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Simón Franco

bio
Simón Franco

Artist-researcher working from collective creation laboratories. He has primarily worked as a director and dramaturg, but has also worked as a curator and playwright. He has also developed an independent practice as a filmmaker and essayist.

He studied Dramatic Literature and Theatre at UNAM, specializing in directing. He also completed a research residency on laboratory processes in Latin America at the University of Buenos Aires, under the mentorship of Jorge Dubatti and Didanwy Kent. Out of that residency he wrote his undergraduate thesis, which earned an honorable mention at UNAM.

Most of his work as a director has been with the collective La Compañiasauria, which has worked under a collective creation methodology since its second project. There he has directed Litoral (theatre, 2016) by Wajdi Mouawad; Sobre cómo no ser un deseo estúpido (theatre, 2019), winner of FITU category C3 in 2020; Manifiestosaurio (video essay, 2020); Acción espectáculo en tres partes by Joan Brossa (performance, 2022); and Lo común (theatre, 2025). Their work has been presented at venues of the CCB INBAL, UNAM, CCEMX, El Chopo, and MUAC, and in 8 states of Mexico, and has received support from Fomento a Proyectos y Coinversiones Culturales (2021) and ENARTES (2022), among others.

From 2022 to 2026 he worked as Chief Dramaturg of the Compañía Nacional de Teatro, the first person to hold this position at the institution. There he collaborated on programming, accompanied artistic processes with directors and playwrights, and directed Radio Masewal (2025), a multilingual show based on contemporary poetry in Indigenous languages of Mexico.

As a researcher, he is a collaborator of LMDA (Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas) and has participated in conferences in Tijuana, San Diego, Mexico City, and Buenos Aires. He has published articles in the LMDA Journal, Yale University’s Theater Magazine, and UNAM publications.

He has also worked as a curator at the Foro: Sanar el tiempo (2021), organized by Teatro UNAM, and in the Apuntes cycle (2021-2023) of UNAM’s Cátedra Ingmar Bergman.

Simón Franco

Detailed CV

Education

2021
  • Bachelor’s degree in Dramatic Literature and Theatre. Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Mexico City, Mexico. Graduated with honorable mention.
2019
  • Research residency at the Instituto de las Artes del Espectáculo “Dr. Raúl H. Castagnino,” University of Buenos Aires, mentored by Dr. Jorge Dubatti and Didanwy Kent. Research topic: “Collective creation laboratories in Latin America.” Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Professional Experience

