playwright + musical writer + director

Thanks for dropping by! My name is Jackson Rodriguez Castello, and I am a twenty-year-old playwright, musical writer, director, and occasional singer-songwriter based in Dallas, Texas and St. Louis, Missouri.

I began writing my first musical, Stumped, the summer after my sixth grade year of middle school with no formal training and chords in the key of C. Five years later, Stumped took the stage in the summer of 2022 for its debut production at Resolute Theatre Project, directed by my long-time mentor, Amy Cave. My semi-autobiographical one-act play, Define “Friend”, has received readings through IMPRINT Theatreworks, Resolute Theatre Project, Fort Salem Theatre and Our Productions Theatre Co. I am in the final stages of development on an irreverent new musical comedy, Diamond Whore, and a thought-provoking gay living room drama called The Ram. I am also currently working on Married Housing: A Christian Sex Comedy, and Every Unhappy Family, an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. Check out my Instagram to follow the journey!

As a director, I have headed sold out and critically acclaimed productions of shows such as She Loves Me, The Revolutionists, Pygmalion, and The Importance of Being Earnest. I am currently a sophomore at Webster University’s Sargent Conservatory of Theatre Arts, working towards a BA in Directing for the Theatre.