Elena Araoz is a stage director of theater, opera, multi-media performance, and theatrical large-scale immersive events, working internationally, Off-Broadway, and across the country. Elena is attracted to epic stories, and her productions are known for huge dance-like theatrics and acutely naturalistic acting. She was recently profiled in Authority Magazine.
Recent reviews
“form-busting and gorgeous,” “striking,” “primal,” “wild,” “stirring,” and “refreshingly natural,” “a gorgeous mise-en-scène that feels theatrical in its purposefully homemade aesthetic” -The New York Times
“riveting,” “dreamy,” and “vivid,” - The Boston Globe
“refreshing.” - The New Yorker
“Elena Araoz is a director with deep wells of imagination; she seems drawn to magical realist work.” - Time Out New York
2026 will mark Elena’s direction of a musical with Disney Live Entertainment (to premiere in 2027); the world premiere of Julia Schwartz and Catherine Filloux’s opera Allegra and the Cello (starring Brittany Renee and Akua Dixon), the eighth-annual national tour of her production of Sugar Skull (a Día de Muertos musical celebrating Mexican folkloric and indigenous music, dance and traditions) performing at American’s largest flagship performing arts centers; and the fifth national tour of El Otro Oz with TheatreworksUSA;
Recent theatre projects include Elena’s critically acclaimed production of the bilingual play Espejos: Clean by Christina Quintana at Studio Theatre in D.C; the critically acclaimed world premiere production of How to Melt ICE by Amalia Oliva (Boundless Theater and New Perspectives Theatre) for which Elena was honored with the award for Best Direction of a Drama by Premios LATA (Latin Alternative Theater Awards) and a nomination for an HOLA Award for Outstanding Production;. the world premiere of Mark St. Germain’s Magdalene at Contemporary American Theatre Festival,; and the world premiere of Catherine Filloux’s newest plays How To Eat An Orange ând Third Person.
Recent opera projects include the world premiere production of Jorge Sosa’s opera Generación Perdida (Teatro Grattacielo) and Dallas Opera’s 3D Immersive audio-only production of No One if Forgotten: An Immersive Opera, composed by Paola Prestini and Sxip Shirey, based on the play by Winter Miller. Elena served as director and immersive designer of the opera in a never before created method. Elena staged the opera at Princeton University in 2026, utilizing prototype sonic technology.
Elena’s international work includes: Two Arms and a Noise, which Elena wrote and directed for the Bucharest International Theatre Platform in Romania as a physical theatre piece about the life of an indigenous Peruvian woman. She originally created the piece as a New York Theatre Workshop fellow, and it was recognized on the Latinx Theatre Commons’ list of "plays and writers that everyone should know.” Internationally, she also directed the world premiere of Li Tong Chen's The Power in Beijing, the first English-language play commercially produced in Beijing, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Prague Shakespeare Festival in the Czech Republic. Her New York world premiere production of Jaclyn Villano’s Unanswered, Ee Ride transferred to The Edinburgh Fringe.,
With New York’s St. Fortune Collective, she directed the site-specific immersive Wood Music, which invited audiences to explore the theatrical event within and around the historic Florence Mill in Omaha and turned the entire building into a musical instrument for the audience to play, all in tune with the rock band nestled inside.
During the pandemic, Elena conceived and directed the interactive and theatrical website experience The Manic Monologues (McCarter Theatre Center) which was nominated for a 2021 Drama League Award and was honored as the Gold Award Winner for the 2021-2022 NASPA Excellence Award. She also directed the acclaimed premieres of Alice in the Pandemic and A Survivor’s Odyssey (White Snake Projects), which were the first virtual operas to live sync singers from remote locations, blended with CGI and facial motion capture. Since that time, Elena continues to develope multimedia and sound-based projects.
Elena worked extensively with the late Sir Jonathan Miller, most recently as Choreographer and Associate Director for his La traviata at Vancouver Opera, and worked on his Broadway King Lear starring Christopher Plummer, and multiple operas at Lincoln Center, Seattle Opera, BAM and Glimmerglass Opera. She served as Associate Director with Sir Richard Eyre on Ghosts at BAM starring Lesley Manville. She also served as Assistant Director to Steven Soderbergh on The Library at The Public Theatre and Darko Tresnjak on Antony and Cleopatra at Theatre for a New Audience.
Elena is also a performer and holds her MFA in Acting from the University of Texas at Austin.
