Tony Meneses

Tony Meneses is a proud immigrant born in Guadalajara, Mexico and raised in Albuquerque and Dallas. His work has premiered at Two River Theater (Guadalupe in the Guest Room, The Women of Padilla, The Hombres, A Thousand Maids), The Denver Center (twenty50), and The Old Globe (El Borracho, The Hombres). He is an alum of the Soho Rep. Writer/Director Lab, Ars Nova Play Group, Sundance Institute Playwrights Retreat at Ucross Foundation, The Playwrights Realm Writing Fellowship, and Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Youngblood. His work has been previously developed at the Lark Play Development Center Playwrights’ Week, Berkeley Rep’s The Ground Floor, The Denver Center’s Colorado New Play Summit, The Old Globe’s Powers New Voices Festival (2020, 2025), South Coast Rep’s Pacific Playwrights Festival...

Tony Meneses is a proud immigrant born in Guadalajara, Mexico and raised in Albuquerque and Dallas. His work has premiered at Two River Theater (Guadalupe in the Guest Room, The Women of Padilla, The Hombres, A Thousand Maids), The Denver Center (twenty50), and The Old Globe (El Borracho, The Hombres). He is an alum of the Soho Rep. Writer/Director Lab, Ars Nova Play Group, Sundance Institute Playwrights Retreat at Ucross Foundation, The Playwrights Realm Writing Fellowship, and Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Youngblood. His work has been previously developed at the Lark Play Development Center Playwrights’ Week, Berkeley Rep’s The Ground Floor, The Denver Center’s Colorado New Play Summit, The Old Globe’s Powers New Voices Festival (2020, 2025), South Coast Rep’s Pacific Playwrights Festival and New SCRipt Series, TheatreSquared’s Arkansas New Play Festival, Two River Theater's Crossing Borders Festival (2018, 2023, 2025), and The 2025 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. He is currently a resident playwright in New Dramatists, is a two-time recipient of The Kennedy Center Latino Playwriting Award, and is published by Dramatists Play Service and Theatrical Rights Worldwide. He's been previously commissioned by The Denver Center, Two River Theater, South Coast Rep, The Old Globe, and The Juilliard School. Education: The University of Texas at Austin, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Juilliard. He's also a newly minted Assistant Professor of Playwriting in the Playwrights Workshop at The University of Iowa.

Scripts

The Myth of the Two Marcos

by Tony Meneses

Synopsis

When Marco meets Marco in 1997 Albuquerque, an unlikely friendship begins between two boys with the same name but vastly different personalities and outlooks on life. When they discover a mutual love of comic books, the local comic shop becomes a sanctuary for both teens as they’re introduced to an Aztec superhero who becomes their guide through a time long forgotten.

When Marco meets Marco in 1997 Albuquerque, an unlikely friendship begins between two boys with the same name but vastly different personalities and outlooks on life. When they discover a mutual love of comic books, the local comic shop becomes a sanctuary for both teens as they’re introduced to an Aztec superhero who becomes their guide through a time long forgotten.

Guadalupe in the Guest Room

by Tony Meneses

Synopsis

Guadalupe is living in the guest room of her son-in-law, Steve, while she works to translate from English to Spanish the children’s books her deceased daughter has written. Overcome with grief and separated by a language barrier, the unlikely housemates struggle to communicate. As they begin watching the same television show, the two bond in the most unexpected of ways, leading Guadalupe and Steve to learn that...

Guadalupe is living in the guest room of her son-in-law, Steve, while she works to translate from English to Spanish the children’s books her deceased daughter has written. Overcome with grief and separated by a language barrier, the unlikely housemates struggle to communicate. As they begin watching the same television show, the two bond in the most unexpected of ways, leading Guadalupe and Steve to learn that understanding doesn’t always require speaking the same language. "Guadalupe in the Guest Room" is a funny and heartfelt celebration of new beginnings, breaking barriers, and the healing power of telenovelas

The Hombres

by Tony Meneses

Synopsis

A look at the intimacy of male relationships told through the point of view of Machismo culture, The Hombres follows Julián, a gay Latino yoga teacher, as he clashes with the Latino construction workers working outside his studio, particularly the older head of the crew, Héctor, who seeks from Julián something he never expected.

A look at the intimacy of male relationships told through the point of view of Machismo culture, The Hombres follows Julián, a gay Latino yoga teacher, as he clashes with the Latino construction workers working outside his studio, particularly the older head of the crew, Héctor, who seeks from Julián something he never expected.

twenty50

by Tony Meneses

Synopsis

Andres Salazar is running for office. By this time, Latinx people have been assimilated into the (white) majority of the United States, but race issues are far from resolved. In this tricky political environment, Andres must decide whether identifying himself as a Mexican-American will help or hinder him on Election Day, and whether losing some of his own identity is worth the potential benefits. When a...

Andres Salazar is running for office. By this time, Latinx people have been assimilated into the (white) majority of the United States, but race issues are far from resolved. In this tricky political environment, Andres must decide whether identifying himself as a Mexican-American will help or hinder him on Election Day, and whether losing some of his own identity is worth the potential benefits. When a mysterious stranger appears at Andres's house, his family rallies around him to save his imperiled campaign.

El Borracho

by Tony Meneses

Synopsis

Raul is sick. Raul has not been taking care of himself. Raul drinks because he always drinks. In his final months, he’s forced to move in with his ex-wife Alma who now has to care for the man she thought she’d never have to see again.

Raul is sick. Raul has not been taking care of himself. Raul drinks because he always drinks. In his final months, he’s forced to move in with his ex-wife Alma who now has to care for the man she thought she’d never have to see again.

A Thousand Maids

by Tony Meneses

Synopsis

Cordelia’s stuck. Cordelia needs to design a maid’s costume, but she can’t stop thinking about The Help and Maid in Manhattan and Gone with the Wind and As Good As It Gets and… and… and… How can she find a way to show these women for who they really are?

Cordelia’s stuck. Cordelia needs to design a maid’s costume, but she can’t stop thinking about The Help and Maid in Manhattan and Gone with the Wind and As Good As It Gets and… and… and… How can she find a way to show these women for who they really are?

The Women of Padilla

by Tony Meneses

Synopsis

Through the power of food, faith, laughter and each other, eight sisters-in-law find a way to carry on life at home while their husbands are away at war. Inspired by the heightened lyricism of the playwright and poet Federico García Lorca and classical Greek Tragedy, this new play shows us there is always a way—even through the hardest of times—to set our love free.

Through the power of food, faith, laughter and each other, eight sisters-in-law find a way to carry on life at home while their husbands are away at war. Inspired by the heightened lyricism of the playwright and poet Federico García Lorca and classical Greek Tragedy, this new play shows us there is always a way—even through the hardest of times—to set our love free.

Between Here and the City of Mexico

by Tony Meneses

Synopsis

It’s 1968, and as a wave of student protest washes over Mexico City, a girl journeys into the ever-shifting capital to find a path to call her own. A beguiling, sweeping ode to a city flush with the promise of revolution, and to the times in life when everything seems possible.

It’s 1968, and as a wave of student protest washes over Mexico City, a girl journeys into the ever-shifting capital to find a path to call her own. A beguiling, sweeping ode to a city flush with the promise of revolution, and to the times in life when everything seems possible.