Board of Directors Episode 28: Tlaloc Rivas

Tlaloc Rivas (he/him/él) makes theatre where rigorous craft meets urgent questions - bridging classical forms and contemporary voices, institutional spaces and community practice, pedagogical inquiry and professional artistry.

His foundation was built at El Teatro Campesino, where he trained in the physical theatre traditions that emerged from the fields of California's farmworker movement. That early formation, rooted in ensemble creation, cultural specificity, and theatre as a catalyst, continues to inform how he approaches text, collaborators, and audiences.

Currently, Tlaloc holds faculty appointments at two leading research institutions: as Associate Professor in Residence in Theatre Studies at the University of Connecticut and as Lecturer in Acting at Yale University's David Geffen School of Drama and the Department of Theatre & Performance Studies. As resident director at Connecticut Repertory Theatre, he maintains an active directing practice while mentoring the next generation of theatre artists.

He was the inaugural Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, where he taught its first-ever Latinx theatre course and developed the plays DIVISADERO and THE REVOLUTION OF EVEYLN SERRANO.

A co-founder of the Latinx Theatre Commons, Tlaloc has devoted over twenty years to expanding the ecology of American theatre - building infrastructure, amplifying underrepresented narratives, and fostering sustainable careers for artists historically excluded from institutional spaces. His directing has been recognized through the Sir John Gielgud Fellowship in Classical Directing and the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors.
He has been a Usual Suspect with New York Theater Workshop since 2001 and has served a 5-year term on the board of the New Harmony Project.
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Tlaloc's methodology draws from extensive training: the Suzuki Method and Viewpoints (SITI Company), devised performance (Mabou Mines Resident Artist Program), playwriting (Maria Irene Fornes Institute, La MaMa Umbria International), community-based practice (Cornerstone Theatre), and artistic leadership (NALAC Leadership Institute). His ongoing engagement with anti-racism frameworks through Equity Quotient and artEquity informs both his
creative process and institutional work.

He holds an M.F.A. in Directing from the University of Washington School of Drama and a B.A. with high honors from UC Santa Cruz, where he received the UC Regents Presidential Award, Chancellor's Honors, and Dean of the Arts Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research. He is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and the Dramatists Guild.

M.F.A. Professional Directors Training Program
​University of Washington School of Drama

B.A. Theatre Performance (with Honors)
Stevenson College, University of California, Santa Cruz