Theatre and Performance Directing
  • 2026 Conferencia sobre la lluvia by Juan Villoro. Director. Theatre. Independent production. Work in progress. Pereira, Colombia.
  • 2026 La huida de Quetzalcóatl by Miguel León-Portilla. Director. Staged reading. El Colegio Nacional and CNT. Mexico City, Mexico.
  • 2025 Radio Masewal, a multilingual show based on poetry in Mexican Indigenous languages. Director and dramaturg. Theatre. CNT. Seasons: Sala Héctor Mendoza CNT (2025 and 2026), Jardín Escénico INBAL (2026), Feria de las Flores, Huauchinango, Puebla (2026), Feria de San Marcos, Aguascalientes (2026). Mexico City, Mexico.
  • 2025 Lo común by José Emilio Hernández, based on a collective creation laboratory. Director and co-producer. Theatre. La Compañiasauria. Seasons: Teatro UNAM (2025), Centro Cultural del Bosque INBAL (2025), Centro Cultural Helénico (2026).
  • 2024 Centenario Puccini [Puccini Centenary]. Co-director and co-dramaturg with Aurora Cano. Interdisciplinary show. Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, Estudio de Ópera de Bellas Artes and CNT. Sala Principal, Palacio de Bellas Artes. Mexico City, Mexico.
  • 2024 Sueño de día by Rodolfo Usigli. Director. Staged reading. Compañía Nacional de Teatro (CNT). Sala Manuel M. Ponce, Palacio de Bellas Artes. Mexico City, Mexico.
  • 2022 Acción espectáculo en tres partes by Joan Brossa. Director. Performance. Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC), Centro Cultural de España en México and La Compañiasauria. Mexico City, Mexico.
  • 2019 Sobre cómo no ser un deseo estúpido, collective creation. Director, co-dramaturg and multimedia design. Theatre. La Compañiasauria. Seasons: Teatro La Capilla (2019), Centro Cultural del Bosque INBAL (2022), Foro Apoco No (2022), Universidad Cervantina (2022), Foro El Dinosaurio, Museo Universitario del Chopo (2023), UVA Tlatelolco UNAM (2023). Awards and grants: First place at the UNAM International University Theatre Festival 2020, Category C3, and Best Multimedia Design. Fomento a Proyectos y Coinversiones Culturales FONCA 2020-2021 (for a tour through Morelos, Guerrero and Querétaro). ENARTES 2021. Festival Cultura UNAM, 2023. Mexico City, Mexico.
  • 2018 Éramos Más, collective creation. Co-direction with Luis Barrera. Theatre. Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, UNAM. Mexico City, Mexico.
  • 2016 Litoral by Wajdi Mouawad. Director and producer. Theatre. La Compañiasauria. Finalist at the UNAM International University Theatre Festival 2017, Category C1. Mexico City, Mexico.
Dramaturgy
  • 2022-2026 Compañía Nacional de Teatro del INBAL. First chief dramaturg of the institution, carrying out research, analysis, text adaptation, support for directors and academic activities. I co-adapted Eumenides by Aeschylus (2026), collaborated on the adaptation of Fieras, based on The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare (2023), and served as dramaturg for the project De la memoria (2022).
  • 2022 Maquinaria escénica en las calles. Performance directed by Diana de la Peña and Janeth Piña. La Compañiasauria. Presentations: Metro Insurgentes, La Teatrería, El 77 Centro Cultural Autogestivo. Mexico City, Mexico.
Film and Video
  • 2020-2024 La piscina. Director, screenwriter and editor. Docu-fiction short film (in progress). Independent production. Pereira, Colombia.
  • 2020 Manifiestosaurio. Director, co-screenwriter and editor. Essay film. La Compañiasauria. Guanajuato, Mexico.
  • 2015 5 de noviembre. Director, screenwriter and editor. Docu-fiction short film (unfinished). Independent production. Mexico City, Mexico.
  • 2014 Los Ladrones, inspired by the short story by Arkady Averchenko. Fiction short film. Independent production. Mexico City, Mexico.
  • 2013 El cine de Chaplin de 1918 a 1939 como una respuesta crítica a la modernidad [Chaplin’s Cinema from 1918 to 1939 as a Critical Response to Modernity]. Director, screenwriter and editor. Video essay. First place, inter-preparatory-school History competition. Mexico City, Mexico.
Curatorship
  • 2022-2026 Compañía Nacional de Teatro del INBAL. I have collaborated with the artistic director on the CNT’s artistic programming and on the curation of the program En compañía de la Compañía. Mexico.
  • 2021-2023 Apuntes, cycle of conversations and gatherings. Cátedra Ingmar Bergman en cine y teatro, UNAM. Mexico City, Mexico.
  • 2021 Forum “Sanar el tiempo: prácticas escénicas para horizontes descoloniales” [Healing Time: Performing Arts Practices for Decolonial Horizons], presented at the 28th UNAM International University Theatre Festival. Mexico City, Mexico.
Publications and Editorial Projects
  • 2026 “Forum: Dramaturgy Forward” (forthcoming). Short essay. Theater Magazine, Vol. 56, Yale Repertory Theatre. CT, USA.
  • 2026 “Para encontrar una genealogía” [To find a Genealogy]. Essay. The Journal of Dramaturgy, Vol. 31, LMDA. USA.
  • 2020 “La paradoja de la dirección: Notas sobre mi proceso de dirección con La Compañiasauria” [The Paradox of Directing: Notes on My Directing Process with La Compañiasauria]. Thesis for the degree of Licenciado en Literatura Dramática y Teatro. Honorable mention. UNAM, Mexico.
  • 2022 “Cómo hacer una curaduría colectiva en 10 pasos y 5 digresiones” [How to Do Collective Curation in 10 Steps and 5 Digressions]. Essay and editorial collaborator of the fanzine. Fanzine de Apuntes No. 1, Cátedra Ingmar Bergman en cine y teatro, UNAM. Mexico City, Mexico.
  • 2013-2014 Voluta de aliento. Co-founder and editorial committee member. Magazine that brought together poetry, essay and visual arts. Mexico City, Mexico.
Conferences
  • 2025 “Para encontrar una genealogía” [Finding a Genealogy]. Highlight conference at the LMDA Conference 2025. Tijuana-San Diego, USA-Mexico.
  • 2025 “¿Qué importa quién habla? Dramaturgias en colectivo” [Does It Matter Who Speaks? Collective Dramaturgies]. Presented at the colloquium Dramaturgias en nuestro presente. Organized by CLDyT, FFyL, CUT, Cátedra Ingmar Bergman, Filmoteca and Teatro UNAM. Mexico City, Mexico.
  • 2018 “¿Cómo hacer con los clásicos?” [What to Do with the Classics?]. Presented at the colloquium El teatro y lo clásico (en diálogo). Organized by the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, the Cátedra Extraordinaria Juan Ruiz de Alarcón and the Colegio de Literatura Dramática y Teatro, UNAM. Mexico City, Mexico.
Teaching Experience
  • 2023-present Almáciga: Clínica para diseñar laboratorios de investigación-creación escénica [Clinic for Designing Performing Arts Research-Creation Laboratories]. Delivered at: CNT Regional Hub, Aguascalientes (2026); Residency “Nuevas Dramaturgias del Teatro Clásico Hispano” [New Dramaturgies of Hispanic Classical Theatre], organized by FFyL UNAM, UCLA and Festival LA Escena, Mexico City (2025); Diplomado El teatro es territorio [Theatre Is Territory], CNT, Tampico, Tamaulipas (2024 and 2023). Mexico.
  • 2024-2025 Seminar: Corrientes renovadoras de la puesta en escena, siglos XX y XXI [Renewing Currents in Staging, 20th and 21st Centuries]. Delivered at: Encuentro Estatal de Teatro Rafael Solana, Reynosa, Tamaulipas (2025), individually, and together with Rodolfo Obregón at Incubadora Escénica Querétaro, Querétaro (2024). Mexico.
  • 2019-2020 Workshop: Principios de dirección escénica [Principles of Stage Directing]. Delivered at: El Carpincho, Guanajuato, Gto. (2020), Centro Cultural Helénico, Mexico City (2019). Mexico.
Juror
  • 2026 Artistic programming, Centro Cultural Helénico. Mexico City, Mexico.
  • 2026 Encuentro Estatal de Teatro Rafael Solana. Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico.