Artist Bio

(Bio as of March 2017)

Rogelio Martinez is an award-winning playwright whose plays have been workshopped and produced in theaters across the country and abroad. After being awarded an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation New Science and Technology Initiative Grants by the Denver Center, Mr. Martinez went on to write When Tang Met Laika, a post-Cold War space exploration play that was subsequently produced by the Denver Center. This inspired Mr. Martinez to bring the Cold War itself on stage and write a three play cycle exploring the time period. Ping Pong, the first play in his Cold War trilogy, is about U.S.-Chinese relations during the Nixon administration and was presented at The Public Theater. The second play, Born in East Berlin, tackled the impact a Bruce Springsteen concert had on East Germans just prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall. The play was workshopped at the Atlantic Theater Company and has since been translated into both Hungarian and Romanian, and will be published in Romanian. Blind Date marks the trilogy’s conclusion. Mr. Martinez is a recipient of a 2017 Guggenheim Fellowship and is also the winner of a Princess Grace Award and a Mid-Career Fellowship at the Lark Theater Company.  In the past he has received grants and awards from the New York Foundation for the Arts Grant, National Endowment of the Arts/Theatre Communications Group and the James Hammerstein Award. Mr. Martinez’s plays have been workshopped and commissioned by various theaters across the country including The Public Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Repertory, Atlantic Theater Company, Arden Theater, Asolo Repertory Theatre and Ojai Theater Company. For several years, Mr. Martinez was a member of the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writer’s Group at Primary Stages. He is an alumnus of New Dramatists. As an advocate of the arts and an educator, Mr. Martinez has spoken before the Albany State legislature. He has worked with and mentored writers of all ages. Over the last 20 years, Mr. Martinez has taught at various institutions including Columbia University, City College of New York, Montclair State University, Rutgers University and Goddard College. In the summer of 2016, Mr. Martinez travelled to Portugal, where he taught a two week writing workshop. Mr. Martinez has also translated the work of both Mexican and Cuban playwrights.