By Denny Patterson

Weddings are supposed to be a celebration of love, but what happens when you’re stuck on the guest list of your ex’s big day? 

That’s the emotional tightrope walked in Bryna Turner’s hilariously poignant production At the Wedding, playing at Island City Stage August 21-September 14, 2025. Audiences will find themselves laughing through the heartbreak right alongside its flawed but fiercely relatable protagonist, Carlo, played by actor and playwright Hannah Benitez.

Delivering a performance that speaks to anyone who’s ever loved and lost – especially within the queer community – Benitez brings Carlo to life with nuance, vulnerability, and sharp wit as she navigates the chaos of heartbreak, wine-fueled honesty, and the universal sting of watching someone move on.

OutClique recently sat down with Benitez to talk more about At the Wedding, her approach to storytelling, and why this production is the perfect cathartic escape for anyone who’s ever been the guest at someone else’s happily-ever-after.

Denny Patterson: Thank you for taking some time to chat with me, Hannah! How excited are you to perform At the Wedding at Island City Stage?

Hannah Benitez: Extremely! I saw the original production of the play at Lincoln Center and have been after it ever since.

Denny Patterson: Can you tell us more about your character and what aspects of their journey resonate with you personally?

Hannah Benitez: Carlo crashes her ex-girlfriend’s wedding. Oh, and she’s marrying a man. Just like Carlo, I am my most sardonic at weddings. Just for very different reasons. 

Denny Patterson: You have made significant strides as a playwright with works like GringoLandia and For Closure! How does stepping into the role of performer in At the Wedding influence your perspective on storytelling? 

Hannah Benitez: It was doing dozens of shows over the course of my career, from new plays to the ‘great classics,’ affronted with the banal one-dimensional female tracks – these women written by men who never really understood the experience of anyone other than themselves. I mean, how many times can you sing a song about the man you love not loving you back or talk about the man you love not loving you back before it starts to erode your psyche? That really pushed me further into writing, to make up for the lack of fully, realistically, or even fantastically constructed characters and stories, even within the ‘great plays and musicals’ of the canon. A lot of which aren’t as great as we’ve been told they are when we look back at them now. 

Denny Patterson: Given your experience both writing and acting, how do you navigate the transition between creating a character on the page and embodying one on stage? 

Hannah Benitez: There is no transition, only a difference of instrument.

Denny Patterson: Your previous works often highlight LGBTQ+ themes. How does At the Wedding contribute to the representation of queer stories in contemporary theater? 

Hannah Benitez: It’s one of the few incredible new plays out there that is also in touch. So many new plays, including queer ones, are out of touch because of the classism of theater-making. It’s easier to be a playwright if you don’t have to worry about food scarcity and can pay to produce your own work on Broadway with your father’s investment firm friend. But not this play. I think it’s a triumph. 

Denny Patterson: This isn’t your first collaboration with Island City Stage, considering your upcoming commissioned play Pegged. How has your relationship with the company evolved, and what makes this partnership meaningful to you?

Hannah Benitez: Being listened to, and I mean actually listened to as a young female writer is very rare when it comes to producing collaborators, but it’s something that the entire Island City Stage team has always done with me. This will only ever yield better work from all parties.  

Denny Patterson: Can you give us a little synopsis on what Pegged is about?

Hannah Benitez: After an attempt at pegging goes wrong, a hetero couple’s life collapses to chaos. A local political scandal may have more to do with their pasts than they realize, testing the boundaries of their newly fissured relationship. Pegged is an exploration of masculinity in a world where we’re losing so many men, so many of the ‘good ones’ to the far-right. A jet black dramedy.

Denny Patterson: What do you ultimately hope audiences will take away from At the Wedding, especially in terms of its commentary on love and relationships?

Hannah Benitez: That all traditions should be questioned. 

Denny Patterson: Is there a certain scene or moment within the show you are most excited to perform?

Hannah Benitez: I can’t play favorites. I have to separate actor pleasure/catharsis from the circumstances I’m experiencing as the character, Carlo. 

Denny Patterson: Have you always had a passion to pursue a theater career?

Hannah Benitez: No. Bets were always on me being a biologist, but I am crap at math (laughs). 

Denny Patterson: Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects or anything else you’d like to mention or plug?

Hannah Benitez: Yes! My five-character comedy, Adaptive Radiation, is going to print with Broadway Play Publishing. You can snag a copy later this summer at BroadwayPublishing.com, and my period piece, Gray Mare, is currently being developed with Broadway’s Hannah Ryan and Indecent’s co-composer Lisa Gutkin, up in NYC. 

Stay up-to-date and connect with Benitez by following her on Instagram @hannahbenitezzz, or visit HannahBenitezWriter.com. For more information about At the Wedding and to purchase tickets, visit IslandCityStage.org.