LISA RAMIREZ is a mixed-race Latina writer/actor and activist whose writing lays claim to creating work influential enough to transcend the theatrical arena. Her solo-performance EXIT CUCKOO (nanny in motherland)—which explored the role of women who work as “nannies” — offered Ramirez (herself a former nanny) the opportunity to work with Domestic Workers United in New York, converse with legislators in Albany, and experience the thrill of hearing Senator Diane Savino quote her piece on the Senate floor- while fighting for New York’s 2010 passing of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, the first legislation of its kind in the country.

Lisa wrote and directed, INVISIBLE WOMEN-RISE. The play was performed by 12 Domestic Workers in in Spanish and English at the historic Riverside Church in New York. Other plays include, ART OF MEMORY, presented at the 3-Legged Dog, New York; Pas de Deux (lost my shoe), Cherry Lane Theatre; DOWN HERE BELOW, an adaptation of Maxim Gorky’s, THE LOWER DEPTHS, Oakland Theater Project; IN THE MOUNTAINS, The Workshop Theater, New York; MORE THAN GRAPES, Theatre-First in Berkeley; sAiNt jOaN (burn/burn/burn), Oakland Theater Project; Book of Sand (a fairytale), Oakland Theater Project; TO THE BONE received its world premiere at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and won the prestigious Helen Merrill Playwriting Award.

During the pandemic, Lisa organized the digital reading of TO THE BONE, with the original New York cast. The event was hosted by V (formally known as Eve Ensler), Maria Hinojosa and Rosa Clemente and was simultaneously translated into Spanish. Over 20K was raised for the Rural and Migrant ministry up in Sullivan County New York to support poultry plant employees affected by the pandemic. 

Current projects include, SHE SE PUEDE (a chorus of Huertas), about the legendary activist Dolores Huerta, for Oakland Theater Project; supported by the Gerbode Foundation and is developing REMEMBER ME REMEMBER, a People’s Light Theater commission about Neuro-cognitive Disorder/Dementia in a senior memory facility that explores the themes of memory, caregiving and group dynamics and merges traditional play structure with sonic dance theater.