Joel De Jesus-Pacheco is a Philly theater artist, born and raised in Puerto Rico, where he started his acting training 10 years ago. During his time at Temple he’s also had the chance to work as a playwright, being produced for TU Side Stage’s Ben Vargas Short Stuff festival, as well as a dramaturg with Temple productions Our Country’s Good and The Anastasia Trials in the Court of Women.
During this time, he’s grown fond of creating and performing new and uncommon works. As a queer Latinx artist he focuses on portraying the realities of individuals, and through his years working and training as a performer, playwright, and dramaturg he’s had the privilege of advocating for groups that typically go underrepresented in media. Joel focuses on these artistic goals because he believes in combating systemic issues that result in less representation for many people’s journeys and experiences.
Joel is currently developing his full-length play for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival this September, with a story that follows the realities of Puerto Ricans on the Island under political oppression and how it affects their lives and relationships.
As mentioned above, Joel is a well-rounded theater artist with a Fringe show coming up. You can find samples of Joel’s dramaturgy work, information about his Fringe show, and more about his playwriting at these links!
