Nilo Cruz is a Cuban-American playwright who gained national prominence in 2003 when he won the Pulitzer Prize for drama for his play Anna in the Tropics, for which he also received a Tony Award nomination. The immigrant experience is a common theme in many of Cruz's plays and he has become known for his ability to successfully weave strains of magic realism and other literary traditions into his works. 

In addition to the Pulitzer, he has received numerous awards, including those from the Kennedy Center Fund, American Theatre Critics and the Humana Festival for New American Plays, as well as grants from the National Endowment of the Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation, among others. 

His plays include Dancing on Her Knees; A Park in Our House; Two Sisters and a Piano; A Bicycle Country; Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams; Lorca in a Green Dress; Beauty of the Father; Hurricane and A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, as well as translations of Doña Rosita the Spinster; The House of Bernarda Alba; Life Is a Dream and ¡Ay, Carmela! His work has been seen at numerous theaters around the country, including, among others, South Coast Rep, the Mark Taper Forum, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Washington D.C.’s Studio Theatre and New York’s Public Theater; and around the world in Canada, England, France, Australia, Germany, Belarus, Costa Rica, Colombia, Japan and Spain. 

Cruz, who received an M.F.A. from Brown University and an honorary doctorate degree from Whittier College, has twice previously served as a playwright-in-residence: in 2000 for the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, N.J., and in 2001 for the New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, which commissioned Anna in the Tropics. Cruz has also taught drama at Yale, Brown and the University of Iowa. During the 2019/20 academic year, he was the Hearst Theater Lab Initiative Distinguished Visiting Playwright-in-Residence at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. He is a member of the New Dramatists. 

Lisa Portes is an award-winning director, leader, educator and advocate. She is a co-founder of the Latinx Theatre Commons, and serves on the board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) and on the Directors Council of the Drama League. Her work has been seen regionally at Cal Shakes, Cincinnati Playhouse, Denver Cetner, Goodman Theatre, Guthrie Theatre, Olney Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Seattle Rep, South Coast Repertory Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre and Victory Gardens Theatre. In New York she has developed and/or directed new work for Soho Rep, Playwrights Horizons, the Public, and New York Theatre Workshop. In 2016, she was honored with the SDC Zelda Fichandler Award for Directors and was the first freelance director to be so honored. Recent projects include the world premieres of Laughs in Spanish by Alexis Scheer (Denver Center) and Clean/Espejos by Christine Quintana (South Coast Rep), as well as numerous productions of Quixote Nuevo by Octavio Solis (Denver Center, South Coast Rep, Seattle Rep, Portland Center Stage, and Round House Theatre). She serves as Chair of the UCSD Department of Theatre & Dance and is the proud mom of two amazing college students: Eva Rose and Carlos Alejandro. Lisaportes.com

Off-Broadway: The Public, Second Stage Theater, Jean Cocteau Repertory, Kids With Guns, Theater at St. Clements. International: Theatre Royal Stratford East (Lond, UK), Town Hall Theatre (Galway, Ireland), Illawarra Performing Arts Centre (Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia). Regional: TheaterWorks Hartford, Guthrie Theater, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Second City, Lookingglass Theatre Company, A Contemporary Theatre, Actors Theater of Louisville, Alliance Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, American Conservatory Theater, Drury Lane Theatre, Ravinia Festival, Children’s Theatre Company, Pittsburgh Public Theater, City Theatre, Writers Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Circle X Theatre, TimeLine Theatre, Opera Omaha, Virginia Opera, Juneau Lyric Opera, Asolo Rep, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Milwaukee Rep, and Madison Repertory Theatre. Film: Marie and Bruce, Holding Out, Stray Dogs, Late for Church, Muppets from Space. Awards: Recipient of multiple awards from the Jeff Awards, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, LA Weekly Theater Award, Back Stage Garland Awards, Gregory Awards, and Ovation Awards. United States representative, the 2011 Prague Quadrennial (The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity).

Previously at Writers Theatre: Every Brilliant Thing, A Distinct Society, Dishwasher Dreams, A Doll’s House, Smart People. Recent credits: We Had A World (Huntington Theatre Company), Veal (A Red Orchid). Upcoming: South Pacific (Paramount Theatre), Catch As Catch Can (Steppenwolf). Izumi is a member of United Scenic Artists Local USA 829 and represented by Gersh.

Jason Lynch returns to Writers Theatre, where he previously designed Every Brilliant Thing and The Hot Wing King. Additional Chicago credits include work with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Court Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Shattered Globe Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, TimeLine Theatre Company, among others. Recent regional credits include work with Alley Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Geva Theatre, Great Lakes Theater, Guthrie Theater, Huntington Theatre Company, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, The Old Globe, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Signature Theatre. Jason is represented by The Gersh Agency. Visit jasondlynch.com. Instagram: @jasonlynch.design.

Andre Pluess has designed the Broadway productions of Metamorphoses, I Am My Own Wife and 33 Variations (Drama Desk Award nomination) as well as the world premiere of The Clean House at Yale Repertory and Lincoln Center. Based in Chicago, his work has appeared on most of the city’s stages including Northlight (Shining Lives with Amanda Dehnert), Goodman, Steppenwolf, Court, and Lookingglass where he is an associate artist. He has composed music and designed sound for theaters around the U.S., most frequently at the Oregon and California Shakespeare Festivals, Berkeley Repertory, Arena Stage, American Conservatory Theater, Seattle Repertory, La Jolla Playhouse and Center Theater Group. Choral works include: Winesburg, Ohio,Eastland, Whitman, Undone (with Ben Sussman), and Paris By Night (with Amy Warren).

