Elisa Bocanegra

Elisa Bocanegra is a Puerto Rican actress, director, curator, and the founder of Hero Theatre, a social and environmental justice theatre company in Los Angeles. Her work with Hero Theatre has been featured in The Los Angeles Times and American Theatre Magazine and is a favorite amongst local theatre critics. Additionally, Elisa won the prestigious TCG Leadership U Grant, the nation's largest grant of its kind, for her work with Hero. This allowed her to be part of the Leadership Team at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for two seasons. Her stage directing credits include Troy, a modern retelling of The Trojan Women about women and houselessness in Los Angeles. She directed Troy and worked alongside Kilroy List playwright Amina Henry in the development. Other directing credits include Festival Irene: A Tribute to Playwright Maria Irene Fornés, The Floating Island Plays by Eduardo Machado, and a new screen and stage project called Nuestro Planeta, which focuses on educating Latinx audiences about environmental justice within the Americas. Nuestro Planeta debuts at New York Stage and Film, July 2022. Nuestro Planeta is a ten-year-long new work commissioning initiative. Elisa is mentored by Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter. She is part of Cullors' new Environmental and Social Justice Arts program for activists at Prescott College. In January 2021, Elisa was officially announced as part of the inaugural Nexus Cohort at New York Stage and Film. This highly selective program asked the industry's top professionals to nominate artists they believe are the next generation of influencers in film and theatre. A committee of Pulitzer-winning individuals selected Elisa for her work as a director, producer, and performer. As an actor, her first film, Girlfight, won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Film at The Sundance Film Festival. Elisa has extensive experience performing at major theaters around the country and worked at The Roundabout Theatre Company in New York. Artists First Entertainment's Brian Dobbins manages her, the Executive Producer of ABC's groundbreaking comedy Blackish.