Durango PlayFest welcomes Alex Riad, an Egyptian-American playwright and graduate of the Juilliard School, as a guest speaker in a free speaker series open to the public. Riad will talk about his experiences in becoming a playwright, attending Juilliard and other aspects of the theatre industry. Students encouraged to attend.

Riad's play, "Heartbeat," was featured at PlayFest's 2023 festival. The New York-based writer has been a part of The Lark's Middle Eastern Writers Lab, a member of The Actor's Studio Playwright Unit, a Lila Acheson Wallace American playwriting fellow at The Juilliard School, and is currently under commission at the Atlantic Theater Company via the Judith Champion Launch Commission Program.