Santiago Guzmán

Santiago Guzmán (he/they) is an award-winning playwright, dramaturge, performer, and director originally from Metepec, Mexico, now based in St. John’s, NL. He is the Artistic Director of TODOS Productions in St. John’s, NL, and the Artistic Associate for the pan-Atlantic organization Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre. They are a proud member of The Quilted Collective. Santiago’s work as a writer aims to put local, under-represented narratives and characters on the frontlines, whilst inviting audiences to appreciate the vibrancy of Newfoundland and Labrador from a diverse perspective. Their work has been supported, developed and/or produced by theatre companies and festivals such as TODOS Productions (NL), Resource Centre for the Arts Theatre Company (NL), Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland (NL), Poverty Cove Theatre Company (NL), Rising Tide Theatre (NL), Neighbourhood Dance Works (NL), Eastern Front Theatre (NS), PARC (pan-Atlantic), Ship's Company Theatre (NS), Theatre New Brunswick (NB), Boca Del Lupo (BC), Paprika Festival (ON), Banff's Playwrights Lab (AB) and the National Theatre School of Canada’s Art Apart Program (QC). He is a member of Playwrights Canada Press's inaugural editorial committee. Santiago’s play Urn received the Senior Dramatic Script Award of the Newfoundland and Labrador 2022 Arts and Letters Awards & was shortlisted for the NLCU Fresh Fish Award 2022. Most recently, Santiago has been short-listed for PGC’s inaugural's John Palmer Award 2022. As a dramaturge, Santiago has focused on supporting equity-seeking, emerging writers to tell their stories, as there is a need in the Atlantic-Canadian community to see these stories on stage. Through his theatre company, TODOS Productions, he has supported several pieces in development alongside Robert Chafe in the 2020 and 2021 TODOS’ Writing Unit. They were the dramaturge for the Fundy Fringe Festival in NB in 2020 and he is currently working with Halifax Theatre for Young People as a dramaturge on a project about immigrants in Atlantic Canada. He has been a lead dramaturge for Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre’s 2021 & 2022 Playwrights Retreat. Santiago has dramaturged plays for the Plain Site Festival (NB), Theatre New Brunswick (NB), and CAHOOTS Theatre’s HOT HOUSE CROSSING (ON) in 2022. As an immigrant, queer, and artist of colour, Santiago believes that representation matters.