Photo by Adam De Tour
MELINDA LOPEZ has a secret evil plan: to create complex, Latina women and put them center stage. She is the artist -in-residence at the Huntington Theatre, and was part of the Mellon Foundations National Playwright Residency Program from 2013-2019.
recent: stir (writer & performer) old globe theatre, mr parent, Geva, lyric stage, cincinnatti playhouse, mala at old globe theatre, Dream Boston, creative team, rude bridge, mr parent at lyric stage & hartford theatreworks, young nerds of color, central square theatre, Living water, walking plays lyric stage (co-written with Micah rosengrant) her elliot norton award winning zoom play, black beans project (co written with joel perez)
up and coming: — current: commissions, old globe, play on! (twelfth night) launchpad (merrimack rep and Ucsb) and a new musical— watch this space
other work includes: her adaptation of YERMA, (Huntington Theatre Company,) MALA, (old globe, Arts Emerson, The Guthrie Theatre, and the Huntington Theatre Company, Elliot Norton Award, Best New Play, Arts Impulse Award, Best Solo Performance) which is also available to download on Audible—coming soon in Spanish. BACK THE NIGHT, (Boston Playwrights Theatre) 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 others.) Other plays include CAROLINE IN JERSEY, (Williamstown Theatre Festival), ORCHIDS TO OCTOPI (Central Square Theatre, commissioned by the National Institutes of Health), GARY, (Steppenwolf First Look Repertory, Boston Playwrights Theatre,) and many others.
Melinda is also an actress, and has appeared in OUR TOWN, A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY, PERSEPHONE, (Huntington Theatre Company) GRAND CONCOURSE, APPROPRIATE, MOTHERFUCKER WITH THE HAT, (SpeakEasy Stage,) GIRLS WAR, OIL THIEF (Boston Playwrights Theatre,) and roles with Shakespeare & Co, Portland Stage, The Guthrie Theatre and others.) She is also featured (and has become a meme) in the film FEVER PITCH.
She is active providing humanitarian aid for the people of Cuba, and was mentioned by President Obama in his speech to the Cuban and American people in 2016. Mayor Marty Walsh declared October 29, 2016 “Melinda Lopez Day in the city of Boston. She lives in Boston with her husband, daughter, giant yellow dog, and other critters., and occasionally sleeps on the ground in the American Southwest. She has run two marathons and plays a little ukulele.
Ms. Lopez teaches graduate playwriting at Boston University & is professor of the practice at northeastern university. She was the first recipient of the Charlotte Woolard Award, given by the Kennedy Center to a “promising new voice in American Theatre.”
