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Montserrat Mendez
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Montserrat Méndez is a Puerto Rican playwright, screenwriter, and director whose work collides queer comedy, political history, and the people America has tried to write out of its story. Born in Rincón, Puerto Rico, and raised in Newark, New Jersey, he came of age artistically in New York’s independent theater community, writing plays that use wit, theatrical invention, and historical collision to interrogate power, identity, memory, and belonging.
His play The Importance of Being Earnest Part Deux: Thoroughly Stupid Things received the Outstanding Playwrighting Award at FringeNYC. In 2024, Méndez joined the Playwrights Unit at People’s Theatre Project, where he developed SombraLuz o La Presencia. In 2025, SombraLuz was named a finalist for the Terrence McNally New Works Incubator at Rattlestick Theater. The following year, Méndez was named a finalist for the Princess Grace Awards Playwriting Fellowship at New Dramatists for the play. In 2025, Méndez also became a Creative Partner with Flux Theatre Ensemble, where he developed the trans pandemic comedy Rebecca Roman Redd at the Most Dangerous Hour and later served as lead artist for the ensemble’s 2026 Portal Project installation. He is also a member of Retro Productions, where he is developing A Traveling Electric Chair, his play about Bella Abzug, political power, and the ghosts history refuses to bury. His screenplay A Trial of Spies, centered on the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, was a Top Ten finalist for the Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting. His film projects in development include A Game of Cunning, with Anika Noni Rose, and Zone of Death. Instagram: @TheRicanteur MontserratMendez.com |
Montserrat Méndez es un dramaturgo, guionista y director puertorriqueño cuya obra hace chocar la comedia queer, la historia política y las vidas de quienes Estados Unidos ha intentado borrar de su relato. Nacido en Rincón, Puerto Rico, y criado en Newark, Nueva Jersey, se formó artísticamente dentro de la escena teatral independiente de Nueva York, escribiendo obras que utilizan el humor, la invención escénica y la colisión con la historia para interrogar el poder, la identidad, la memoria y el sentido de pertenencia.
Su obra The Importance of Being Earnest Part Deux: Thoroughly Stupid Things recibió el Outstanding Playwrighting Award de FringeNYC. En 2024, Méndez se incorporó al Playwrights Unit de People’s Theatre Project, donde desarrolló SombraLuz o La Presencia. En 2025, SombraLuz fue finalista del Terrence McNally New Works Incubator at Rattlestick Theater. Al año siguiente, Méndez fue nombrado finalista del Princess Grace Awards Playwriting Fellowship at New Dramatists por la obra. En 2025, Méndez también se convirtió en Creative Partner de Flux Theatre Ensemble, donde desarrolló la comedia trans sobre la pandemia Rebecca Roman Redd at the Most Dangerous Hour y posteriormente se desempeñó como artista principal de la instalación Portal Project del ensemble en 2026. También es miembro de Retro Productions, donde desarrolla A Traveling Electric Chair, su obra sobre Bella Abzug, el poder político y los fantasmas que la historia se niega a enterrar. Su guion A Trial of Spies, centrado en el procesamiento judicial de Julius y Ethel Rosenberg, fue finalista entre los diez primeros del Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting. Entre sus proyectos cinematográficos actualmente en desarrollo se encuentran A Game of Cunning, con Anika Noni Rose, y Zone of Death. Instagram: @TheRicanteur MontserratMendez.com |
ARTISTIC STATEMENT
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I believe language is one of the most powerful weapons ever created. Twice in my life, violence has tried to take me, leaving me with a cracked skull, lifelong tinnitus, a shattered jaw, two stab wounds, and a need for new front teeth. And yet, I’ve chosen to return this brutality with words as my weapons.
Theatre is a living, breathing battleground for the soul, a place where characters reveal their scars and fight for their humanity. As a queer, Latino, disabled playwright and filmmaker, I interrogate the intersection of identity and survival, the quiet rebellions of those who refuse to be taken by the darkness. I write to disturb, to inspire, to leave you in stitches, to remind you that we only have one life. Live it to the hilt and wear it gloriously. I want my audience to leave the theater questioning their own resilience and their own defiance. I want them to ask: How do we fight back? How do we carve out space for ourselves in a world that tries to erase us? |
MANIFIESTO ARTÍSTICO
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AWARDS, RECOGNITIONS, "NEAR RECOGNITIONS" & RESIDENCIES
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2026
Princess Grace Award in Playwriting/Fellowship at New Dramatists Finalist Sombraluz O La Presencia 2026 American Blues Theatre Blue Ink Award - SemiFinalist Sombraluz O La Presencia 2025 Cry-Havoc Theatre Company Playlist 2025 - Cover to Cover These Butchers! 2025 Redbull Short Play Festival Finalist Viva Puerto Rico Libre! 2025 Terrence McNally New Works Incubator at Rattlestick SemiFinalist Sombraluz O La Presencia 2025 New Jersey State Council for The Arts Finalist Award Sombraluz O La Presencia A Game of Cunning 2025 Mid-Atlantic Arts Finalist - 2025 Sombraluz O La Presencia 2024 Finalist The Democratic Cycle The Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) and Civis Foundation (a Galvan Initiatives affiliate) El Fuego Y Su Heredero 2024 People's Theatre Project Playwright's Unit Fellowship Sombraluz 2024 Map Fund Grantees Portal Magic Consensus Time as part of the Flux Theatre Ensemble 2023 Second Round Creative Capital Award A Trial of Spies 2022 Second Round Finalist Sundance Directors Lab A Woman of Brooklyn |
2021
Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting A Woman of Brooklyn Top 20% 2021 Finalist Spotify Sound Up LatinX Program 2015 Finalist Athena List Chisholm - A Woman of Brooklyn 2008 Outstanding Playwriting Award New York International Fringe Festival The Importance of Being Earnest Part Deux: Thoroughly Stupid Things 2008 Finalist Orlando Shakespeare Theater PlayFest The Importance of Being Earnest Part Deux: Thoroughly Stupid Things 2008 Finalist (Top 30) Nicholl Fellowship A Trial of Spies |
