Fifty fun facts sobre Olivia [mi madre]
Fifty fun facts sobre Olivia [mi madre]
Written by Nora Coss
Directed by Manuel Ortiz
November 6 to November 22, 2026
Tickets
Thu & Fri | 7 PM
Sat & Sun | 3 PM
General Admission | $40
Students & Seniors | $35
Groups of 10+ | $30 each, fees included
IATI Theater
Mainstage Theater
64 E 4th St
NYC, NY 10003
ADA/Wheelchair Accessible
▸ Plan Your Visit
Running Time
Approx. 75 minutes
Age Recommendation
Ages 16+
Language
English & Spanish with bilingual supertitles
About
Fifty fun facts sobre Olivia [mi madre] is a bilingual memory play about fourteen-year-old Emilio, his mother Olivia, and what happens when a medical crisis suddenly reshapes the relationship between them. Caught between English and Spanish, Mexico and the United States, Emilio must confront questions of language, identity, family, and what it means to care for the person who once cared for you.
Moving between humor and grief, memory and autofiction, the play asks how well we really know the people we love, and what remains when we try to hold onto a life through stories, silences, and the ordinary details that make someone unforgettable.
Bringing a Student Group?
Bring your students to IATI Theater.
Fifty fun facts sobre Olivia [mi madre] is a moving, funny, and deeply human bilingual play about a teenage boy navigating his mother's medical crisis while caught between cultures, languages, and identities.
The production offers students an opportunity to experience live bilingual theater while opening conversations around family, language, belonging, bicultural identity, caregiving, memory, and the responsibilities young people sometimes carry.
Student Groups of 10+ | $30 per person, all-inclusive
Weekday performances for school and university groups may be available based on interest and availability. Conversations with members of the artistic team may also be available with advance arrangement.
Group Reservations & Educational Inquiries
Yani Pérez, Executive Program Manager
yani@iatitheater.org | 212-505-6757
Credits
Creative & Production Team
Attilio Rigotti, Scenic, Sound & Projection Designer
Miguel Valderrama, Lighting Designer
Federica Borlenghi, Costume & Props Design
Valeria Llaneza, Stage Manager & Assistant Director
Braulio Basilio, Production Manager
Alejandra Díaz-Pizarro, Translator
Cast
Carmen Alvarez
Francisco Arcila
Gilberto Gabriel
Jassiel Santillán
Andrea Velasco
Creative Team
Nora Coss Playwright
Nora Coss is a Mexican playwright, stage director, screenwriter, and novelist. She has written for the stage since 2005 and is the author of approximately fifteen plays, many of which have been produced in Mexico and published in contemporary Mexican theatre anthologies. Her works include De jueves a martes, Aperturas, Sol de invierno, Desarrollo teórico-matemático de un desamor, Ali. Falso documental de una falsa lesbiana, and Fifty fun facts sobre Olivia [mi madre]. Coss has received grants and fellowships for artistic creation from FONCA, FONECA, and PECDA, and received the Juan Rulfo Fine Arts Prize for her debut novel, Nubecita (2018). She has also written for television and taught playwriting and creative writing for more than a decade. She is a member of Mexico's National System of Art Creators.
Manuel Ortiz Ossandon Director
Manuel Ortiz Ossandon is a Queer Chilean theatre director, playwright, educator, and producer based in Brooklyn. He has worked as a director and playwright at the Chilean National Theater and with theatre companies throughout Chile and the United States. He has directed seventeen productions, ten of which he authored, with work presented internationally and both Off-Broadway and regionally in the United States. As an educator, he has taught undergraduate and graduate drama courses and led workshops throughout the Americas and Europe. In 2025, Ortiz received HOLA Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Directing and Outstanding Production for Manifest Destiny, the second installment of his American Mythology Trilogy. He currently serves as Co-Artistic Director of Split/Decision and as Associate Producer and Co-Lead of Director Training at Mercury Store.