David John Chavez has been a South Bay Area-based theatre critic/reporter since 2009, writing for Examiner.com until 2012, and a journalist, theatre educator and director since 1990, having been a reporter and theatre/music critic for the Fresno Bee. He is currently a freelance reporter with Theatre Bay Area and a features reporter and critic with the San Jose Mercury News. With a plethora of journalism experience, he gets out to as many shows as possible, and is a member of both the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critic’s Circle and the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA). With ATCA, he was elected to a three-year term in 2019 on the executive committee and co-chairs the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, a group working on national initiatives to diversify criticism and expand cultural literacy to journalists of the American theatre. He is also a dad chasing around his three daughters with the help of his awesome wife Tamra.
Chavez has a B.A. in Theatre Arts from California State University, Fresno, an M.A. in directing from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and is now working on a second masters in creative writing at Southern New Hampshire University.
In the summer of 2020, David was selected for a fellowship to the National Critics Institute through the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT.
When not watching, directing, or writing about a show, he is rooting hard for the Oakland A’s, Golden State Warriors, San Jose Earthquakes, San Jose Sharks and the Fresno State Bulldogs.
Hear what David John Chavez has to say to RDU on Stage about the future of theater criticism, theater in the Bay Area, and more.
Don’t miss a live chat or conversation. Visit the RDU on Stage Calendar page for a complete schedule.
