Melia Bensussen

Melia Bensussen is the Artistic Director of Hartford Stage. The recipient of an OBIE Award for Outstanding Direction, her directing work includes numerous productions at the Huntington Theatre, Trinity Rep, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Sleeping Weazel, Actors Shakespeare Project, Baltimore Centerstage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, New York Shakespeare Festival, MCC, Primary Stages, Long Wharf, Actors Theatre of Louisville, People’s Light and Theatre Company (Barrymore nomination for Direction), San Jose Rep, and many others.  Her work with new plays and musicals has involved working at the O’Neill Theater Center, New York Stage and Film/Powerhouse, Sundance, and Midwest Playlabs. Raised in Mexico City, Melia is fluent in Spanish. She has translated and adapted various works, including her edition of the Langston Hughes translation of García Lorca’s Blood Wedding, published by Theatre Communications Group. Previous to Hartford Stage, she served as the Chair of Performing Arts at Emerson College in Boston for over a decade. She serves as Chair of the Arts Advisory Board for the Princess Grace Foundation and is a recipient of the Statue Award, their top award for Directing. A prior Drama League fellow, she has been a Member of SDC since 1990.