Flaca Loves Bone
Overview
Flaca Loves Bone is Pedro’s first full-length play, written in 2009 during his time with the LAByrinth Theater Company. It was developed through their Intensive program and later presented in staged readings in New York City.
The play centers on Flaca, a transgender woman, and Bone, a young runaway, whose connection unfolds within a world shaped by instability, danger, and emotional isolation. Even at this early stage in his career, Pedro was already telling stories rooted in empathy, placing marginalized voices at the center with care and humanity.
From the Beginning
The phrase “Flaca ♥ Bone,” seen as graffiti in Red Hook, Brooklyn, stayed with Pedro long after he first came across it, eventually becoming the spark for the story.
You can hear Pedro talk about this moment in more detail here:
▶️ Pedro Pascal and Joaquin Phoenix Look Back at Their Career (A24)
Development & Early Readings
laca Loves Bone emerged out of LAByrinth’s 2009 summer intensive, a collaborative workshop environment focused on developing new work across disciplines. It was during this time that Pedro began shaping what would become his first full-length play.
On February 2, 2010, Flaca Loves Bone was presented as a reading, written and directed by Pedro Pascal. The reading featured Elizabeth Rodriguez, Gregor(y) Mozgala, Richard Petrocelli, Billy Porter, Carlo Alban, and Lucy DeVito, bringing the story to life in one of its earliest forms.
The piece was also part of LAByrinth’s Punch the Clock Festival, held at LAB’s space on West 38th Street in New York City.
The play continued to evolve and was presented again later that year as part of TheaterJam at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater on October 17, 2010.
These readings brought together a strong group of collaborators, including Elizabeth Rodriguez as Flaca and Gregg Mozgala as Bone, with Billy Porter also participating.
Story & Inspiration
Pedro described the play as growing out of a vision of Brooklyn shaped by division and hardship, particularly reflecting the atmosphere of Williamsburg around 1980. He imagined a world influenced by deeply separated communities, where social and economic divides created a sense of distance even within shared spaces.
Within this setting, Flaca Loves Bone tells the story of a transgender woman and a young runaway whose lives intersect in an environment marked by instability and pressure. As their relationship develops, it is shaped by the realities surrounding them, where safety, identity, and belonging are never guaranteed.
The backdrop reflects a time when parts of Brooklyn were experiencing the effects of industrial decline, rising poverty, and increasing crime and drug activity. This environment becomes more than just setting, it actively influences the characters, their choices, and the emotional weight of their connection.
At its core, the play explores how love can exist in even the most uncertain and unforgiving circumstances.
Personal Connection
Years later, Pedro reflected on Flaca Loves Bone in a conversation with his sister Lux Pascal, revealing how personal the work was even when he first wrote it.
He shared that she has long been central to his creative imagination, someone he instinctively saw and understood. When building stories, he has said that he often sees her before he sees himself.
Lux spoke about how the play felt connected to her identity long before she fully had the language for it, recalling how Pedro recognized and affirmed who she was from an early age.
This perspective adds a deeper layer to the play, framing it not only as an early creative work, but as something rooted in love, intuition, and recognition.
https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a66054309/lux-pascal-pedro-pascal-interview-2025
Production & Readings
• Written by: Pedro Pascal
• Year: 2009
• Developed at: LAByrinth Theater Company Intensive
• Directed (early reading): Sarah Silverman
• Festival: Punch the Clock Festival, February 2, 2010
• Additional Reading: Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, October 17, 2010
Notable performers included:
• Elizabeth Rodriguez as Flaca
• Gregg Mozgala as Bone
• Richard Petrocelli
• Billy Porter
• Carlo Alban
• Lucy DeVito
