Abigail Espinal

Woah. It’s over. Let me be honest: college was rough, not bad, not good, but rougher than the Appalachian Trail in a thunderstorm mid winter after already loosing your GPS. To say the least. College has been full of discoveries and disappointments—realizing the difference between true friends and those who never knew me in the first place. I honestly could not have been happier to leave, until it hit me… College is over. Like OVER over. And that hurts as much as it heals because, though it was anything but kind, college is home to some of the best friends and people I known— Monique and Mars standing by me during the most difficult parts of my life; William and Nicky being the blessed goofballs that you are; Asita, Salmon, Adam, Leana, Heidy, and a mountain of others who made every film venture incredibly special; Hope, for making me wish I met them three years earlier; my darling angels at Transcending Boundaries, who I know I will always be in my heart; the IT student staff (and Chris and O’Keefe) for literally just being awesome; Christina, Leilyn, Imani, Ma’Rya, Jake, Jess, Amber, Firework Films, my queer book club, Anyessi, the Cast and Crew of Bound/Unbound, literally everyone I couldn’t fit here who were beyond kind to me when, admittedly, I can be a bit of a handful (lol). (Also a quick shoutout to my loves from out of MSU: Jeff from MJ Productions, a dear friend; Rebecca, who I am so thankful to have in my life; Isabelle Leira, because you rock!!!; and my Family because where would I be without them?) And you know what, even to those who put me through literal hell—can I say hell on Instagram?—though I will not thank you (duh) I do wish you the best, as technically you did make me more the woman I am today, as I have grown tremendously these past four years. Wow, I can never make these posts short, can I? And with that, goodbye Montclair State University! Don’t be strangers everyone! And to my friends who are underclassmen… LET’S GO, RED HAWKS!!!

“Wrinkled Collar” - Written and Directed by Abigail Espinal For the past two days I have been and remain to be utterly speechless—never in my life did I think I would be presenting a short film of this caliber with a team of such immense talent to a crowd as beautifully artistic as the cosmos. Suffice to say, I am eternally grateful to the Newark LGBTQ+ Film Festival and Community Center for taking a chance on my admittedly very rough script. Thank you to my incredible cast and crew for all of their outstanding contributions and support! This isn’t my film—it is ours, and I will never stop promoting y’all for years to come because you guys are the best! Thank you to Stefani and Demilade for making this script what it is today! Without you guys, this film would be very, very different (honestly, worse, lol). I am so thankful to have worked with or even just to have met you guys! Thank you so much to Valencia, Cathy, Rev. Taylor, Auntie Gale, Denise, and Beatrice for being so incredible, kind, and supportive during the wonderfully crazy and challenging process! And finally, thank you to Sakia Gunn, who is the reason we are all here together to celebrate art. I am extremely sorry that it was tragedy which gave us these opportunities and beautiful moments. I really wish you could have presented the films yourself. And this is why I will never stop supporting the Newark LGBTQ+ Film Festival—to keep her memory and the art which came from it alive forever! (PS: the incredible photos are courtesy of @wildduckphotos ) (PPS: never stop creating)

“Bound/Unbound: A Queer Quest for Big Love” - Directed by Heather Benton “For we all live together and come to embrace the splendid variety of life on earth, good and bad, sweet and sour, take it for what it is: the glory of life.” - Big Love (Charles L. Mee) I am beyond thankful to be able to say my final college production was the best play yet! The love I have for this cast and crew is immeasurable, unbounded if you will (please laugh). I’m sure everyone there recognized how anxious and shy I was coming in, yet all of them were beyond supportive, kind, caring, and respectful above all! I haven’t smiled so much as I did during those rehearsals, and I can say beyond the shadow of a doubt that I cannot wait to work with all these incredible artists again in the future (of which theirs are sure to be bright, blindingly so!). Also thank you so much to all who came—this was a very important and vulnerable show to us, and it means the world to me to know that people still support absurdist, experimental theatre! And with that I say goodbye Bound/Unbound, goodbye to college theatre, and goodbye to Montclair State University! See you around! Mwah! (PS: Cast member @anjelicajsoto wrote and performed this song you’re listening to right now, go stream it!)

