NO NOS MERECEMOS SOÑAR We Don’t Deserve to Dream

Rafael Ponce

Rafael Ponce is a playwright, director and performer whose stage career began with Terapia in 1980. He has written and directed productions for companies including Esteve y Ponce and Los Teloneros, with work presented across Spain and at festivals in Europe and Latin America. His play Mala leche received the Premi Max Aub for Best Theatre Text. With Los Teloneros, his work includes A lo Panenka and Almas de discusión pasiva. He wrote and directed the company’s latest production, No nos merecemos soñar, a tragicomedy in which a night of songs and drinks reveals abandoned dreams, broken promises and the lives its characters imagined for themselves. Red Escénica recognized his direction of the production in its 2025 selection of Valencian theatre. After receiving the professional Gold Award at the 2026 Inesperat Festival, No nos merecemos soñar comes to New York for four performances at Teatro LATEA.

Cora Mateu Martin

Cora Mateu comes from a family shaped by music, dance and theatre. Her grandfather, Alberto Martín Manzano, was a composer and conductor of municipal bands. Her father, Juan Mateu, was an actor, stage director and playwright; his play El pasaporte used humour to explore the experience of Spanish Republicans in Toulouse. Her uncle, Martín Vargas, became a leading figure in Spanish dance, performing internationally and appearing in Walt Disney’s television series Zorro. Cora forged her own path as a performer, choreographer and producer. Working across contemporary dance and theatre since the 1990s, she created the solo piece Pildorita in 1996, later selected for L’Obert Dansa’s touring project Cuatro Caminos. She co-founded Sala Ultramar in Valencia and Los Teloneros with Rafael Ponce. Her work with Los Teloneros includes A lo Panenka and Almas de discusión pasiva. In No nos merecemos soñar, she performs as part of the five-person cast and produces the company’s first New York engagement.

Begoña Tena

An award-winning playwright stepping inside another writer’s world.

Begoña Tena is a Spanish playwright, actress and director, and a distinctive voice in Valencia’s contemporary theatre scene. Her play Tórtola earned her the 2019 Generalitat Valenciana Award for Best Theatrical Text and was later presented at Madrid’s Teatro Español. Her work Errantes received the Premi Ciutat de Castelló, while VIVA won the Íntim-SGAE Jury Award and was presented at Valencia’s Teatro Rialto in 2026.Her artistic practice moves between acting, writing, directing, music and performance. In Rafael Ponce’s No nos merecemos soñar, Tena takes on a fascinating reversal: the playwright becomes the performer, stepping inside another writer’s universe as part of the Los Teloneros ensemble arriving in New York.

Manuel Ruiz Arteche

At the heart of Los Teloneros’ ensemble work.

Manuel Ruiz Arteche is a Spanish actor and a member of the ensemble of No nos merecemos soñar, Rafael Ponce’s award-winning tragicomedy. His work is rooted in the collective language at the core of Los Teloneros: a theatre built through extended collaborative rehearsals, where words, movement, humor and absurdity emerge directly from the performers. In No nos merecemos soñar, Manuel is one of five characters confronting the distance between the lives they imagined and the lives they ultimately inhabit. In October 2026, he brings that ensemble work to New York with Los Teloneros at LATEA Theatre in Manhattan.

Alba Serra

More than a decade inside Rafael Ponce’s theatrical universe.

Alba Serra is a Spanish actress and singer whose collaboration with Rafael Ponce and Los Teloneros spans more than a decade. She appeared in A lo Panenka in 2013 and Almas de discusión pasiva in 2014, developing a long-running artistic connection with Ponce’s distinctive theatrical language. Today, she brings both acting and music to No nos merecemos soñar, a tragicomedy where songs are an integral part of the characters’ stories. In October 2026, Serra brings this long creative history with Los Teloneros to New York, performing at LATEA Theatre in Manhattan.

Marian Villaescusa

A theatre-maker on both sides of the stage.

Marian Villaescusa is a Spanish actress, playwright and director trained at Valencia’s School of Dramatic Arts (ESAD). Her play Shhhh! won the Fundación SGAE–Russafa Escènica Playwriting Award, establishing her own voice within Valencia’s contemporary theatre scene. In September 2026, the work returned to the stage at Valencia’s Centre del Carme, with Villaescusa credited for its text, dramaturgy and direction. In Rafael Ponce’s No nos merecemos soñar, she returns to the stage as part of the Los Teloneros ensemble, bringing the perspective of both performer and theatre-maker. In October 2026, she brings that dual creative perspective to LATEA Theatre in New York.

Carlos Molina Lloréns

Light as a language of its own.

Carlos Molina Lloréns is a Spanish lighting designer and visual artist whose work explores light and space as expressive elements of contemporary performance. Since 2003, he has collaborated with theatre and dance companies in Spain, France and Germany, developing a practice spanning stage lighting, visual installation, photography and video art. His lighting design for No nos merecemos soñar was recognized among the outstanding lighting works of Valencian theatre in 2025 by Red Escénica. In October 2026, Molina brings the production’s distinctive lighting and spatial identity to LATEA Theatre in New York.

Juan Sebastián López Galeano

Where technology meets contemporary performance.

Juan Sebastián López Galeano is a Colombian-born visual and multimedia artist whose work bridges technology and contemporary performing arts. A Telecommunications Engineer and PhD in Artificial Intelligence from the Universitat Politècnica de València, he applies his scientific and technological background to visual and stage creation. His work spans multimedia, photography and visual environments, including the multidisciplinary project ANFIBIA at Valencia’s Centre del Carme in 2025. For No nos merecemos soñar, Sebastián creates the production’s visual space and multimedia art, shaping the visual universe surrounding Rafael Ponce’s staging. In October 2026, he brings that work to LATEA Theatre in New York.