Local Custodian makes Leap to Small Stage

Albuquerque, NM – D.R. Pedraza, a New Mexico-based screenwriter and playwright, has recently been invited to join The Vortex Resident Company of Dramatists after his historical short screenplay, The Two Codys, was selected for development and a live staged reading at Vortex Theater in Albuquerque. The play is currently being prepped to be workshopped with actors and will have a full staged reading in 2025.

About The Two Codys
The Two Codys is a historical “what if” drama that imagines a fictional meeting between Buffalo Bill Cody and Samuel Cody, two men who shared a name but lived vastly different lives. The story takes place in 1892 London, where Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show is drawing huge crowds. Meanwhile, Samuel Cody—an ambitious American showman in England—is making a name for himself by borrowing Buffalo Bill’s identity to gain fame. Their tense meeting explores legacy, identity, and the price of building a public persona. The story has been gaining momentum, now moving from screenplay to live theatrical performance and potential feature film development.

Beyond its stage adaptation, The Two Codys has also been officially selected for consideration at the Hollywood Access Film Festival, where it will be reviewed by industry professionals from the WGA, DGA, PGA, and SAG-AFTRA. Alongside The Two Codys, Pedraza’s screenplays Pedraza: Surgeon in the New World and Looking at Eagles are also under consideration, meaning his work is already being reviewed by top Hollywood agencies, networks, and studios.

“Starting out as a novelist, I never expected to end up in film and theater,” Pedraza said. “But storytelling has a way of evolving, and I’m honored to be able to bring The Two Codys to the stage while also pushing my screenplays into Hollywood circles.”