Riding The Bear

Carmen Rivera Tirado holds an MA in playwriting and latin american theatre from new york university. Her play, la gringa, was part of the OBIE award winning series new voices in 1996 and this year, celebrated its 26th year anniversary in repertory at repertorio español. It is now the longest running spanish-language play in off-broadway history. It was published in both english and spanish by concord theatrical productions (formerly samuel french.) off-broadway productions include: La Caída De Rafael Trujillo (the downfall Of rafael trujillo); (ATI award – best production); Celia: The Life and Music of Celia Cruz (co-written with cándido tirado) - (HOLA award, outstanding achievement in playwriting); La Lupe: My Life, My Destiny (ACE award – best production); Julia de Burgos: Child of Water; To Catch The Lightning (nomination ACE award – best production.) Carmen was the subject of a doctoral dissertation written by theatre scholar Dr. jason ramirez – latinidad: the theatre of carmen rivera. Her work can also be found on the online archive, ProQuest. Carmen has been the recipient of grants from the national endowment for the arts (NEA), ATT on-stage and new york state council of the Arts (NYSCA). She currently teaches playwriting and dramatic structure at the new school for drama. For more information on Carmen, check out www.carmenrivera-writer.com

Opening night of RIDING THE BEAR at THE Flea Theater NYC

Back row, from left to right: Candido Tirado (director), Johnny Rivera (cast), Dexter Mckinney (cast), Monique Gabriela Curnen (cast), Darlenis Duran (cast), Alfredo Diaz (cast), Mike Jankowitz (cast), Danny Hoch (cast), Felix Solis (cast), and Carmen Rivera (playwright). Front row, from left to right: Maria Elena Torres (artistic director) and Michael Mejias (executive director)