected by North Star for their 2020 New Plays Workshop Intensive, by the Playwrights Center for their first Open Play Showcase actors’ reading, and by the Dramatists Guild for their 2021 Footlights actors’ reading series.

J. Lynn Jackson’s early years as a writer – including the better of 17 years in Latin America - tackled Chile's Pinochet dictatorship, Cuba-US relations, US health reform, labor organizing, LGBT rights, philanthropy, and community empowerment; Jackson's published (mostly as Jeff) in the US, Cuba and Mexico in three books, a professional journal and various newspapers. Jackson's career has included work in philanthropy, healthcare, and community service organizations in Chile, Mexico, Cuba, and the US. 

J. Lynn Jackson is a member the Playwrights’ Center, the Dramatists Guild and the Berkeley Play Cafe, and was on the Latinx Mafia Leadership Team for San Francisco PlayGround's 2022 Innovator Incubator. 

Plays

The Red Sweater
by J. Lynn Jackson

A Catholic priest in need of love wrestles with belief and doubt. His journey – both guided and misguided by family, work, church, and self - ultimately inspires a leap of faith beyond the bounds of conventional religion and in to the passionate embrace of a bigger God.

Cast:
Michel (10-58): A Catholic priest in search of love. Greg (26-50): Michel’s activist friend, a lover. Mimi (41-89): Michel’s aunt and godmother, a doubter. Gerard (41-89): Michel’s father, a “true” believer. Marie (43-90): Michel’s dutiful, protective mother. Lucie (8-44): Michel’s rule-breaking, playful sister. Pierre (36-69): Michel’s uncle, a priest. Louis (10-47): Michel’s childhood friend, a priest. Sex Drive (20-40): Michel’s insufferable itch.
Lucía Fuentes
by J. Lynn Jackson

Spiritual guru, Hernán Espinoza, walks Japan’s Shikoku pilgrimage path to honor the lives of 43 students disappeared in his home country of Mexico. A Buddhist nun who guides Shikoku pilgrims has a vital interest in Hernán’s journey, yet senses she must test his true intentions. While taking a shortcut to save time, Hernán has a breakdown. Not knowing whether he is alive or dead, a man or a woman, a saint or a sinner, in Japan or not, he continues to the end, which, on the circular Shikoku path, is also the beginning.

Lucía Fuentes came to life in 2019 as a full-length play triggered and inspired by the truth-tellers of the global #MeToo reckoning and the families of 43 students disappeared in Mexico. Lucía Fuentes is one of two plays selected by Town Hall Theatre (Lafayette, CA) for production in their 2023-2024 New Voices Festival. In 2022, San Francisco PlayGround selected Lucía Fuentes as one of three plays for their inaugural Free-Plays Festival at Potrero Stage, directed by Katja Rivera and produced by Miyoko Sakatani's Playland Productions. Previous dramatic readings were with the Playwrights Center, the Berkeley Play Cafe and Whimsy Farm. Lucía Fuentes is a semi-finalist for the 2021 Woodward International Playwriting Prize and for the 2024 Playwrights Foundation Bay Area Playwrights Festival. 

Cast:
Hernán: A prickly pilgrim from Mexico (m/50). Red Henro: An enigmatic pilgrim from Japan (f/25). Gold Monk: The guardian of Temple 1 (m/100). Anju: A spiritual leader at Temple 1 (f/75). María: An extreme athlete from Spain (f/25). Jesús: An extreme athlete from Spain (m/25). Silver Henro: A luminous silent pilgrim (m/50). Ensemble: Pilgrims, flamenco dancers, and boys.
Charles Darwin, Her True Story
by J. Lynn Jackson

It's 2001 in southern Chile.  On the verge of receiving an unwanted lifetime achievement award from a ship full of wealthy US philanthropists, a clandestine backer of revolutions appears shipwrecked on a shrinking patch of thin ice along with a ghost, a gun, a knife and a secret admirer. Clues for survival come as the castaway relives past affairs with Pablo Neruda, Frida Kahlo, Fidel Castro, and others.

The play celebrates the potential for revolutionary change in everyone, and shows how survival skills developed in childhood can backfire later in life if unexplored or overused.

Charles Darwin, Her True Story was one of four plays selected via a national search by North Star for their 2020 New Plays Workshop Intensive, the Playwrights Center for their first Open Play Showcase actors’ reading, and by the Dramatists Guild for their Footlights actors’ reading series. 

Dramatic readings have included the following lead actors: Sarah Nina Hayon (Wintertime and English, Berkeley Rep), Sean San Jose (Artistic Director, Magic Theatre), Elena Ruggiero (Berkeley PlayCafe), Juan Amador (CampoSanto), Alisha Espinosa (NorthStar), and Joel Oramas (NorthStar).

Latinx Mafia produced Charles Darwin, Her True Story as one of nine plays selected for PlayGround's 2022 Innovators Showcase Festival, starring L. Duarte and Hector Zavala and directed by Terezina Vital.

Cast:
Charles: Independent, driven and vengeful (f/29-80). Salvador: Loyal, attentive and just (m/43-65). Mara*: Ghost of Charles’ wise sister (f/18). Pablo: Loving, sage, Chilean poet/politician (m/45). Frida: Honest, sharp, dying Mexican artist (f/47). Fidel: Devoted, astute, Cuban Prime Minister (m/36). Nora: Moral, alert, Nicaraguan fighter (f/28). Marcos: Just, mindful, Mexican battle commander (m/41). Soldier*: Mexican army soldier. Voice-Over: Radio voices of a ship’s captain and US President Kennedy. Double Plans: Two Actors - Salvador as Pablo, Frida, Fidel, Nora, Marcos, Soldier and Voice-Over. Three Actors - Salvador as Pablo, Fidel, and Marcos. Mara as Frida, Nora, Soldier and Voice-Over. *Mara and/or Soldier can be cast or imagined; both are nonspeaking. All characters are Latinx.

Successes

LUCÍA FUENTES was selected by the Playwrights Foundation as a semi-finalist for the 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival. 

LUCÍA FUENTES by J. Lynn Jackson is one of four plays selected by Town Hall Theatre (Lafayette, CA) for production in their 2023-2024 New Voices Festival.

CHARLES DARWIN, HER TRUE STORY premiers at Potrero Stage in San Francisco Nov. 18, 19, 20, (with Livestream and On-Demand ticket options). Click here for a synopsis of the play and for tickets ($0-$30).

LATINX MAFIA presents:

CHARLES DARWIN, HER TRUE STORY

by J. Lynn Jackson

The play is a celebration of Latin American revolutionaries and the revolutionary potential in all of us and is one of 9 plays selected for PlayGround's 4th annual Innovators Showcase festival. To read the synopsis of all 9 plays and to reserve stage or livestream tickets (free or donation) click here.

 

LUCÍA FUENTES was one of three plays selected by PlayGround for their inaugural Free-Plays Festival in San Francisco on August 28. Latinx Mafia's Katja Rivera will direct. Cast includes Hector Zavala, Miyoko Sakatani, May Ramos, Ron Munekawa and Sedrick Cabrera. Synopsis and free tickets (stage or streaming) are at this link.