Hi, I’m Nena!
Nena Martins (she/ her/ hers) is an actor, writer, director, and teaching artist currently based in Chicago. Born and raised in Lisbon, she attended a UWC high school in Bosnia and Herzegovina, before moving to the USA to pursue a BA in Theater and Creative Writing from Northwestern University. At Northwestern, Nena had the pleasure of being the Senior Director of Griffin’s Tale Children’s Theater Repertory as well as ensemble member and coach for The Titanic Players (a long-form improv troupe). Her recent acting credits include Wife in Blood Wedding at the Wirtz Center and Lucy in Round Yon Virgin at The Factory Theatre. Her most recent play Things I Wish I Said Out Loud was produced at Northwestern University in the fall of 2022. This coming November, she will be directing for Gwydion Theatre Company, a new ensemble company that specializes in socio-political work.
As a teaching artist, she has had the pleasure of teaching theater and music with ARTSiE, as well as with Music House, Casa da Estrela, the City of Evanston, and Old Town School of Folk. ARTSiE gave her the opportunity to develop lesson plans in improv and storytelling, an area of theater that she is very passionate about. She is excited to keep working with ARTSiE in order to bring accessible arts education to as many kids as possible, since she knows from experience, how invaluable that artistic outlet can be!