EXAL IRAHETA

Exal Iraheta (he/him) is a Salvi-American playwright & screenwriter from Houston, TX, based in Chicago, IL. Sometimes humorous and often uncomfortable, his writing explores the intersections of belonging, family, queerness, Latinidad, violence, and sex.

Exal's filmmaking and screenwriting have brought him to work with several Chicago-based filmmakers and organizations as instructor, videographer, assistant director, and video editor. His original TV pilots have received staged readings at The iO Theater, Annoyance Theatre, and The Crowd Theater and placed in competitions.

His full-length play They Could Give No Name was part of Victory Gardens' 2019 Ignition Festival of New Plays, a 2019 honorable mention for the Relentless Award, a 2020 National Playwrights Conference finalist, and a 2020 Judith Royer Excellence in Playwriting finalist. His short play Open Venas was produced in Theater Masters’ 2019 Take Ten New York Short Play Festival and The Untold Collectiv’s 2019 Latinx Scratch festival in London, England. Exal has also collaborated with Chicago theatre companies Nothing Without a Company and Random Acts Chicago.

Exal earned an MFA from Northwestern University’s Writing for the Screen and Stage program, and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Film & Video Production.

On the weekends, Exal goes on walks with his husband Chris, while wishing he could bring his gray and white, short-hair cat, Ezra.