Biography
Elisa Bocanegra is a U.S.-born Puerto Rican actress, director, producer, and activist. She founded HERO Theatre, an L.A.-based theatre company whose work is rooted in social and environmental justice
The Los Angeles Times named Elisa a Latino "power player" in Hollywood. She is a Fulbright scholar and spent almost two years in residence at the Instituto Humboldt in Colombia.
Her company, HERO Theatre, was founded with the support of Bocanegra's mentor, the late Academy Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis. Hero Theatre is highly respected in the American theater world and has received support from celebrated Hollywood actors, including Annette Bening, Justina Machado, William H. Macy, and more.
Elisa launched a new screen and stage project called Nuestro Planeta, which focuses on using theatre and film to bring sustainability education to Latine peoples from the entire diaspora. A third article on Nuestro Planeta has now been published in American Theatre Magazine. Her first article for American Theatre Magazine, "When World's Fall Apart There's Nuestro Planeta," narrates the project's beginning, which Elisa created as her brother was dying due to COVID-19. It was widely shared and resulted in Elisa receiving research and development funding from Fulbright Colombia, the MAP Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the California Arts Council.
Elisa was part of the prestigious NEXUS Cohort at New York Stage and Film and later received The Pfaelzer Award. Elisa also won the Theatre Communications Group Leadership U Grant, the U.S.'s largest grant of its kind, for her work with HERO Theatre. The grant provided her the opportunity to be part of the Leadership Team at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for two seasons.
Her stage directing credits include the critically acclaimed LUZMI, NOTHING, NOTHING, and TROY, a modern retelling of THE TROJAN WOMEN about women and homelessness in Los Angeles.
As an actor, her first film, GIRLFIGHT, won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Film at The Sundance Film Festival. She recurs on Season 2 of Peacock TV's Based On A True Story when she is not traveling through Latin America bringing theatre to vulnerable communities. Elisa adds Netflix's Christmas With You, which reached number one worldwide, to her numerous film credits. She has extensive experience performing at major theaters around the U.S., in addition to The Roundabout Theatre Company in New York.
Elisa received an M.F.A. in Social & Environmental Arts Practice at Prescott College, where she is in her final stage of receiving a PhD in Sustainability and Education.
She divides her time between Hollywood and Bogotá, Colombia, where she started Teatro Héroe. Teatro Héroe is dedicated to using theater as a tool to educate children, youth, and adults in all communities in Colombia about the economic, political, cultural, social, and socio-environmental issues that affect them. They present plays and workshops focused on theatre training as an artistic expression that represents a cultural heritage for Colombia and the world. They travel all over Colombia, presenting their work.
