Elliott Hayes Award 2025

Good evening everyone,

I feel very fortunate to receive this award. 

For me, it is a very special moment because my project includes the study of many people who have tried to be made invisible.

Unfortunately, in my country, our work is still under-researched. Sometimes I wish institutions, schools, or other creators would encourage our work, from any perspective: creative, investigation, or teaching. However, I understand this is our reality and that this is where we must continue to build: women and young people who are the strength of Mexican dramaturgy.

I believe that our work is for and with others, and from that place, every day I try to create pathways so that our profession can be kinder for those who come after us, because only in collective work do I understand the role of dramaturg.

I know that as long as organizations like LMDA exist, our work will continue to strengthen, as it is there that we will find connections between worlds.

Every day I think about how much we can do for our profession, and I know that with spaces and people like you, we can go further.

Thank you to all the people who make this possible, thank you for such a generous effort.

Thanks to the people who have accompanied me in the process of this work: family, friends, colleagues, and mentors.

With a heart full of gratitude,
Gabriela Aparicio

Dramaturg, director and teacher. She was born in Mexico City. She’s a graduate of Dramatic Literature and Theatre by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). In 2012 she discovered her passion for dramaturgs and their work, and since then she has been promoting this vital profession both nationally and internationally. She promotes dramaturgical work through three distinct but interrelated lines of work: creation, research and teaching. Her own work as a dramaturg focuses on the development of devised theatre pieces, as well as the design of strategies that enable outreach with audiences. She has collaborated as a dramaturg on Los relatos animales, Fuimos Ein- stein, Hugo no es Lola, Vine a Rusia porque me dijeron que acá vivía un tal Antón Chéjov, Conmemorantes, Tiempo de fiesta and Rat City, a project comprised of a video-game and an interactive novel.

Her published work on dramaturgy has appeared in: “Revista Kayla” of the Departamento de Artes Escénicas (Perú-Argentina), “Revista Paso de Gato”, the “Jornadas Internacionales de Teoría, Historia y Gestión del Espectador Teatral” (FILO-UBA), and the LMDA Mexico bulletin. In collaboration with other authors, she has written for the “Encuentro: Escrituras de la Escena Segunda Edición”, by Medeas Red de Jóvenes Investigadoras de la Escena and the 4o Encuentro Teórico Teatral Internacional ENSAD (Perú). She has also participated in several virtual discussion groups on the topic hosted in the U.S., Guatemala, Chile, Argentina, Perú and México. Currently, she teaches at the Escuela de Teatro de Iztapalapa. She has also imparted workshops exploring dramaturgical techniques at the 22o Festival de la Joven Dramaturgia, Querétaro (2024); the 2o Coloquio del Observatorio Teatral de Teatro UNAM (2024); the 2o Festival Alternativo de Teatro, FAT Coahuila (2023); the 3er Emisión Red Activa by Tejiendo Redes (2022); the Chilean visual platform Teatralízate (2020-2021) and the Rebelión Dramaturgista by Buitre Amargo (2020). Winner of the 2019 Field Grant by the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) with Expedición: en busca de dramaturgistas en México, a laboratory aimed at young creators so that they may experience the links between the arts and dramaturgs. This project strives for the development of artistic pieces created by the participants through their findings. The first laboratory was imparted in 2019, in which the participants created the photographic piece Retratos de unas expedicionarias: habitares dramaturgistas, and the Reverberaciones dramaturgistas podcast. In 2023, Expedición was part of the Desarrollo Académico by the Coordinación Nacional de Teatro of INBAL. The objective of this edition was to shed light on the work of young dramaturgs; to this end, Janeth Piña and Paloma Bonilla (who participated in the first edition), as well as dramaturg Eréndira Santiago, all joined the team. The group shared a digital showing as well as a live showing called Activación dramaturgista.

Being a dramaturg has allowed Gabriela to question the need for this artistic practice in this day and age. She wishes to encounter further moments to interact and create alongside audiences.