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Montserrat Mendez
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Montserrat Méndez is a writer and director. Born in Rincón, Puerto Rico and raised in Newark, New Jersey, his work has been shaped by New York’s independent theater community.
His play The Importance of Being Earnest Part Deux: Thoroughly Stupid Things received the Outstanding Playwriting Award at FringeNYC in 2008. His chamber musical El Fuego y Su Heredero (The Fire and Its Heir), which examines Lolita Lebrón’s armed action at the U.S. Capitol, was a finalist for the Perelman Performing Arts Center’s 2024 Democratic Cycle. In 2024, Méndez joined the Playwrights Unit at The People’s Theatre, where he developed SombraLuz o La Presencia. The project was later named a Terrence McNally Rattlestick New Works Incubator finalist and received support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. The play will receive a workshop with The People’s Theatre at Teatro Círculo in April 2026. In 2025, he joined Flux Theatre Ensemble as a Creative Partner, where he developed the trans/pandemic comedy Rebecca Roman Redd at the Most Dangerous Hour and served as lead artist of the 2026 Portal Project installation. He is also a member of Retro Productions, where he is developing the Bella Abzug play A Traveling Electric Chair. For film, his screenplay A Trial of Spies, centered on the prosecution of Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg, was a Top Ten finalist for the Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting. His upcoming film projects include A Game of Cunning (with Anika Noni Rose) and Zone of Death. Instagram: @TheRicanteur MontserratMendez.com |
Montserrat Méndez es escritor y director. Nacido en Rincón, Puerto Rico, y criado en Newark, Nueva Jersey, su obra ha sido moldeada por la comunidad de teatro independiente de Nueva York.
Su obra The Importance of Being Earnest Part Deux: Thoroughly Stupid Things recibió el premio a Mejor Dramaturgia en FringeNYC en 2008. Su musical de cámara El Fuego y Su Heredero (The Fire and Its Heir), que examina la acción armada de Lolita Lebrón en el Capitolio de los Estados Unidos, fue finalista del ciclo Democratic Cycle 2024 del Perelman Performing Arts Center. En 2024, Méndez se integró al Playwrights Unit de The People’s Theatre, donde desarrolló SombraLuz o La Presencia. El proyecto fue posteriormente seleccionado como finalista del Terrence McNally Rattlestick New Works Incubator y recibió apoyo del New Jersey State Council on the Arts. La obra tendrá un taller con The People’s Theatre en Teatro Círculo en abril de 2026. En 2025, se unió a Flux Theatre Ensemble como Creative Partner, donde desarrolló la comedia trans/pandemia Rebecca Roman Redd at the Most Dangerous Hour y se desempeñó como artista principal de la instalación Portal Project 2026. También es miembro de Retro Productions, donde desarrolla la obra sobre Bella Abzug, A Traveling Electric Chair. En cine, su guion A Trial of Spies, centrado en el procesamiento judicial de Julius Rosenberg y Ethel Rosenberg, fue finalista del Top Ten del Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting. Sus próximos proyectos cinematográficos incluyen 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
American Blues Theatre Blue Ink Award - SemiFinalist 2025 Cry-Havoc Theatre Company Playlist 2025 - Cover to Cover 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 |
