Artistic Director: Mercedes Bátiz-Benét
Mercedes Bátiz-Benét is a multi-disciplinary artist and writer. She was born and raised in Mexico and in 1997 she moved to Canada. She holds a BFA in Creative Writing in both poetry and drama, a Minor in Film Studies, and a BA Honours in Philosophy from the University of Victoria, as well as a Diploma in Film Production from the Pacific Film & New Media Academy. She works in both theatre and film and has extensive experience in both mediums.
She has trained and worked at length with Latin American, European, First Nations, American, and Canadian artists in a variety of modes and projects. Approaching expression from as many angles as possible, she has worked as writer, dramaturge, theatre director, translator, adapter, actor, puppeteer, cultural liaison, multi-media artist, screenwriter, film and video editor, cinematographer, and director. In theatre she specializes in Image Theatre, Forum Theatre, Mexican Spectacle Theatre, puppetry, mask, and Shadow Play.
Productions of her work include Faust: Ignis Fatuus, at the international festival "Faustfest," Shining Through, Lágrimas Crueles, With Open Arms, and as co-writer, The Secret Sorrow of Hatchet Jack Macphee for The Caravan Farm Theatre in BC, and The Erotic Anguish of Don Juan with the Old Trout Puppet Workshop.
Her latest film credit, camera and cinematography, is for the feature-length documentary Look At What The Light Did Now (Revolver Films 2010). She is the poetry, fiction, and non-fiction editor at Bayeux Arts, and her first children's book Lunar, is forthcoming in July.
She is thrilled and honoured to be the new Artistic Director of PUENTE Theatre, and is eager to focus all her skills, energy, and experience into such a meaningful endeavour.
