PUBLISHED WORKS

"Carbajal's humor alternates between lacerating and indulgent and never slackens."
--The New Yorker

Washington High: the year 1985. Every day is a struggle for four of the school's smartest and least-popular kids. Their only respite comes from basement sessions of Dungeons & Dragons. When a radio request show turns a private crush public, the simple pursuit of education becomes a fight for survival.

Broadway Licensing

"Carbajal is a master of powerful simplicity. Ray doesn't need to get too emotional; you'll be doing that for him. If you lost a loved one to COVID-19 to whom music was important, you will hear them."
--Scott Sickles (The Marianas Trench, Composure)

More than a million individuals have lost their lives to COVID-19 in the U.S. alone. The sheer magnitude of the numbers can feel impossible to understand. Santa Ana's Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble has found a beautiful, intimate way of putting faces to those devastating statistics. They put a call out to writers to write living altarpieces for those who have passed, 54 writers from around the globe responded to the prompt, including Ruben Carbajal's The Last Song.

LibreMobile Amazon

"A one-minute masterpiece."
--Craig Houk (Cold Rain, Syd)

One Minute Plays: A Practical Guide to Tiny Theatre demystifies the super-short-form play, demonstrating that this rich, accessible format offers great energy and variety not only to audiences but also to everyone involved in its creation and performance. It includes Ruben Carbajal's award-winning one-page drama, Moment Before Impact.

Amazon Routledge

"A smart blend of characters resigned to ennui, but somehow maintaining an ember of hope that things may now finally change."
--Ricardo Soltero-Brown (The Jacket, The Dog)

A five-minute play? Is there such a thing? This collection of 105 gems says, briefly, Yes. Perfect for classroom study or to build a rollicking performance evening, these short works offer rich, complete worlds that are alternately lyrical, narrative, concrete, and abstract.
Featuring Carbajal's fact-based docudrama,
Car & Carriage Collide.

Amazon

"What a fun little piece about the possible end of the world. Thank God for people who can't follow instructions. You should follow my instructions and read (or better yet) produce this play to the letter. And all will be well."
--John Busser (Children's Letters to Satan)

Ten hilarious short plays by some of the most promising playrights around. Includes Ruben Carbajal's Some Assembly Required, a play uncovering an apocalyptic endgame orchestrated by a certain Swedish furniture company.

Stage Partners

It's time for tales of terror to see their day onstage. From horrifying creatures to long-buried secrets to the dark visions in your mirror, nightmares await.
Ten(ish): Horror is an anthology of short plays by some of today's most exciting playwrights. In it, you'll find Ruben Carbajal's A Place to Rest Your Head, a ghost story where the ghosts and the haunted are not so easy to distinguish.

Stage Partners