Karen Zacarias

Karen Zacarías is an American playwright. She is known for her play Mariela in the Desert. It was the winner of the National Latino Playwriting Award and a finalist for other prizes. Zacarías is the founder of the Young Playwrights' Theater located in Washington, D.C.

Early life Zacarías received her Bachelors in Arts from Stanford University in 1991 and then went on to pursue her Masters in Creative Writing at Boston University in 1995. Zacarías comes from an artistic family from Mexico. Her grandfather, Miguel Zacarías, was a movie director and writer during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema in the 1930s and 1940s. Zacarías initially resisted pursuing an artistic career. She said:

Ours was a wonderful, lively, enchanting artistic house, but it also demystified "art" for me. I saw firsthand how "artistic expression" could be misused as a justification for self-indulgent, self-important and destructive behavior, and consequently I resisted being an artist for many years. It wasn't until I was out of college, had worked a couple of years at a Latin American policy nonprofit and knew I could support myself without betraying others that I finally let myself really become a writer. The book was called Chasing George Washington and the musical premiered at The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and was followed by a national tour. She is also the founder of the Latino Theatre Commons.

She has been inspired by works from María Irene Fornés, Caryl Churchill, Sarah Ruhl, Lisa Loomer, Lisa Kron and Julia Cho. Writing for young people is very important for Zacarías. She says:

"I love writing for young people. You can't find a more honest and challenging audience on the planet. My strongest playwriting lessons have come in trying to create stories that will resonate with young people—it is a rewarding, hilarious and heartbreaking endeavor to create plays in which kids really see themselves on stage."

Awards

The Sins of Sor Juana was the winner of the Charles MacArthur Award for outstanding new play at D.C.'s 2000 Helen Hayes Awards. This play has been widely produced, thus Zacarías translated it for a Spanish-language production in April at D.C.'s GALA Hispanic Theatre.

Young Playwrights' Theater won the 2010 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. YPT received the Washington Post 2014 Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management.

Works The Sins of Sor Juana (1999) Mariela in the Desert (2005) How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (2008) The Book Club Play (2009) Legacy of Light (2009) Just Like Us (2013) Adapted from Helen Thorpe's 2009 book of the same name, it premiered in 2013 at The Stage Theatre in Denver, Colorado. Our War (2014) Zacarías contributed one of 25 vignettes. Destiny of Desire: A Brechtian Telenovela (2015) Premiered in 2015 at Arena Stage directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela and under his directorship went on to the Goodman Theatre and South Coast Repertory. Into the Beautiful North (2016) Inspired by Luis Alberto Urrea's 2009 book of the same name, it premiered in 2016 at Miracle Theatre in Portland, Oregon and has toured around the U.S. Native Gardens (2019) The Copper Children (2020) Premiered in 2020 at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The Age of Innocence (2024) Commissioned and world premiered by San Diego's Old Globe Theatre.

TYA musicals Zacarías' musicals with composer Deborah Wicks La Puma include: OLIVÉRio: A Brazilian Twist (Kennedy Center) Ella Enchanted (First Stage Milwaukee/Adventure Theatre MTC) Jane of the Jungle (South Coast Repertory) Frida Libre (La Jolla Playhouse) Looking for Roberto Clemente (Imagination Stage) Chasing George Washington: A White House Adventure (Kennedy Center) Einstein is a Dummy (Alliance Theatre) Cinderella Eats Rice and Beans (Imagination Stage) Ferdinand the Bull (Imagination Stage) The Magical Piñata (Imagination Stage)