Thrown Stone Awards 2025 Commission to Ramon Esquivel's SHOW ME THE GATES OF HEAVEN

Thrown Stone has awarded its 2025 commission to Ramon Esquivel for his proposed play, Show Me the Gates of Heaven. Selected from 150 submissions, this is Thrown Stone’s second full-length commission, following the 2023 world premiere of Seven Cousins for a Horse by Tammy Ryan — an examination of the life and work of Connecticut portraitist Ammi Phillips, now known as the most prolific folk artist in American history.

Show Me the Gates of Heaven

Perched atop a remote observatory, a scientist is held hostage by an intruder, who is convinced the telescope can reveal a fundamental truth that has been withheld from the public. This gripping showdown of reason versus belief asks: Can we find common ground before it’s too late? Or are some chasms too vast to cross?

Ramon Esquivel

“With this new play commission, Thrown Stone has invited me to tell a story about two characters struggling to understand each other despite their opposing beliefs about truth, love, and even the right to exist,” says Esquivel. “One is driven by curiosity, one is motivated by certainty, and each has built comfortable silos for themselves among others who think and believe as they do. Is it even possible for such chasms of difference to be bridged? Right now, at the beginning, I don’t know. But I hope they can find common ground by looking to the heavens, thousands of light years away, in the ominously named Omega Nebula.”

Persuasion: The Central Theme

This commission asked playwrights to examine the mechanisms of persuasion and the ways in which individuals and groups influence one another. We were particularly interested in stories that explore how people decide what to believe, how competing messages shape our perceptions, and what makes dialogue possible when people are not starting from the same place. The proposals we received reflected a broad range of perspectives, tackling these questions in inventive and unexpected ways.

“Ramon’s proposal stood out for its tension, theatricality, and the complexity of its central question,” said Jonathan Winn, Thrown Stone’s Co-Artistic Director. “It takes persuasion beyond rhetoric and into the realm of survival — showing what happens when two people with completely different worldviews have no choice but to engage.”

Jason Peck, Thrown Stone’s Co-Artistic Director, added: “This concept has all the ingredients for a gripping, intimate play — high stakes, a clear dramatic question, and a setting that amplifies the clash of ideas. We’re eager to see where Ramon takes it.”