Meet Our Fellows

Class of '23

Playwright and Teaching Artist, MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama and Austin Poetry Slam Champion. His plays have been finalists at Teatro Vivo's Austin Latino New Play Festival and Cleveland Public Theatre. Currently serves as a teaching artist, leading trauma-informed playwriting intensives and Latinx playwriting workshops.

Class of '24

R. Réal Vargas Alanis (Purépecha, Rarámuri, Nahua Tenochca, Tlahualil dancer) is a renowned figure in social justice art, honored as an "Artist Disruptor" by the Center for Cultural Power and California Arts Council in 2023. They were recognized as one of the top Latinx comedic talents in the nation by Latinx Theater Commons’ Comedy Carnaval 2022 and was an Executive Producer for The New American Theatre Festival 2021 via the National New Play Network’s inaugural Bridge Program. Notable commissions include Love is Bliss (Breaking the Binary Theatre, Broadway Licensing), La Demanda (National New Play Network, IN THE MARGIN, B Street), RAGE: A Rave Play (Center for Cultural Power x California Arts Council), Golly Good Day! (The 24hr Plays), Glass Closet (ITM), and Gemini Venus.

Class of '25

W. Fran Astorga (they/them) is a queer Latine playwright whose work blends poetic text, physical humor, and bilingual storytelling to explore joy, labor, and liberation. Raised between Durango, México and California’s Central Valley, Fran’s creative practice is grounded in Indigenous and working-class worldviews, honoring storytelling as a communal, transformative act. Through experimental forms and multilingual dialogue, they work to expand access and reimagine storytelling as an undeniable force rooted in abundance, resistance, and the creative power of the global majority.

Class of '24

Carissa Atallah is a playwright from Southern California. Titles include Brown Face, winner of Steinberg National Student Playwriting Award (The Kennedy Center), and Voir Dire, winner of the Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival (Samuel French). Recent accolades include the Dakin Fellowship (Sewanee Writers' Conference), Bay Area Playwrights Festival Honorable Mention (Playwrights Foundation), and The David Mark Cohen Playwriting Award Distinguished Achievement (The Kennedy Center). Her work has been performed with Pixel Playhouse, Rogue Artists Ensemble, Playwrights’ Arena, the Bay Area Children’s Theatre, and more. Carissa earned an MFA in Creative Writing for the Performing Arts from UC Riverside.

Class of '23 and '24

Phillip Gregory Burke’s writing chronicles the sociology of the African Diaspora, illuminates the intricate intersections of Blackness and queerness, and connects to a singular universe ranging from antiquity to Afro-futurism.Plays: The Suncatchers of Sahel: An Ancestral Tale Told to Today’s Griot, Part I, (Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow Finalist, Princess Grace Award Playwriting Fellowship Semi-finalist), The Suncatchers of Sahel: An Ancestral Tale Told To Today’s Griot, Part II, (Semi-finalists-The Princess Grace Award Playwriting Fellowship, The Bay Area Playwrights Festival), The Simaraboo Two, A Holy Her (Playwrights Realm Writing Fellowship Award Semi-finalist), Paradise Estate, (Fire This Time New Works Lab Finalist), A Mercy at Midnight Castle, He’s The First, (Inaugural winner Improbable Fiction Award Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival, top 13 Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival finalist, stream on All Arts/PBS), I’m The First!He is a 2024 National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures Arts Fund grantee with his group DIEZ, 2023 National Black Theatre SOUL Series Cohort, 2023 Summer Jam Fellowship Inaugural Fellow. Memberships: Dramatists Guild, AEA, SAG-AFTRA. Residencies: Theatre 4the People, The Civilians R&D Group, Roundabout Theatre Company. MA: Classical and Contemporary Text, Acting-Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. BFA: Drama & BS: Sociology-Syracuse University.

Class of '24

Jessica Carmona is a NYC-based Afro-Boricua Actress, Playwright, Librettist, and Lyricist. She is also an Activist, CUNY Professor, and Immigrant Rights Advocate. She is dedicated to using her art to further the cause for social justice and human rights for all.

Class of '25

Christin Eve Cato is an award-winning playwright, dramaturg, and performing artist, emerging from the vibrant streets of the Bronx. Cato’s voice is often distinguished for her ability to create universal stories grounded in advocacy for human rights and social justice. She holds esteemed positions such as ensemble member and former Resident Dramaturg at Pregones/PRTT, a founding UNIT 52 ensemble member at INTAR Theatre, and a playwright in the WP Theater 2022-2024 Pipeline Lab. Recent productions include her 2025 world premiere of O.K.! at INTAR Theatre (NYC); and 2024 Obie Award-Winning play Sancocho (Off-Broadway debut @ the WP Theater).

Class of '24

Demian Chavez Galvan is a theatremaker based in Austin, Texas. They hail from the border cities of El Paso and Juarez, where they founded Teatro Sin Fronteras, a bilingual theatre company that now produces new Latine works across Texas. Their work as a playwright, director, dramaturg, sound designer, and composer has been seen on stages throughout the Southwest.