María Amenábar Farias is a director, producer, and theater artist from Guatemala City, Guatemala.

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She got her MFA in Directing at Illinois State University and her BA in Theatre and Economics at the University of Notre Dame. She has previously served as the Casting Associate for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, and is currently the Artistic Producing Associate at Milwaukee Repertory Theater.

 

Some of her favorite directing credits include Paula Vogel’s "How I Learned to Drive", Naomi Iizuka's "Good Kids", Jackie Sibblies Drury's "Fairview", and two different productions of "Heathers: The Musical", among others. She also loves workshopping and directing new works, as well as developing bilingual pieces (as she is fluent in both English and Spanish). 

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María is passionate about using her craft to bring communities together and inspire change. She is a firm believer in collaborative processes and embracing a sense of "play" in the rehearsal room to enable dynamic, engaging and exciting storytelling. María is also passionate about exploring the use of identity-conscious casting and rehearsal practices in the theatre, as well as the role these practices play in both overall storytelling and audience perception.