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Michael John Garcés (born 1967) is a Cuban-American playwright and director. He is the artistic director of
Cornerstone Theater Company Cornerstone Theater Company is a theater company based in the United States that specializes in community-based collaboration. According to the mission statement published on the company's website, "Cornerstone Theater Company is a multi-ethnic ...
in
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. He has received several awards and grants, including the
Alan Schneider Alan Schneider (December 12, 1917 – May 3, 1984) was an American theatre director responsible for more than 100 theatre productions. In 1984 he was honored with a Drama Desk Special Award for serving a wide range of playwrights. He directed t ...
Director Award and the Princess Grace Fellowship.


Early life and education

Garcés was born in
Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, the son of Sergio, an accountant, and Lee, but grew up in Colombia. His family moved to Colombia when he was a young boy due to a job transfer for Sergio. His family lived in Medellín until he was 13 and it was in Medellín where Garcés was first exposed to political issues, like the
wealth gap The distribution of wealth is a comparison of the wealth of various members or groups in a society. It shows one aspect of economic inequality or heterogeneity in economics, economic heterogeneity. The distribution of wealth differs from the i ...
between the rich and poor, that would later be integrated into his work. It was also during his time living in Medellìn when Garcés first started doing theater, around the 5th or 6th grade. After living in Medellìn, his family moved to Bogotà, Colombia where he got a role as one of Jesus's apostles in a touring production of the musical
Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical in two acts with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set t ...
, which received national attention because Godspell was one of the few American musicals to come to Colombia. This led him to the
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
where he received his BFA in theater.


Career

After graduating from the University of Miami, Garcés moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in 1989 to pursue a career in theater. He quickly found an internship at INTAR, a Hispanic theater company, as a production assistant. This internship launched a career in theater in New York as an actor, director, and playwright that lasted for 16 years. Of his time in New York, Garcés says that much of his work was spent "focusing on my desire to learn about why one does this form, rather than why one does one's show." Garcés initially traveled to New York to work as an actor, but soon began writing his own pieces and directing the works of his peers after becoming frustrated with acting. Garcés worked for
Max Ferrá Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) (1 ...
at INTAR who not only encouraged Garcés to create an actors group, which became the NewWorks Lab, but also advised Garcés to pursue directing. After his time in New York, Garcés worked in a number of regional theaters across the country, including the Kentucky's Actors Theatre of
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and the
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is a non-profit theatre company located at 641 D Street NW in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1980, it produces new plays which it believes to be edgy, challenging, and thought-provok ...
in
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During this time, he was honored with the Princess Grace Statue Award for distinguished accomplishment in the theater and the
Alan Schneider Alan Schneider (December 12, 1917 – May 3, 1984) was an American theatre director responsible for more than 100 theatre productions. In 1984 he was honored with a Drama Desk Special Award for serving a wide range of playwrights. He directed t ...
Director Award and received a New Generations Grant from the Theater Communications Group. He also moved briefly to
Chiapas, Mexico Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...
for an 8-week residency in a Mayan writers' collective where he directed one of the plays that was being performed. His time in
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
greatly affected Garcés. He claims that "the impact, the quality of the aesthetic experience people were having watching the play, was so profound, so electric" and it was this experience which he believes led him to his current place of work, Cornerstone Theater Company. Cornerstone Theater Company is a community-focused theater group in Los Angeles. Garcés describes it as "professional community theater," as professional playwrights, directors, and designers who are hired to work on specific shows go into and engage with the communities that the plays are about. Most of the plays written are fictitious, but are based on the stories told by the community members who are engaged by Cornerstone. Once a play is written, playwrights like Garcés will go back into the communities and do readings of the piece to hear feedback from community members. Garcés claims that Cornerstone is a theater that produces plays "about communities that are trying to define themselves" which is why community engagement is so necessary for the theater. Cornerstone is also a space that produces multiethnic pieces of theater, which allows Garcés to discuss issues relevant to the Latino population like Latino immigration and the status of undocumented immigrants in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The first script he wrote with Cornerstone Theater Company was the play ''Los Illegals'', about the experience of immigrants from South and Central American attempting to cross the border between the United States and Mexico. Some of his inspiration for the piece came from experiences he's had interacting with undocumented immigrants. During the summers in between semesters while in college, Garcés would work with contractors in Queens, some of whom were undocumented Latino and
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individuals. Garcés also interacted with undocumented agricultural workers while rehearsing a play he was producing in
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
later in his career before he came to Cornerstone. After coming to Cornerstone, Garcés was interested in exploring similar communities of undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles and began venturing out into the community to speak with individuals about their experiences, at places like Home Depot. He also spoke with individuals at the
National Day Laborer Organizing Network The National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) is an American labor organization which aims at improving the lives of day laborers. It was founded in Northridge, California, in July 2001 and is based in Los Angeles, California. NDLON as a dir ...
to inform his piece. Garcés claims that the "heart of the story" is "about folks who were here and grappling with documentation, the legality or illegality of their residence, and their ability to work that." Though the piece is focused on the act of crossing the border, Garcés states that it is also about the inner conflict that undocumented immigrants experience once they arrive in the United States. Garcés has been involved in various theater organizations in the United States, including
The National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...
,
New York State Council on the Arts The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) serves to foster and advance the arts, culture, and creativity throughout New York State, according to its website. The goal of the council is to allow all New Yorkers to benefit from the contribution ...
,
Colorado Council on the Arts Colorado Creative Industries, formerly known as the Colorado Council on the Arts, is an agency of the state government of Colorado, responsible for the promotion of the arts. It was formed in July 2010, when the Council on the Arts and Art in Publ ...
, the City of Pasadena - Cultural Affairs Division, the
Bush Foundation The Bush Foundation is a charitable organization in the United States. It invests in programs in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations that share this geography. They work through open grantmaking programs to support e ...
, the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation,
Theatre Communications Group Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is a non-profit service organization headquartered in New York City that promotes professional non-profit theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, us ...
, NYFA, ART/NY, The Playwright's Center, the
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, commonly known as the Mellon Foundation, is a New York City-based private foundation with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the product of the 1969 merger ...
, Leveraging Investments in Creativity,
The Drama League The Drama League is an American theatrical association based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1910, in Chicago, as the Drama League of America, and chapters were established throughout the United States. In 1911, the organization b ...
, the Spencer Cherashore Fund, the O'Neill Playwrights Conference, the
Goethe Institute The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...
,
New York Theatre Workshop __NOTOC__ New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) is an Off-Broadway theater noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 East 4th Street between Second Avenue and Bowery in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, it h ...
, and New Dramatists.


