Grijalva River, Chiapas, México, during the Taymor Fellowship.

Grijalva River, Chiapas, México, during the Taymor Fellowship.

Héctor Flores Komatsu(小松輝)was born in Cuernavaca, México to a mixed family of Mexican-Japanese origins. He carries two last names, as in the hispanic tradition: his father’s (Flores) and his mother’s (Komatsu). At a young age, Héctor immigrated to the United States. An in-betweener of worlds, he was naturally drawn to the theatre. At age seventeen, he staged his first theatre production, and he hasn’t stopped since.

Chosen by Julie Taymor as an inaugural recipient of The Taymor World Theatre Fellowship, Héctor embarked on a year-long theatrical journey across various indigenous communities in Mexico, eventually founding Makuyeika Colectivo Teatral. Original creations from this experience are Andares and The Game, or the perpetual rematch (based on the mayan epic of the Popol Vuh) and Ix-kik: blood, moon, sister. His work has been presented in New York City at The Public Theatre’s Under the Radar, the Destinos Festival with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (USA), Wuzhen Theatre Festival (China), Santiago a Mil (Chile), Thalia Theatre (Germany) among other countries and in villages, festivals, and cities across México. He’s received several grants from the National Fund for Culture and the Arts.

Currently, Héctor is Artistic Director of Makuyeika, a recent recipient of the Jóvenes Creadores grant by the National Fund for the Culture and Arts (FONCA) in Mexico, and a recent fellow at Laboratory for Global Performance & Politics of Georgetown University, in Washington D.C.

Héctor has worked in various projects with Peter Brook: first as an apprentice in the play Battlefield (based on The Mahabharata), as an actor on the world tour of The Valley of Astonishment, and most recently as translator, adapter, and co-director of El Traje, the Spanish-language premiere of Brook’s production of The Suit. Héctor was a finalist in the Rolex Mentor and Protégé program with Lin-Manuel Miranda.

In France, he’s interned with Théâtre de la Ville - Paris, assisting on Six Characters in Search of an Author (directed by Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota) and on Festival Chantiers d’Europe, 2014. In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he facilitated theatre workshops with Teatro na Prisão, engaging with community theatre in prisons and favelas.

Héctor graduated from the University of Michigan with BFA in Theatre Directing, a minor in Translation Studies, and he also pursued a minor in Ethnic Theatre and Global Studies. For his senior thesis, he directed Sotto Voce, a then-unpublished play by Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz. He has also trained with the Suzuki Company of Toga, Japan.

Staged productions: 13 the Musical (Spanish-language premiere); Chinglish, by David Henry Hwang); The Motherfucker with the Hat, by Stephen Adly Guirgis; In the Heights by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes. Original creations: Andares; El juego, o la revancha perpetua. Upcoming: Ix-kik: blood, moon, sister.

At the Théâtre Bouffes du Nord, Paris, during rehearsals for Battlefield, dir. Peter Brook & Marie-Hélène Estienne

At the Théâtre Bouffes du Nord, Paris, during rehearsals for Battlefield, dir. Peter Brook & Marie-Hélène Estienne, 2015 (Photo: Caroline Monreau)