matthew paul olmos is a Mexican-American playwright who focuses his work on the creation of space for marginalized and underrepresented communities. While his work is always personal, it is aimed at reaching across socio’political boundaries, showing the ridiculous of how separate our lives, and illuminating a potential hope for future generations.
i put the fear of méxico in’em @ teatro vista; pictured Mavin Quijada, Bryn W. Packard, Cheryl Graeff; photo by Art Carrillo
He is a three-time Sundance Institute Fellowship/Residency recipient (2014 Lab, 2013 UCROSS, 2009 Time Warner Storytelling Fellow), Playwrights Center Core Writer, two-time Ojai Playwrights Conference, Drama League nominee, Humana Festival of New Plays Commissioned Playwright, New Dramatists Resident Playwright, Center Theatre Group LA Writers Workshop member, Geffen Playhouse's Writers Room, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Brown Swan Lab Writer, Princess Grace Awardee in Playwriting, Arizona Theatre Company's National Latine Playwright Awardee, Cherry Lane Mentor Project Playwright as chosen by Taylor Mac, and La MaMa e.t.c.'s Ellen Stewart Emerging Playwright Awardee as selected by Sam Shepard.
New York Theatre Workshop's Emerging Artist Fellow, Baryshnikov Arts Center Artist in Residence, Dramatists Guild Fellow, Primary Stages' Dorothy Strelsin New American Writer, Brooklyn Arts Exchange Resident Artist, INTAR H.P.R.L Playwright, Rising Circle Collective Playwright, The Road Theatre Company Under Construction Playwright, terraNOVA Collective's Groundbreakers Playwright; he is also an Echo Theater Company Resident Playwright and an Ensemble Studio Theater lifetime member and Sloan Commission recipient.
A two-time Resident Artist at Mabou Mines/Suite (mentored by Ruth Maleczech/Terry O'Reilly); awarded “Top Prize of the Americas” by the BBC 2011 International Playwriting Competition for his play The Nature of Captivity; published by Samuel French.
the nature of captivity @ Mabou Mines/Suite; pictured chantel cherisse lucier and Sarah Nina Hayon; photo by Christopher Marston
Awarded the Sundance Institute Time Warner Storytelling Fellowship for his play i put the fear of mexico in’em (published by Samuel French) which world-premiered in Chicago at Theater with A View/Teatro Vista. It has also been developed and/or presented by INTAR Theatre, The Working Theatre, LaMicro, Lark Play Development Center, The Kennedy Center with The Inkwell, and the Gala Theatre in DC. It was also the 2012 Repertorio Español’s MetLife Nuestras Voces 3rd Place Winner and on the syllabus at a Rutger’s University course taught by Caridad Svich. It is also published by NoPassport Press.
Sam Shepard named him the inaugural recipient of La MaMa e.t.c. Ellen Stewart Emerging Playwright Award, for which La MaMa produced his play so go the ghosts of méxico, part one, the first in his 3-play cycle about the U.S./Mexico drug wars. Directed by The Public Theater's Director of Devised Theater Initiative and Under the Radar Director Meiyin Wang, the production played a sold-out run and was a New York Times Critic's Pick. It will soon be published by Samuel French and NoPassport Press. The Spanish version of the play has premiered in México and premiered Repertorio Español, NYC in 2014.
Holds an M.F.A. in Playwriting from The Actor’s Studio Drama School (now New School for Drama), a B.A. in Playwriting from UC Santa Barbara, and was given UCLA’s GOP Award for Graduate Playwriting. He was the co-founder and former Artistic Director of woken’glacier theatre company (two-time New York Innovative Theatre Award nominee), a member of NoPassport, a National Endowment for the Arts New Play Development reader, a New York Innovative Awards judge, selection committee member for Lark Play Development Center's Playwrights’ Week and Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellowship.
so go the ghosts of méxico, part one @ La MaMa e.t.c.; pictured: Bernardo Cubria, Laura Butler Rivera; photo by Steven Chreiber
He is a regular essayist to The Brooklyn Rail where he has published essays on Christopher Chen, Carla Ching, Kristoffer Diaz, Marcus Gardley, Young Jean Lee, Taylor Mac, Ruth Maleczech, Dominique Morisseau,
Tommy Smith, Saviana Stanescu, Susan Soon He Stanton, Lloyd Suh, Martin Zimmerman.
He is a proud Kilroys nominator.
He is currently developing a play inspired by Samantha Power’s “The Education of An Idealist” for Geffen Playhouse’s Writers Room and Theatre For One's Solo Collective. As well a new play inspired by the Mendez v. Westminster case about the building of Mexican schools as part of segregation. He recently developed a feature with Andrew Lauren Productions and is currently developing a screenplay inspired by his play THAT DRIVE THRU MONTEREY.
Though he moves back and forth between Los Angeles and New York City, he is PADI certified scuba diver, and whenever he is back home in southern California is learning (slowly, and with great difficulty) to surf.