Michael John Garcés

Garcés was born in Miami, Florida, the son of Sergio, an accountant, and Lee, but grew up in Colombia. His family moved to Colombia when he was a young boy due to a job transfer for Sergio. His family lived in Medellín until he was 13 and it was in Medellín where Garcés was first exposed to political issues, like the wealth gap between the rich and poor, that would later be integrated into his work. It was also during his time living in Medellìn when Garcés first started doing theater, around the 5th or 6th grade. After living in Medellìn, his family moved to Bogotà, Colombia where he got a role as one of Jesus's apostles in a touring production of the musical Godspell, which received national attention because Godspell was one of the few American musicals to come to Colombia. This led him to the University of Miami where he received his BFA in theater.

After graduating from the University of Miami, Garcés moved to New York City in 1989 to pursue a career in theater. He quickly found an internship at INTAR, a Hispanic theater company, as a production assistant. This internship launched a career in theater in New York as an actor, director, and playwright that lasted for 16 years. Of his time in New York, Garcés says that much of his work was spent "focusing on my desire to learn about why one does this form, rather than why one does one's show." Garcés initially traveled to New York to work as an actor, but soon began writing his own pieces and directing the works of his peers after becoming frustrated with acting. Garcés worked for Max Ferrá at INTAR who not only encouraged Garcés to create an actors group, which became the NewWorks Lab, but also advised Garcés to pursue directing. After his time in New York, Garcés worked in a number of regional theaters across the country, including the Kentucky's Actors Theatre of Louisville and the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. During this time, he was honored with the Princess Grace Statue Award for distinguished accomplishment in the theater and the Alan Schneider Director Award and received a New Generations Grant from the Theater Communications Group. He also moved briefly to Chiapas, Mexico for an 8-week residency in a Mayan writers' collective where he directed one of the plays that was being performed. His time in Mexico greatly affected Garcés. He claims that "the impact, the quality of the aesthetic experience people were having watching the play, was so profound, so electric" and it was this experience which he believes led him to his current place of work, Cornerstone Theater Company.

Michael John Garcés (born 1967) is a Cuban-American playwright and director. He is the artistic director of Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles. He has received several awards and grants, including the Alan Schneider Director Award and the Princess Grace Fellowship.