Ren Dara Santiago is a Fili-Rican nurturer and storyteller; a Native NY-er from the X, Yonkers and Harlem. Ren is the inaugural recipient of Rising Phoenix Rep’s Cornelia Street American Playwriting Award. Plays: All the Time (Drama Club NYC commission through NEA); I’ll Write You Down in Brick & Mortar (Commissioned by The Theater Co.: Co-Artistic Directors Jen Rowe and Brandon Woolley); The Siblings Play (Cherry Lane Theatre: Mentor Project 2017; Ojai Playwrights Conference 2017; TOW Fellowship Recipient 2020), Something in the Balete Tree (Winner: Playwright’s Week 2019 at The Lark Play Development Center. Finalist: National Playwright’s Conference 2019); SUBLIMINAL (SUNY College commission). Shorts: Building Models; Hard as You Can; Heard You; In the Shit; Love & Animation; Same Shadow (Second Generation Productions commission); Someone’s Family; Where We At (NY Rep commission). Affiliated Companies: Cherry Lane Theatre, Clubbed Thumb, En Garde Arts, The Lark, Labyrinth Theater, MCC, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Rising Phoenix Rep, SPACE on Ryder Farm, The Theatre Co. Radio: Conceived and Curated the MTA Radio Plays (produced by Rattlestick Playwright’s Theater); Head Writer for See You in Your Nightmares (Einhorn’s Epic Productions: Showrunners Heather Einhorn and Adam Staffaroni). TV: Let the Right One In (Showtime), staff-writer. Upcoming: AIN’T IT THOUGH, feature-length indie anthology with C19 Group premieres Spring 2022, co-writer-producer, actor, director. I’ll Write You Down in Brick & Mortar the film premieres Summer 2022, staged production to follow in Winter 2022; All the Time begins workshops Winter 2021.
Teaching: Carnegie Mellon, The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Lincoln Center Theater, MCC Theater, Williams College University, Yale School of Drama, The Young Women’s Leadership School. Residencies: The Lark, Rising Phoenix Rep, C-19 Writers Group. Ren is the inaugural recipient of Rising Phoenix Rep’s Cornelia Street American Playwriting Award: recognizing an emerging playwright of exceptional work ethic, character, and talent.