Monet Hurst-Mendoza

Hurst-Mendoza dedicates her career to promoting and advocating for greater representation of artists of color and women in theater. In April 2017, she spoke on the Challenging Stigma Through the Arts and Technology panel as part of the Nasty Women Unite Fest.

In 2016, Hurst-Mendoza was selected for the 2016–2018 round of the Van Lier Playwriting Fellowship Program. The program is based in New York City, and lasts for a period of two-years. It aims to aid young, economically disadvantaged playwrights of color to hone and develop their skills and become bigger names in the professional theater community.

In December 2015, Hurst-Mendoza was selected to be a member of the 2017 Emerging Writers Group.

From 2014 to 2016, Hurst-Mendoza was a Lab Member at the WP Theater. This is a two-year residency for female-identifying playwrights, directors, and producers. During her residency, she served primarily as a playwright.

Since September 2011, Hurst-Mendoza has served as a Collective Member, and INKtank/PlayRISE Producer. She and Raquel Almazan are current co-facilitators of INKtank.

Hurst-Mendoza attended Marymount Manhattan College from 2005 to 2009 and graduated with a B.A. in Theatre Arts, with concentrations in playwriting and directing. During her time there, she received the 2009 Gold Key for Excellence in Theatre Arts (Writing for the Stage).

WP Theater (Formerly known as Women's Project Theater), is the oldest and largest theater company in the United States that focuses on developing, promoting, and producing the works of female-identifying theatre artists throughout their careers. The company has been an avid advocate of Gender equality since its establishment in 1978, by visionary producer, Julia Miles. Miles was motivated by a desire to address and alleviate the severe under-representation of women in theatre. WP Theater has since cultivated a large, thriving community of female playwrights, directors, and producers in theatre and beyond.

When asked about the type of theatre that she finds exciting, Hurst-Mendoza responded, "variety excites me. I like seeing atypical stories told from various perspectives." Much of her work today reflects this line of thinking, as her plays involve a variety of genres and themes. The only commonality that can be drawn from play-to-play is the often heavy subject-matters that she deals with, usually explored through idiosyncratic characters with complex, and sometimes problematic relationships. These subject-matters include sexual violence, religion, identity politics, Mass incarceration, sexism, and racism. Hurst-Mendoza attempts to engage with and confront such themes in her work that have become increasingly relevant in the socio-political discourse of 21st-century United States. She has described the aesthetic of her plays and stage directions as being very visual, as she often has very specific visions of what pictures should be created in her mind. One of her favorite ways of positioning her actors are either on the floor or sitting down, or back-to-back.