Juliana Frey-Méndez

Biography

Juliana Frey-Méndez is a proud Iowa-born Cuban American director, devisor, and choreographer dedicated to resurrecting forgotten histories that ignite the imagination. After studying theatre for social change at Cornell University, she earned a Master of Fine Arts in theatre directing at the University of California San Diego and went on to experiment with hybrid performance as the inaugural artist in residence at Duke University’s Department of Theatre Studies. As a freelance director, she has collaborated with first-time and veteran playwrights on new work in bars, historic homes, universities, naval training camps, and at theaters around the country. Selected credits include Far From Canterbury (Winner of Best Musical: FringeNYC); La Hija del Pirata (The Flagship Brewery); Calafia at Liberty (La Jolla Playhouse’s WOW Festival); digital live production of Letters from Cuba (UCSD); along with Fefu and Her Friends and the American Premiere of Jordi Mand’s Brontë: The World Without (both at Riverside Theatre). Inspired by the legacy of playwright and teacher, María Irene Fornés, she works with Latiné playwrights on workshops and world premieres to expand the cannon and very bounds of contemporary theater-making. She is a proud member of the Fornés Institute and the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, and an active participant in the Latinx Theatre Commons, where she sits on the Steering Committee.