Juliette Carrillo is an American theatre director, playwright, and filmmaker. She has directed plays and musicals at the Denver Theater Center, Yale Repertory Theater, South Coast Repertory, Mark Taper Forum, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Magic Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Arizona Theater Company, and the Actor's Theatre of Louisville.
For seven years, she served as an Artistic Associate of South Coast Repertory and led their Hispanic Playwright's Project. She is also a member of Cornerstone Theatre Company, where she writes and directs community-centered new plays. Carrillo primarily develops new plays and has directed workshops at New York Theatre Workshop, The Public, INTAR, and The Women's Project. She has received the Princess Grace Award and the National Endowment of the Arts/Theatre Communications Group Directing Fellowship.
Carrillo was born in a multicultural household in Los Angeles, CA. She grew up in La Paz, Baja California Sur in Mexico and in Northern California. She has Mexican-American and Jewish heritage, and her father is the Chicano painter Eduardo Carrillo. She is currently a board member of the Museo Eduardo Carrillo. She currently resides in Los Angeles.
Carrillo received her BA in Theatre Arts from the University of California at Santa Cruz before obtaining her MFA in directing from the Yale School of Drama.
Carrillo has directed several premieres of new plays and often collaborates with Hispanic playwrights. She directed the world premiere of âÂÂLydiaâ by Octavio Solis at the Denver Theater Center, and its subsequent productions at Mark Taper Forum and Yale Repertory Theater. The New York Times said of the play, âÂÂSeductive and strong. Juliette Carrillo has directed with enormous skill and knowing compassion.âÂÂ
Other World and West Coast premieres include Nilo Cruzâ âÂÂAnna in The Tropics,â Jose RiveraâÂÂs âÂÂReferences to Salvador DalàMake Me HotâÂÂ; and Karen ZacarÃÂasâ âÂÂJane of the Jungleâ at South Coast Repertory; Eduardo MachadoâÂÂs âÂÂThe Cookâ and Isaac Gomezâ adaptation of âÂÂI Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughterâ at Seattle Repertory Theater; Sam ShepardâÂÂs âÂÂEyes for Consuelaâ at the Magic Theatre; Karen ZacarÃÂasâ âÂÂOliverioâ at the Kennedy Center; Octavio Solisâ âÂÂLetheâ at Cornerstone Theater; Carmen Aguirre's âÂÂAnywhere But Hereâ at The Electric Company; Melinda Lopezâ âÂÂSonia Flewâ at Laguna Playhouse; and Benjamin Benne's âÂÂAlmaâ at Center Theatre Group.
Her other American regional theater productions include âÂÂTwo Trains Runningâ by August Wilson at Arena Stage, and âÂÂThe Sign on Sidney BrusteinâÂÂs Windowâ by Lorraine Hansberry and âÂÂMojadaâ by Luis Alfaro at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
As an ensemble member of Cornerstone Theater, Carrillo has directed numerous productions and collaborated with communities in creating original work. She has worked with communities such as the Los Angeles River community, the addiction and recovery community, the senior community, and the Hindu community. Productions she directed at Cornerstone include âÂÂThe Cardinalâ by Cusi Cram, âÂÂBliss Pointâ by Shishir Kurup, âÂÂItâÂÂs All Buenoâ by Sigrid Gilmer, âÂÂTouch The Waterâ by Julie Hébert, âÂÂWarriors DonâÂÂt Cryâ adapted by Eisa Davis, âÂÂAs Vishnu Dreamsâ by Shishir Kurup, and âÂÂHouse on Mango Streetâ by Sandra Cisnersos.
Carrillo was an Artistic Associate at South Coast Repertory for seven years, directing in their season and running the Hispanic Playwright's Project, which collaborated with Latino playwrights such as Jose Rivera and Nilo Cruz.
Carrillo has also ventured into film directing and screenwriting. She participated in the American Film Institute Directing Workshop for Women, where she wrote and directed the short film âÂÂSpiralâÂÂ. It was screened at film festivals in the United States and Europe. Carrillo wrote the screenplay âÂÂSuperChicasâÂÂ, which was selected for the National Association of Latino Independent ProducerâÂÂs Latino ProducerâÂÂs Lab in Santa Fe. The screenplay was then selected for the Emerging Narratives pitchfest at Independent Film Week, and endorsed by Francis Ford Coppola. Carrillo also participated in the Honolulu 48 Hour Film Project, where her short film a-litter-a-tion won Best Overall, Best Writing, and Best Acting.
Carrillo is currently the Head of Directing program at the University of California Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts.
Carrillo has written four plays that were commissioned by Cornerstone Theater Company. These include âÂÂPlumas NegrasâÂÂ, produced with artists and audience members from the East Salinas farmworker community, âÂÂLittle VoiceâÂÂ, a play about eating habits for teen audiences, âÂÂGhost TownâÂÂ, produced for and with the Venice, CA community, and âÂÂPedro Playâ performed by and for the San Pedro, CA community. âÂÂPlumas Negrasâ was later produced at UC Irvine Drama in 2018.
Additionally, a reading of her play âÂÂTailboneâ was done at Chautauqua Theater Company in 2021, and was selected by Milagro and Teatros Unidos as a finalist for the Ingenio Virtual Theatre Festival.