First Name
Thelma
Middle Name
Virata
Last Name
de Castro
City
Country
State or Province
Job Title
Biography
Thelma Virata de Castro is a Filipinx dramaturg and dramatist whose plays explore identity and belonging. In 2024 she received a William Male Foundation Artist grant to workshop Never Be Poor. She facilitated the California Humanities supported AAPI Writers Workshop reading Making Space/Taking Space with San Diego Writers, Ink. She received a 2023 Far South/Border North grant as part of the California Creative Corp, through which she implemented the 2024 Social Justice campaign Cultivating JOY. She was a 2022 finalist for the AGE Legacy Playwright grant from Advance Gender Equity in the Arts. Penumbra was commissioned by The Old Globe Theatre in 2022, workshopped in 2023, and was included in Magnolia Theatre Company’s Femme Artisan Series in 2024. The TAG Project was produced by Playwrights Project in August 2021 with support from an Artist's Grant from the William Male Foundation and a Rising Arts Leaders San Diego (RALSD) Virgil Yalong Quick Grant. "Hand Under Hand" and "The Fire in Me" were performed at Southwestern College in October 2021 in a production entitled Kasama. Thelma received three Hedgebrook residencies (1999, 2016, 2023). The San Diego Union-Tribune included her in its list of Phenomenal San Diego Women: Creators and Performers (2020). thelmaviratadecastro.com
Areas of Expertise
Language(s) spoken
English, some Spanish
Interested in freelance opportunities
Yes