Michael Cavazos, Artistic Director
Michael Cavazos is a Queer Chicano theatre maker and visual artist. Before moving to Portland Oregon, they were a member of the sketch comedy troupe Gender Offenders and performed on many New York City stages, including the Beechman Theatre, Cherry Lane Theatre, The Culture Project, and P.S.122. They have been a company member with Hand2Mouth since 2020. Their collaborative digital project Distancias was featured in Hand2Mouth’s 2020-2021 season, in the 2021 Risk/Reward Festival of New Performances and in Latino Theater Co.’s RE:Encuentro 2021 Theater Festival. They have worked with Imago, Crave, Profile, Portland Center Stage and The Portland Revels. Michael’s video work called de los cadáveres crecen flores/from the corpses flowers grow, was commissioned by Portland Playhouse for their production Joy (Comes) in the Mourning. Along with performing, writing, painting and video art, Michael directed Hand2Mouth’s Public Platform production Universo, Joaquin Lopez’s Voz Alta: Generaciones and Voz Alta: Ahí Vamos, and The Portland Revels production of Un Pajarito Canta. During their Centro Cultural 2022 Artist Residency, they began writing a new play, Terco Corazon, which explores media representation, racism, homophobia and class in the mid-90s. They also completed a residency in France in 2023, supporting Begat Theatre in a new version of HOME/LAND, which originally premiered at Hand2Mouth (in collaboration with Begat Theatre and WaxFactory) in Fall 2022. A teaching artist, Michael recently taught in Cairo, Egypt and Belgrade, Serbia. Their visual art was selected as part of Portland’s Regional Arts and Culture Council’s public art collection: “Capturing the Moment.” Michael is one of five Oregon performing artists to receive the 2021 Oregon Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship for artists of outstanding talent, demonstrated ability and commitment to the creation of new work.