I believe language is one of the most powerful weapons ever created. Twice in my life, violence has tried to take me, leaving me with a cracked skull, lifelong tinnitus, a shattered jaw, two stab wounds, and a need for new front teeth. And yet, I’ve chosen to return this brutality with words as my weapons.

Theatre is a living, breathing battleground for the soul, a place where characters reveal their scars and fight for their humanity. As a queer, Latino, disabled playwright and filmmaker, I interrogate the intersection of identity and survival, the quiet rebellions of those who refuse to be taken by the darkness. I write to disturb, to inspire, to leave you in stitches, to remind you that we only have one life. Live it to the hilt and wear it gloriously.

I want my audience to leave the theater questioning their own resilience and their own defiance. I want them to ask: How do we fight back? How do we carve out space for ourselves in a world that tries to erase us?

I am Montserrat Mendez. I am a playwright and filmmaker. And I wield words as weapons to ensure no one is silenced.