Melinda Lopez
Melinda Lopez was the inaugural playwright-in-residence at The Huntington, 2013-2019, as part of the Mellon Foundations National Playwright Residency Program. She is the recipient of the 2019 Mass Cultural Council Award in Dramatic Writing, and the 2019 Elliot Norton Award for sustained excellence celebrating her twenty-year career as a playwright, performer, and educator.
Melinda Lopez was the inaugural playwright-in-residence at The Huntington, 2013-2019, as part of the Mellon Foundations National Playwright Residency Program. She is the recipient of the 2019 Mass Cultural Council Award in Dramatic Writing, and the 2019 Elliot Norton Award for sustained excellence celebrating her twenty-year career as a playwright, performer, and educator.
Huntington playwright credits include: Twelfth Night (current commission for Play On!); Black Beans Project, Mala (also: Arts Emerson, The Guthrie Theatre, Old Globe, and others, Elliot Norton Award, Best New Play) available on Audible in Spanish and English; Yerma (also University Illinois, Chicago); Becoming Cuba (also North Coast Rep); Sonia Flew (also: Steppenwolf, Coconut Grove Playhouse, the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, and many others, Elliot Norton Award, Best New Play); and Dream Boston. Melinda is a PROUD founding member of the Huntington Playwrights Fellows. Away from The Huntington, her most recent play Stir (Old Globe,) opened spring, 2024.
Huntington acting credits: A Month in the Country, Persephone, The Rose Tattoo, Our Town, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. She has also been seen on many stages across Boston and the US.
Melinda is active in the Cuban American community, raises funds for humanitarian aid for people in need in Cuba, and travels to Cuba regularly to volunteer (friendsofcaritascubana.org.) She 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. Ms. Lopez teaches playwriting at Northeastern University (undergrad) and Boston University (MFA Playwriting). She has served as a panel member for the National Endowment for the Arts, and has enjoyed residencies with Sundance, the Lark, and the New York Theatre Workshop.
She lives in the Boston area 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. melindalopez.com
As of October 2024.