Lorena Maza

Lorena Maza is a stage director, producer and translator for theatre, opera and television. She has directed more than sixty plays, seven operas, five musicals, and two theatre/opera films. She studied dramatic literature at the Sorbonne in France and at Mexico’s National University, where she received a degree in Stage Direction in 1985. She was Director of Mexico’s National Theater Company and directed Teatro UNAM and Teatro Helenico, where she managed three venues and produced more than forty plays annually. She has been an acting teacher and coach for more than 25 years and has been recognized with twelve awards for Best Direction and Best Play of the year.

With her work, she has participated in six national and international festivals, and has translated more than forty dramatic texts, including work for the National Theater LIVE Project. In the private sector, she founded and directed the Ocesa Theater Department-CIE, producing their first musical, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, with more than 650,000 spectators. She wrote, directed and co-produced Bésame Mucho, Ocesa's first original all-Mexican musical, based on the popular genre, Bolero, with more than 500 performances.

In 2017, she opened her own production company, 19TEATRO, together with other theater professionals. She has been bestowed twice with the most prestigious national grant for artists, Sistema Nacional de Creadores, recognizing her professional career of over three decades. She recently directed two feature films: El Paraíso de la Invención, a filmed theatre piece, with Marina de Tavira and Alfonso Herrera; and the opera La Hija de Rappaccini (2021) with libretto by Octavio Paz and music by Daniel Catán. She staged the immersive experience La Casa de Papel for Netflix in Mexico City in 2021, and directed the World Premiere of The Last Dream of Frida and Diego, produced by San Diego Opera and San Francisco Opera. She currently lives and works in Mexico City.