¡FESTEJO!

Nelson Díaz-Marcano (Playwright) is a Puerto Rican playwright, advocate, and community leader based in New York City. His work has been produced Off-Broadway and regionally in Chicago, Dallas, Connecticut, and beyond. He creates bold, history-rooted stories that explore identity, community, and memory, using the past as a way to better understand who we are today. In addition to his writing, he serves as Literary Director of the Latinx Playwrights Circle, where he supports the development of new work and champions underrepresented voices in theater. 

José Zayas (he/him/his) is an award-winning director. He has directed over 100 productions in New York, regionally, and internationally. Credits include: El Perro del Hortelano (Gala Theatre), Fandango for Butterflies (and Coyotes) (En Garde Arts), The Queen of Basel (Studio Theatre, DC), Exquisita Agonía (Repertorio Español), The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir (BAM, MASS MoCA, US & European Tours), A Nonesuch Celebration (BAM), Washed Up on the Potomac (San Francisco Playhouse, The Flea Theater), Undocumented (Joe’s Pub), Pinkolandia and El Coquí Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom (Two River Theater), The House of the Spirits (Teatro Espressivo, Gala Theatre, Denver Center, ACE, HOLA, and Ovation Awards for Best Production and Direction), Your Name Will Follow You Home, La Nena Se Casa, Love in the Time of Cholera, In the Time of the Butterflies, In The Name of Salome, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, Burundanga (Repertorio Español, ACE and HOLA Awards for Best Production and Direction for the latter two), Corazon Eterno, (Mixed Blood), Southern Promises and Strom Thurmond is Not a Racist (PS 122, The Brick), Useless (IRT), Father of Lies and Vengeance Can Wait (PS 122); P.S. Jones and the Frozen City, Feeder: A Love Story (TerraNOVA Collective); Privilege, Okay, Mrs. Jones and the Man From Dixieland (EST), The Idea of Me (Cherry Lane Theatre), The Queen Bees (Queens Theatre in the Park), Manuel Vs. The Statue of Liberty and Children of Salt (NYMF), Cancun, Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Gala Theatre, DC), Wedding Dress, The Island of Lonely Men (Teatro Espressivo, Costa Rica). José has premiered works by Stephin Merritt, Hilary Bettis, Nilo Cruz, Caridad Svich, Robert Askins, Thomas Bradshaw, Duncan Sheik, Steven Sater, Taylor Mac, Marco Antonio Rodriguez, Lynn Rosen, Saviana Stanescu, Carlos Murillo, Rob Urbinati, Kristina Poe, Catherine Filloux, James Carter, Gerardo Cardenas, Matt Barbot, Susan Kim, and Jordi Galceran. ​Notable fellowships and affiliations include: a Drama League Fellowship, Lincoln Center Theater’s Directors Lab, Soho Repertory Theater’s Writer/Director Lab, and the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors. He is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) and he was the Resident Director at Repertorio Español from 2008-2018. José was born in Puerto Rico. He holds a BA from Harvard University and an MFA in Directing from Carnegie Mellon University. https://www.josezayasdirector.com/

Melinda Lopez (Playwright) is a multiple award-winning playwright and performer. She is the recipient of the 2026 Daigneault Award for Sustained Excellence (SpeakEAsy Stage) the Provincetown Theatre National Impact Award, 2025, 2019 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Achievement, recognizing her 20-year career as a playwright, performer and educator. She was a member of the Mellon Foundation’s National Playwrights Residency Program and the Playwright-in-Residence at the Huntington Theatre Co. Recent plays include: Stir, (Writer/Performer, Old Globe Theatre) Mala, (Arts Emerson, The Guthrie Theatre, the Huntington Theatre Company, Old Globe, and others, Elliot Norton Award, Best New Play, Arts Impulse Award, Best Solo Performance) available to download on Audible in both Spanish and English; Mr. Parent, Lyric Stage Co., Hartford Theatreworks, Geva Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Yerma Adaptation, Huntington Theatre Co. Currently she is working on two commissions: Twelfth Night, (an adaptation of Shakespeare’s play blending Spanish and English, for Play On!) and LAUNCH PAD at UCSB. Other plays: Black Beans Project (Huntington Theatre, zoom-verse, Elliot Norton, Best New Play), Becoming Cuba, (Huntington Theatre Co, North Coast Rep) and Sonia Flew (Elliot Norton Award, Huntington Theatre, Steppenwolf, Coconut Grove Playhouse, the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, and many, many others). She has also written and directed for the audio series, Dream Boston. Her plays have been translated into Spanish (SER CUBA and SONIA SE FUE) and been seen in Cuba, Canada, and South Korea. 

Iraisa Ann Reilly (Playwright) 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.

Estefanía Fadul (Director) is a Brooklyn-based Colombian-American director, and co-Artistic Director of Ensemble Studio Theatre in NYC. Recent projects include the world premieres of A Bodega Princess Remembers by Iraisa Ann Reilly (EST/Lortel/LPC), Eva Luna by Caridad Svich (Repertorio Español), The Garbologists by Lindsay Joelle (Philadelphia Theater Company), Carla’s Quince created with The Voting Project (Drama League Award nomination), Zoom Intervention by Noelle Viñas (Weston Playhouse, NYTimes Critics Pick), The Same Day by Stefan Ivanov (Sfumato Theatre, Bulgaria), and C. Quintana’s Azul (Southern Rep) and Scissoring (INTAR). Estefanía has developed new work off-Broadway and regionally at the Public Theater, Playwrights’ Realm, NYTW, Chautauqua, Audible, Goodspeed, Juilliard, and more. She is the inaugural recipient of New York Stage and Film’s Pfaelzer Award, and serves on the Drama League’s Board of Directors. Member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and SDC. estefaniafadul.com