¡FESTEJO!

Melinda Lopez is a multiple award winning playwright and performer based in Boston. Her solo play Mala, which has had multiple productions all over the country, had its first public reading at the Crossing Borders Festival in 2015. Mala is also available on Audible in English and Spanish. Melinda is the recipient of the 2019 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre, recognizing her 20-year career. Melinda was the Playwright-in-Residence at the Huntington Theatre for six years, under the Mellon Foundation’s National Playwright Residency Program, and Artist-in-Residence for an additional three years, where she helped developed and produce Dream Boston, and served as a core member of the Artistic staff. Elliot Norton Awards for Best New Play for: Black Beans Project (Zoom version, co-created with Joel Perez,) Mala, (available on Audible in Spanish and English), and Sonia Flew  –all of which had their world premieres at the Huntington.  Other plays include: Yerma (adaptation) Young Nerds of Color, Mr. Parent (co-written with Maurice Emmanuelle Parent,) Becoming Cuba, Back the Night, Orchids to Octopi and many others. Melinda also performs on stage, radio and in film, and directs plays (Upcoming: at SpeakEasy Stage.) She has enjoyed residencies with the Mellon Foundation National Playwrights Residency, Sundance, the Lark, and the New York Theatre Workshop. Mayor Marty Walsh declared October 29, 2016 “Melinda Lopez Day in the City of Boston.” Melinda is also currently developing a commission with Play On! —a contemporary translation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night,  and working on a live version of Black Beans Project  for the Old Globe Theatre.

Iraisa Ann Reilly is a writer, actor and educator who is half-Cuban, half-Irish and whole New Jersey. She writes bilingual plays that reflect the communities and spiritual realities that she calls home. Select full-length plays include Good Cuban Girls (Teatro del Sol, at The Arden Theatre), The Jersey Devil is a Papi Chulo (Winner, Latinx New Play Festival at La Jolla Playhouse 2023, Sol Fest 2022, Yale Drama Series Shortlist 2022, Finalist Leah Ryan Prize, KCACTF) Saturday Mourning Cartoons (Winner, Bay Area Playwright’s Festival 2022, Arkansas New Play Festival 2023, Finalist Goldberg Playwriting Prize 2022, Semifinalist Blue Ink Award 2023, Semifinalist Premiere Stages) and Miss America Pretty (Latinx Playwright’s Circle Mentorship with Migdalia Cruz, Semifinalist Blue Ink Playwriting Award 2024). She is currently under commission with the Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia and ArtHouse Productions in Jersey City, NJ. Her plays have been developed by Theatre Exile, The New Harmony Project, The Chain Theatre, The Workshop Theatre, ARTHouse INKubator, and the Latinx Playwright’s Circle. Thanks to a Lucille Lortel Micro-grant she is currently writing a one-woman show entitled January 6th: A Celebration. A Bodega Princess remembers tradition not Insurrection. As an actor she has worked regionally and off-Broadway and is an adjunct professor of Dramatic Writing at NYU. Iraisa Ann holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU and a BA in Theatre and English from the University of Notre Dame. iraisaannreilly.com.