Biographical+Information

=** Nilo Cruz was born to Tina and Nilo Cruz, Sr. in Matanzas, Cuba in 1960. His father was an opponent of the communist government and due to this his ideas, was imprisoned. When Nilo was nine years old, his father was released from prison. His family immigrated to Little Havana in Miami, Florida in 1970 on a freedom flight and eventually naturalised. **=

=** His interest in theater began with acting and directing in the early 1980s. He studied theater first at Miami-Dade Community College, later moving to New York City, where Cruz studied under fellow Cuban Maria Irene Fornes. Fornes recommended Cruz to Paula Vogel who was teaching at Brown University where he would later receive his M.F.A. in 1994. **=