🎬✨ We’re proud to announce the 2026 Sakia Gunn Legacy Filmmaking Fellowship recipients: Abigail Espinal and Oluwandemilade Omoregie. Their stories, visions, and voices continue Sakia Gunn’s legacy—amplifying Black, queer, and marginalized narratives that deserve to be seen, heard, and valued. Join us in celebrating their brilliance and the future of queer storytelling. #NewarkLGBTQFilmFestival #SakiaGunnLegacy #QueerCinema #LGBTQFilm #filmfestivals

It was an honor to play Mercutio in MSU Player’s 2025 production of “Romeo & Juliet”. What an incredible accomplishment this play has been, and I am beyond proud of every single one of the amazing performers and crew members who gave their all for this show! I have so much love for this company, and I will honestly never forget this incredible experience. I miss Verona already. ❤️ PS: Some of those photos were taken by yours truly! 😎

“Lez Be Honest” - Written and Directed by Abigail Espinal Today marks the end of post-production for “Les Be Honest”, my sophomore film final project. I could not be more proud of everyone involved and I cannot wait to work with this incredible team again in the future! The talent exhibited will never be forgotten. ❤️ Enjoy these stills and BTS photos from production. And keep your eyes peeled for festival announcements!

Another Year as a Professional Actress, Part Three of Three! Performers are only successful with the help of the fantastic technical crews working behind the scenes. Perfection is their name, pulling off the craziest film schedules is their game. I was lucky enough to be offered a Key Grip, Assistant Camera, and Running Crew position on a few projects, and from there, my already established appreciation of tech crew has grown tenfold! Above are only a few of the incredible teams I have had the pleasure of working with. May their next projects run just as smoothly, and I cannot wait to see their next masterpieces! To end off, thank you for my friends and family for supporting my artistic journey to the end! And ironically, this end is only the beginning…

Another Year as a Professional Actress, Part Two of Three! Now as cheesy as it sounds, art, in this case the performing arts in particular, is only as fun as those you get to perform and share it with. Above are only a handful of the immensely talented performers and artists I have had the pleasure of working with over the years as an actress, writer, and director. I cannot wait to see how their career grow and prosper to the silver screen, the stages of Broadway, and beyond!

Another Year as a Professional Actress, Part One of Three! Okay, I am so late from matching to the date of my last recap but, you know what, I’ve just been so busy with all these wonderful projects! Above are a few of my absolute favorite stills from films and productions I have been lucky enough to be a part of! From student films to features, Off-Broadway musicals to original plays, and even a documentary about my career, this year has been hectic in the best ways possible! Now, I won’t lie, these past two years have been rough for me personally. But I am thankful that no matter what, I always have the arts to fall back on. And family of course (love you guys, too)!

This show cast a spell on all of us. 🧚‍♀️

🐭 A flickering subway light leads two kids down into a world run by street rats. 🚇 This 10-minute play is part of Shared Manifest Entertainment's Once Upon a Time in NYC being staged June 13th at 7 PM at @reverieroomnyc Get tickets: linked in @sharedmanifestentertainment 's bio 🧚‍♀️ Directed by @lifecadences ✍️ Written by @dionna_nicole94 🎭 The Call stars @abigailespinal1 as Muna 📸 by @k.paradaphotography #offbroadway #nyctheater #stagedreading

This post is loooong overdue, but over the summer I had the fantastic opportunity to play Viola in Cary Sassos’ original Off-Off-Broadway play “The Shakespearean Crossdressers Support Group”, and it was perhaps one of the best productions I have ever had the honor to be a part of! Not only was it my NYC theatrical debut, but the cast and crew were a joy to work with and I hope one day that all of our production-al (definitely a word) paths will cross once more! Love and miss y’all! Also, a few of these sweet pictures are a courtesy of one Lance Fule. :) Also, also: bonus pic at the end of my first time ever hosting a show in NYC!