Dascha Polanco and Diane Guerrero to Lead EGOÍSTA Workshop

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The comedy, by playwright Erlina Ortiz, will be directed by Tatyana-Marie Carlo.

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Egoísta, the new comedy by award-winning playwright Erlina Ortiz, will have a workshop presentation on Thursday, June 26 at 11:00 AM at Open Jar Studios, presented by Tony Award-winning producer Dale A. Mott , Edgewood Entertainment. The workshop will reunite Dascha Polanco and Diane Guerrero for the first time since starring together in Netflix’s acclaimed “Orange Is the New Black” and will be directed by 2026 Drama League Award nominee Tatyana-Marie Carlo (Spread).

Winner of the 2022 National Latine Playwriting Award, Egoísta is a sharp, deeply human comedy that explores sisterhood, caregiving, grief, ambition, and the impossible balancing act between pursuing your dreams and showing up for the people you love. Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, the play follows Josefina ( Dascha Polanco ), a rising comic whose career begins to take off just as she is pulled into caring for her chronically ill younger sister, Betsaida (Diane Guerrero). As the sisters navigate obligation, resentment, sacrifice, humor, and survival, both are forced to confront the fragile yet enduring bonds of family.

Infused with Ortiz's signature humor and emotional honesty, Egoísta asks a powerful question: when survival requires selfishness, what do we owe the people we love.

Egoísta emerged from the Latinx Theatre Commons Comedy Carnaval after being commissioned and developed by Live & In Color. The play received its world premiere production at Actors Theatre of Louisville, where it was programmed by Robert Barry Fleming and was directed by Amelia Acosta Powell. Its West Coast premiere took place at Skylight Theatre in Los Angeles. It was also featured on the 2023 Kilroys’ List and received a critically acclaimed production at Philadelphia Theatre Company in 2024 under the direction of Carlo, where it attracted 63% new ticket buyers to the company.

Now, following continued development, Egoísta moves toward its Off-Broadway future, further cementing Ortiz's reputation as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary American theater. Through its deeply personal examination of family, survival, and care, the play offers a timely and resonant portrait of the sacrifices women make for those they love, and for themselves.

Dascha Polanco (Josefina) is a Dominican American actress best known for her breakout role as Dayanara “Daya” Diaz on Netflix’s acclaimed series “Orange Is the New Black,” for which she received multiple Screen Actors Guild Awards as part of the ensemble. Since then, she has emerged as one of the most recognizable Latina actresses working across film and television. Polanco starred as Cuca in Lin-Manuel Miranda ’s feature adaptation of In the Heights and has appeared in acclaimed projects including The Irishman, Samaritan, “Russian Doll,” “When They See Us,” “Poker Face,” “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” and “The Walking Dead: Dead City.” She currently stars in Lifetime’s “Terror Comes Knocking: The Marcela Borges Story” and continues to expand her work across television, film, fashion, music, and branded entertainment. Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and raised in Brooklyn and Miami, Polanco was a first-generation college student who earned a degree in psychology from Hunter College before initially pursuing a career in nursing and hospital administration. Her journey into acting has made her a powerful voice around representation, body positivity, and Latina visibility in entertainment.

Diane Guerrero (Betsaida) is a Colombian American actress and author known for her breakout roles as Maritza Ramos in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black” and Lina on “Jane the Virgin.” Guerrero starred as Kay Challis/Crazy Jane in DC’s Doom Patrol, and her work on “Orange Is the New Black” contributed to the series’ three consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. On the feature side, she voiced Isabela Madrigal in Disney’s Academy Award-winning animated hit Encanto and Jessica Cruz/Green Lantern in Justice League vs. the Fatal Five. Her recent screen work includes Blast Beat, the supernatural thriller The Whistler, and the short film Poreless, which premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Festival. She is next set to appear in Season 5 of “The Lincoln Lawyer” and the independent feature Animal Heart. Raised in Boston, Guerrero remained in the United States after her parents were detained and deported to Colombia — an experience that shaped her lifelong advocacy for immigration reform and human rights. She is also the author of the memoir In the Country We Love: My Family Divided and served as host and executive producer of the mental health podcast Yeah No, I’m Not OK, spotlighting healing, identity, and the lived experiences of communities of color.

Erlina Ortiz (she/her) (Playwright) is a Dominican American playwright and theatre maker whose heartfelt, sharply funny plays center family, identity, class, and survival. Her award-winning play Egoísta received the 2022 National Latine Playwriting Award and has been produced at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Skylight Theatre, and Philadelphia Theatre Company . Her play Young Money received an ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award Citation, and her musical Siluetas premiered at Power Street Theatre in 2024, earning seven Barrymore Award nominations. Ortiz is a Resident Playwright at InterAct Theatre, a 2023 Dramatists Guild Foundation Catalyst Fellow, and has received support from the Leeway Foundation, including the Transformation Award, the UCROSS Foundation, Amtrak Writers Residency, Signal Fire, and New York Stage & Film’s NEXUS program. She is Co-Artistic Director of Power Street Theatre and serves on the board of Theatre Philadelphia.

Tatyana-Marie Carlo (ella/she) (Director) is a Latiné director and Resident Director of Trinity Repertory Company whose bold, emotionally expansive work spans Off-Broadway and leading regional theatres. She recently garnered a 2026 Drama League nomination for Outstanding Direction of a Play for Spread at INTAR Theatre, alongside nominations for Outstanding Production of a Play and Distinguished Performance and was recognized with a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble. She was named a 2023 “Broadway Industry Woman to Watch” by the Broadway Women’s Fund. Recent directing credits include Spread and Vámonos at INTAR Theatre, Egoísta at Philadelphia Theatre Company , and productions at Hartford Stage, Dallas Theater Center , Everyman Theatre, Children’s Theatre Company, Dorset Theatre Festival, and Trinity Rep. Carlo is a Drama League Public Works Fellow, a Williamstown Theatre Festival Matt Harris Directing Fellow, and a graduate of Brown University’s MFA Directing Program, where she now teaches. She is a proud member of SDC.

Dale A. Mott , Edgewood Entertainment (Producer) is a two-time Tony Award-winning producer and founder of Edgewood Entertainment. Broadway credits include The Lifespan of a Fact, Thoughts of a Colored Man, A Strange Loop (Tony Award, Best Musical), New York, New York, August Wilson ’s The Piano Lesson, Appropriate (Tony Award, Best Revival of a Play), and The Last Five Years. In 2026, Mott made his Off-West End producing debut with Sam Morrison ’s Sugar Daddy at Underbelly Boulevard Soho in London. Current projects include the Broadway musical WANTED: The Legend of the Sisters Clarke; Egoísta by Erlina Ortiz; and Long Way Down, the musical adaptation of Jason Reynolds’ acclaimed novel, recipient of the Helen Hayes / Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding Musical Adaptation. Mott founded Edgewood Entertainment in 2017 to champion artist-driven work with commercial ambition and cultural resonance.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/industry/article/ORANGE-IS-THE-NEW-BLACKs-Dascha-Polanco-and-Diane-Guerrero-Will-Lead-EGOSTA-Workshop-20260615)._