Hanna Vazana Grunwald is a director, playwright, and moderator of Israeli Theater Groups, Hanna’s work explores language and identity at the intersection of gender and Sephardi identity and status. Her work utilizes tools from community theater, and a new genre she has formed known as “poetic-documentary theater,” which utilizes unscripted works to amplify underrepresented and silenced voices in Israeli theater and society, and deconstruct gender and ethnic stereotypes from the stage. Awarded Israel’s prestigious Rosenblum prize for the Performing Arts (2021) and Ministry of Culture Award for Preservation and Cultivation of Israeli Cultures (2022), her works include Papag’ina,” “Freicha is a Beautiful Name,” Pearl Paper Heart,”
Maternity,” and “Whistle.”

Hanna graduated from the Faculty of Theatre Arts Community Theatre Track at Tel Aviv University, and
from the School of Social Work at Bar- Ilan University. She holds an MFA from the Theatre Department at Tel Aviv University Creator Actress Program. Hana will be in residence at Xavier University of Louisiana for the Spring 2026 semester.