¡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 (¡Festejo! Curator & Director of 1898) is an award winning director, writer, and educator. Recent credits include: The House of Bernarda Alba, The 22 and a Half Weddings of Hugo (selected as one of the top 10 productions of the year by The Washington Post, Gala Theater), Los Soles Truncos (Repertorio Español, Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Revival), The Beautiful Land I Seek (PRTT/Pregones, Drama Desk), The Queen of Basel (Studio Theatre), The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir (BAM, Mass MoCa, US and European Tour), A Nonesuch Celebration (BAM), Fandango For Butterflies and Coyotes (La Jolla Playhouse), La Valentia (Gala Theater), Ms Holmes and Ms Watson Apt 2B (KC Rep).

He has premiered works by Kate Hamill, Matt Barbot, Hilary Bettis, Nilo Cruz, Caridad Svich, Robert Askins, Thomas Bradshaw, Duncan Sheik, Steven Sater, Taylor Mac, Andrea Thome, Matt Barbot, and Jordi Galceran. José is a Drama League Fellow as well as associated with Lincoln Center’s Director’s Lab, Soho Rep Writers/Director’s Lab, NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors, Ensemble Studio Theatre member, Resident Director Repertorio Español 2009-2019, Lortel Nominating Committee. BA: Harvard University. MFA: Carnegie Mellon.

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.

Rebecca Aparicio (she/ella) is a Cuban American, New York-based, bilingual director and writer of new work rooted in social and human justice. Recent directing includes the world premieres of Las Borinqueñas by Nelson Diaz-Marcano (Ensemble Studio Theatre, Boundless, LPC, 6 HOLA Award nominations), Songs for Slutty Girls by Kailey Marshall (Parkside Lounge), Siluetas by Ortiz/Hager (Powerstreet Theatre, Barrymore nomination for Best Direction), Beastgirl, based on the chapbook by Elizabeth Acevedo (Kennedy Center, 3 Helen Hayes nominations), Jardín Salvaje by Karen Zacarías (GALA Hispanic Theatre), The House on the Lagoon by Caridad Svich (GALA Hispanic Theatre, Best Direction–Broadway World DC), and Sarita by Maria Irene Fornés (Roundabout Theatre Refocus Series). She has developed new work with American Repertory Theater, Powerhouse Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, McCarter Theatre, O’Neill Theatre Center, Playwrights Center, Musical Theatre Factory, Classical Theatre of Harlem, National Black Theatre, and more. Select associate/assistant directing: HELL’S KITCHEN (Broadway, First National Tour, dir. Michael Greif), EVITA (dir. Sammi Cannold), GRISWOLDS’ BROADWAY VACATION and BRUCE (dir. Donna Feore), and GLORIA: A LIFE (dir. Diane Paulus). As a writer, selected work includes the award-winning musical PEDRO PAN (New York Musical Festival, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, Musical Theatre Factory, FringeNYC), SALOME V. JOHN (Queens Theatre NYC Corps Artists Grant, University of Montevallo), HINDSIGHT 2020 (Live & In Color), LEGACY and TREE TALES (Prospect Theatre), THE GARCIA SISTERS (Red Mountain Theatre), and NORA SAVES THE WORLD (Barn Arts). Rebecca was named 2025 Broadway Women to watch, a 2024 Barbara Whitman SDC Award Winner, Roundabout Theatre’s inaugural Directing Group, Manhattan Theatre Club Directing Fellow, and two SDCF Observership Awards. Rebecca is a staff member of Latinx Playwrights Circle, a Board Member at Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, and a founding member of Magic Forest Theatre.

Iraisa Ann Reilly (Playwright) is a writer, actor and educator originally from New Jersey. She recently appeared Off-Broadway at Ensemble Studio Theatre in her one-woman show A Bodega Princess Remembers La Fiesta de Los Reyes Magos, 1998, a co-production with Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Lucille Lortel Theatre, and Latinx Playwrights Circle. Prior to the New York production, Bodega Princess was produced in Philadelphia by Simpatico Theatre Company, and won the Barrymore Award for Outstanding New Play, 2025.

As a playwright, her work has been developed and recognized by Teatro del Sol, Soho Rep, Atlantic Theatre Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Two River Theatre, Arkansas New Play Festival, Bay Area Playwright’s Festival, Theatre Exile, The New Harmony Project, Texas A&M University, Michigan State, Sol Project, Simpatico Theatre Company, Latinx Playwrights Circle, Art House Productions, Repertorio Español and the Yale Drama Series. She is currently a part of Roundabout Theatre Company’s Underground Residency, and under commission with Arden Theatre Company.

As an educator, Iraisa Ann is an adjunct professor of Dramatic Writing at NYU Tisch and is a teaching artist with Roundabout Theatre Company and ESPA Primary Stages. MFA Dramatic Writing from NYU. BA Theatre and English from the University of Notre Dame. iraisaannreilly.com

Estefanía Fadul (Director of Una Bodega Princess) 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