Jonny Martinez is a director, choreographer and writer from Chicago’s South Side. Theatre: La Havana Madrid (South Coast Repertory; Millennium Park, 2024), Lizzie (Firebrand), The View Upstairs (Circle), The Buddy Holly Story (American Blues), Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera (Underscore), West Side Story (South Bend Symphony Orchestra), and the Midwest premieres of The Scottsboro Boys (Beck Center, Cleveland) and Be More Chill (Playhouse Square). Film/TV: “The Blackening” (Lionsgate), "Hip Hop Nutcracker” (Disney+), “Sausage Party” (Netflix). Former Associate Artistic Director, Firebrand Theatre; Current On-Stage Talent Director, GLAAD Media Awards. He is thrilled to be making his Writers Theatre debut. thejonnymartinez.com 

Previous credits: Revolution(s), The Color Purple, The Nacirema Society (Goodman). Chicago credits include Sanctuary City, Choir Boy (Steppenwolf Theatre); Two Sisters and A Piano, Hot Wing King, The Band's Visit (Writers Theatre); Beneath The Willow Tree (Pulse Theatre); Tambo & Bones (Refracted Theatre); The Factotum (Lyric Opera); Comedy of Errors (Chicago Shakespeare); House That Will Not Stand, Confederates, The Mountaintop (Invictus); Fen (Court Theatre); REGIONAL: Fremont Avenue (Arena Stage); Strange Loop, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, Joe Turner's Come and Gone (Huntington Theatre); Piano Lesson (Milwaukee Rep); Fairview (Theatre Cedar Rapids); A Third Way (Actor’s Express). 

Writers Theatre Debut. Chicago: Goodman Theatre (A Christmas Carol, Clyde's, Father Comes Home From the Wars, Measure for Measure), Lookingglass Theatre (Circus Quixote), Steppenwolf (Familiar), Regional: Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Shane, Julius Caesar, Mojada), Milwaukee Rep (The Nativity Variations, The Foreigner), Seattle Rep (I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter), Milwaukee Chamber (Laughs in Spanish, The Brothers Size, The Train Driver), Renaissance Theaterworks (Cardboard Piano, Crumbs From the Table of Joy), Baltimore Center Stage (Miss You Like Hell). Michelle is Chair of Performance at The Theatre School at DePaul University.

Francesca Patrón is a director and educator thrilled to be making her WT debut. She received her B.F.A. in Acting from Azusa Pacific University and her M.F.A. in Directing from Northwestern University. She is one of the original founding members of Third Culture Studios, Los Angeles and an artistic associate of Maened Physical Theater. Regional directing credits include As it is in Heaven, The Clean House, CC:Code Blue and The Turn of the Screw (Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts), Words We Dimly Hear (Third Culture), and Three Tall Women (VT Theatre Lab). Regionally, she has worked at The Goodman, American Players Theatre, Timeline Theater, Actor’s Co-Op, and Third Culture. She is most passionate in using theater as an avenue for service and communal healing. 

Katie Klemme is delighted to return to WT, where her credits include Dhaba on Devon Ave, The Hot Wing King, Eurydice, A Distinct Society, Tiger Style!, Wife of a Salesman, and Into the Woods. National tours: Hamilton & Sorin: A Notre Dame Story; Regional: Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Geva Theater Center, & ArtsEmerson. Select Chicago credits include six seasons with Northlight Theatre, most recently Gaslight, The First Lady of Television, Prayer for the French Republic, The Heart Sellers, Little Women, and The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, as well as productions with TimeLine, Lookingglass, Theater Wit, About Face Theatre, Victory Gardens, & 10 seasons with American Theater Company. She is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association. 

Bobby Kennedy is the Director of Artistic Development at Writers Theatre. He has been the resident dramaturg at the theatre since 2008 and has led the theatre's new work program since 2014. Highlights of his tenure include the world premieres of Dhaba on Devon Avenue by Madhuri Shekar, Manual Cinema's Christmas Carol, Wife of a Salesman by Eleanor Burgess, Dishwasher Dreams by Alauddin Ullah, Witch by Jen Silverman, Trevor by Dan Collins and Julianne Wick-Davis, The Hunter and the Bear by PigPen Theatre Co., and Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf by Tim Sniffen; the national premieres of Quixote: On the Conquest of Self by Mónica Hoth, Claudio Valdés Kuri, and Georgina Escobar, and The Dance of Death by Conor McPherson; and the Chicago premieres of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, A Distinct Society, Tiger Style!, Athena, The Last Match, The Niceties, Vietgone, Smart People, and Marjorie Prime. His dramaturgy credits also include the world premieres of Give It All Back (SideShow Theatre Company), Body and Blood (The Gift Theatre), Ibsen is Dead (Interrobang Theatre Project) and The Peacock (Jackalope Theatre Company), as well as the midwest premiere of The Luck of the Irish (Next Theatre Company). Kennedy co-founded The Spontaneous Theater Project in Boston and has also worked with Huntington Theatre Company and New Repertory Theatre. He is an alumnus of Boston University.

Chicago: That’s What Friends Are For (Black Ensemble), Berlin (Court Theater), Fun Home (Porchlight Music Theatre), Richard III, Beauty and the Beast (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Theo Ubique), REGIONAL: Stages, Straight White Men, Henry V, The Comedy of Errors, Henry IV (Riverside Theatre) IMMERSIVE: Four seasons with The Polar Express Train Ride (Rail Events Productions).