In these interviews, Maria Manuela Goyanes, Brown University class of 2001, describes why she decided to attend Brown, her experience in the Theatre Department, and her career in theatre after Brown. 

Goyanes begins Part 1 by describing her childhood in Queens, New York, her parents’ immigration stories, and her early education at Bronx High School of Science. She remembers applying early decision to Brown and not really knowing which concentration she wanted to pursue. She recalls discovering the Production Workshop and joining the board in her first year on campus. Goyanes also details experimentalism in the theatre department and learning from both her professors and her classmates. She closes Part 1 by describing her fourth-year thesis production of Venus and explaining how that experience helped to shape her career choices after graduation.

Goyanes begins Part 2 by talking about her job at Trinity Repertory Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island, following graduation, and her involvement with Brown’s playwriting graduate program. She goes on to discuss her next position as Director of Producing and Artistic Planning at The Public Theater and later transitioning to the Artistic Director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. She describes Brown’s connection to Woolly Mammoth as well as the Trump presidential administration as one reason why she wanted to work at a progressive theatre company. Goyanes closes Part 2 by talking about the work the theatre has done throughout the COVID-19 global pandemic and with a focus on racial justice and equity.