José Casas

Associate Professor of Theatre & Drama

Department:  Theatre & Drama,
Teaching Focus:  Playwriting,

Bio

José Casas is a playwright, director, and actor. He is an assistant professor and leads the Playwriting minor in the Department of Theatre & Drama. He is a board member of The Children’s Theatre Foundation and a member of The American Alliance of Theatre and Education, TYA/USA, and the Dramatists Guild.

Casas’s plays have been produced across the country and include la rosa grows beyond the wall, all brown all chingon, aDoBe, a million whispers all at once, and the vine. His plays, la ofrenda and somebody’s children received both the Bonderman National Playwriting for Youth Award (2005, 2009) and the AATE Distinguished Play Award (2007, 2010). His work has been included in a number of anthologies such as The Bully Plays, Ethnodrama: An Anthology of Reality Theatre, and Theatre for Youth II: More Plays With Mature Themes. His published work includes la ofrenda, 14, somebody’s children, and Palabras del Cielo: An Exploration of Latina/o Theatre for Young Audiences.

Education

Education

BA (Theatre Arts), University of California, Santa Barbara
MA (Theatre Arts), California State University, Los Angeles
MFA (Playwriting), Arizona State University