
Incoming Artistic Director, Hartford Stage
Melia Bensussen is the recipient of an OBIE Award for Outstanding Direction, and has directed extensively around the country. Raised in Mexico City, Melia is fluent in Spanish and has translated and adapted a variety of works, including her edition of the Langston Hughes translation of Garcia Lorca's Blood Wedding, published by Theatre Communications Group. Melia is a past recipient of a Princess Grace Fellowship, and was awarded the Foundation's top honor, the Statue Award. She is featured in Women Stage Directors Speak by Rebecca Daniels, and in Nancy Taylor's Women Direct Shakespeare. A graduate of Brown University, Melia is Chair of the Arts Advisory Board for the Princess Grace Foundation, and serves on the Executive Board of the Society of Directors and Choreographers (SDC). She served for eleven years as the Chair of the Performing Arts Department at Emerson College, where she is a Professor.