List of works

Director: Urban Rez by
Larissa FastHorse Larissa FastHorse is a Native Americans in the United States, Native American (Sicangu, Sicangu Lakota) playwright and Choreography, choreographer based in Santa Monica, California. In 2023, she became the first known female Native American playwr ...
(Cornerstone Theater Company) California: The Tempest adapted by Alison Carey (Cornerstone Theater Company) Plumas Negras by Juliette Carrillo (Cornerstone Theater Company) Café Vida by Lisa Loomer (Cornerstone Theater Company) Three Truths by Naomi Iizuka (Cornerstone Theater Company) Making Paradise: The West Hollywood Musical by Tom Jacobson (book), Shishir Kurup (lyrics) & Deborah Wicks La Pluma (music). Co-directed with Mark Valdez. (Cornerstone Theater Company) atTraction by Page Leong (Cornerstone Theater Company) Someday by Julie Marie Myatt (Cornerstone Theater Company) The Falls by Jeffrey Hatcher (Cornerstone Theater Company & Guthrie Theater) dark play, or stories for boys by Carlos Murillo (Actors Theatre of Louisville - Humana Festival) Light Raise the Roof (New York Theatre Workshop) Snapshot Silhouette (Children's Theatre, MN) Breath, Boom by Kia Corthron (Huntington Theatre and Yale Repertory Theatre) Kissing Fidel (INTAR) The Cook (Hartford Stage and INTAR) Havana is Waiting (The Cherry Lane) Once Removed by Eduardo Machado (The Coconut Grove Playhouse) The Dear Boy by Dan O'Brien The Triple Happiness by Brooke Berman (Second Stage) Lights Rise on Grace (Woolly Mammoth) Recent Tragic Events by Craig Wright (Playwrights Horizons and Woolly Mammoth) Finer Noble Gases by Adam Rapp When the Sea Drowns in Sand by Eduardo Machado (ATL - Humana Festival) Cradle of Man by Melanie Marnich (Florida Stage) Finer Noble Gases (Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre) La próxima parada by Carmen Rivera La alquimia del deseo by Caridad Svich (Repertorio Español) N.E. 2nd Avenue by Teo Castellanos (Edinburgh Fringe Festival - Fringe First Award; Prague Fringe Festival) Young Valiant by Oliver Meyer As Five Years Pass by Federico Garcia Lorca Forever In My Heart by Oscar Colón (INTAR) September Shoes by José Cruz Gonzales (Geva Theatre) The Passion of Frida Kahlo by Dolores Sendler (The Directors Company/ ArcLight) A Bicycle Country by Nilo Cruz Praying with the Enemy by Luis Santeiro (Coconut Grove) Mixtures by Nilaja Sun (New WORLD Theatre, Amherst, MA) ¡Siempre México con nosotros! in collaboration with Teatro Lo'il Maxil for Sna Jtz'ibajom ("The House of the Writer") in Chiapas, Mexico Danza para la vida in collaboration with Teatro Lo'il Maxil for Sna Jtz'ibajom ("The House of the Writer") in Chiapas, Mexico King Without a Castle by Cándido Tirado (Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre) Book of Splendors, Part 1 by Richard Foreman (Nada - Foremanfest) Playwright: Plays: Magic Fruit (Cornerstone Theater Company) Los Illegals (Cornerstone Theater Company) points of departure (INTAR) Acts of Mercy (Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre) suits (Twilight Theatre Company) land. (juggerknot theatre co., Miami, FL) customs, commissioned by the Mark Taper Forum and workshopped at INTAR (finalist, National Latino Playwright Award - Arizona Theatre Co.) One-acts and Shorts: on edge and the ride (2007 Humana Festival - "The Open Road") audiovideo (Drama League Director's Project - "Directorfest 2005") kapital (Estrogen Fest, Chicago) Adelaide (The Production Company - "The Australia Project") overexposed (Shalimar Productions - "A Thousand Words") souvenirs (Vital Theatre Co. - "Vital Signs" ) now and then and jitters (La Mama) sandlot ball (Mile Square Theatre - "7th Inning Stretch") good to you, tell her that and The Delivery (Collaboraction, Chicago - "Summer Sketchbook") frag, up for air, between visits, Punto Baldí, and deeper (American Living Room) other: intrusions and harm's way (INTAR NewWorks Lab) just the thought of someone and dirt (LAByrinth) in our empty rooms (WBAI - Arts in the Evening Broadcast) playing doctor (The 24 Hour Plays) the woman ("24 is 10: The Best of the 24 Hour Plays" at the NYC Fringe Festival) now and then is published in the anthology "Positive/Negative" (Aunt Lute Books, 2002)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garces, Michael John Cuban dramatists and playwrights Cuban male writers Male dramatists and playwrights Cuban theatre directors Living people 1967 births Hispanic and Latino American dramatists and playwrights