
Nora Montañez is an Afro-descendent Indigenous Peruvian director, actor, singer, educator and playwright. She was raised in Paterson, NJ and holds a BFA from Florida Atlantic University. Nora has been commissioned by Exposed Brick Theatre, Penumbra Theatre (Race Workshop) and Theatre 45°, currently developing a Driveway Tour show with Open Eye Figure Theatre and a part of the Creative Team in the creation of Protest: A Revolutionary Rock Opus. Nora was a 2018 Next Step Grant recipient, a 20/21 Many Voices Mentee at the Playwrights Center, a 2022 Creative Support Grant recipient and is currently the Department of Chicano and Latino Studies Artist-in-Residence at the University of Minnesota. Nora is also the Founder of ALMA (Alliance of Latine Minnesota Artists), which facilitates alliances among the spectrum of Minnesotan Latine artists.
Plays
Sabor A Mi is an autobiographical play that traces Nora's personal immigrant journey and told through Latin American music.
In Code You, a disheveled Marlen returns to her one-bedroom apartment to find herself isolated and disoriented. What she thought was a night-in takes a sudden turn when three old friends organize an impromptu house party. Marlen finds herself unsure of her own reality and seeks to understand her surroundings after feeling she is living in parallel worlds.
La Comadre, is a Puerto Rican woman who has been living in Paterson, New Jersey since she arrived from la Isla. She is the matriarch of her community which is why she decides to throw a goodbye party for one of the community members. Told through Latin American music and highlighted through projections, we attend the evening festivities and view how La Comadre balances hosting and protecting her barrio.
Successes
The University of Minnesota Department of Chicano and Latino Studies Artist-in-Residence committee has announced their 2022 Artist-in-Residence, Nora Montañez Patterson.