MiraCosta College Backstage Players
Conversation with playwright, director and actor José Casas Interview by Jose Luis Entrekin
José Casas is a playwright, director and actor, as well as an assistant professor of playwriting at the University of Michigan. He is a board member of the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America and Spinning Dot Theatre, where he is also a resident artist. Casas is also a member of AATE, the Dramatists Guild and TYA/USA. He has a B.A. in dramatic arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara; an M.A. in theatre arts from California State University, Los Angles (CSULA); and an MFA in playwriting from Arizona State University. His plays, which have been performed across the country, include la rosa still grows beyond the wall, all brown, all chingon, aDoBe, a million whispers all at once, and antonia: a latina hip-hop Antigone. His plays la ofrenda and somebody’s children received both the Bonderman National Playwriting for Youth Award (2005, 2009) and the AATE Distinguished Play Award (2007, 2010). His plays published by Dramatic Publishing include la ofrenda, somebody’s children, 14 and alex: a conversation about nothing, which is included in The Bully Plays. His book, also published by Dramatic Publishing and co-edited with Christina Marín, Palabras del Cielo: An Exploration of Latina/o Theatre for Young Audiences showcases the work of playwrights writing Latina/o Theatre for Young Audiences (LTYA) as well as the work of scholars exploring the subject.
