NELSON VALENTE (Buenos Aires, 1971) is a director, playwright, and theatre teacher. He trained at EMAD in Madrid and at the Fundación Teatro del Sur in Buenos Aires and furthered his education through private studies with renowned masters such as Teresa Istillarte, Ricardo Bartís, Walter Neira, and Eugenio Barba.

In 1996, he co-founded the Banfield Teatro Ensamble Company in Buenos Aires, with which he developed an acclaimed body of work. In recognition of his 20-year career with the company, he received the ACE Award in 2016.

He was artistic director of the Teatro Municipal de Lomas de Zamora and of the Comedia Municipal.

In Spain, his plays have included El loco y la camisa (Teatre Romea, 2014); El declive (La Villarroel, 2018); Sólo llamé para decirte que te amo (La Villarroel, 2020); Els gossos, premiered at the Grec Festival Barcelona in 2020; Amnèsia (TNC, 2024); and Avui no ploraré, co-produced and performed by T de Teatre (2025).

As a director, he has staged Happy Days and Play by Samuel Beckett; El don de las sirenas by Pere Riera; Destierro by Nelly Fernández Tiscornia, with the cast of the Comedia de la Provincia de Buenos Aires; Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Jugadores by Pau Miró; Pequeño Poni by Paco Bezerra; Ejércitos fantásticos del yo by Sabina Berman; and Jauría by Jordi Casanova, among many others.

He has toured internationally in the Americas and Europe, presenting his productions at many festivals, including FIBA (Festival Internacional de Buenos Aires), the International Hispanic Theater Festival of Miami, the Santiago a Mil Festival (Chile), the Ibero-American Theatre Festival of Cádiz, the Tarragona International Theatre Festival (FITT), the Gulbenkian Próximo Futuro Festival in Lisbon, the Sens Interdits Festival in Lyon, and the VIE Festival in Modena.

In Argentina he has received, among other recognitions, the ACE Award for Best Direction in Drama and/or Dramatic Comedy in 2022, 2023, and 2024, as well as the 2024 Estrella de Mar Award for National Direction for his play El Beso.